Building Confidence in Young Athletes show

Building Confidence in Young Athletes

Summary: Ultimate Sports Parent Radio (www.youthsportspsychology .com), which aims to instill confidence and success in child and teen athletes, interviews mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn and Les Harrison, youth coach and founder of Showtime Athletics, about the importance of the "mental game" in youth sports

Podcasts:

 How to Keep Girls in Sports | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:24:05

About 70% of kids drop out of sports by the age of 14, and of those, twice as many girls drop out than boys. That's the word from Nicole McCormack, general manager of brand solutions at TeamSnap, a technology platform for sports parents and coaches. Why do girls drop out and what can parents and coaches do to keep them in sports?

 Surprise! Athletes Need This to Play in College | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:18:56

Honest Game, a female-owned sports tech company, conducted research in 12 states to date and has found that about 50% of high schools in the states studied lack an educational pathway for students to play NCAA college sports. This issue disproportionally impacts kids at under-resourced schools, where as many as one in two athletes lack the courses required by the NCAA. Joyce Anderson, co-founder and COO of Honest Game, explains how Honest Game can help ensure athletes complete the required courses.

 Legal Options When Kids Feel Unsafe | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:30:24

As an attorney, Judie Saunders represents youth athletes in civil court, internal investigations, mediations and arbitrations. Bullying by coaches, physical and verbal abuse and sexual abuse are some of the issues she addresses for her youth athlete clients. Racial slurs and body shaming are also issues she addresses. Saunders, who serves as co-chair of Griesing Law’s confidential & sensitive investigations practice group, gives tips to parents about the legal avenues they can pursue for their sports kids. She stresses the need to remove kids from teams if they feel unsafe.

 How do New Concussion Rules Affect Kids' Mental Game? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:19:26

New concussion rules and regulations can build respect in young athletes for their opponents. In addition, the rules don’t hurt kids’ other mental game skills. That’s the word from Thomas Heiden, who played college hockey at Notre Dame and has coached many different sports for a few decades. He’s also a trial lawyer with Latham and Watkins and has tried high-profile sports lawsuits, including a high school concussion class action lawsuit.

 Building Sports Kids' Confidence by Teaching Life Skills | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:25:08

Kids are coming to Skyhawks Sports Academy camps with confidence challenges, says Sarah Kelley-Reid, a sports parent and the East Coast regional manager at Skyhawks Sports Academy, which provides skill-based sports experiences for kids 4-14.She describes how teaching life skills--including respect, teamwork and inclusion--helps builds sports kids' confidence.

 What Mental Game Skills Do Recruiters Seek? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:20:50

Recruiters and coaches look for a number of mental game traits when they’re evaluating athletes, says David Kmiecik, senior recruiting manager for Next College Student Athlete (NCSA). He describes how recruiters identify these traits and answers the question: How can athletes (and their parents) look their best in front of recruiters and college coaches?

 Helping Perfectionist Sports Kids | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:15:35

Perfectionist sports kids are those most likely to seek help from Audrey Grunst, a mental performance coach, therapist and owner owner at Simply Bee. She's a former mental performance coach for Northwestern Women’s Volleyball Program. How do you help perfectionist kids? Start by saying "I love you, no matter what!"

 The Benefits of Keeping Score in Youth Sports | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:21:56

Teams can keep score, even when kids are young, and the players will still have fun and learn physical and mental game skills. That's the message from former Walt Disney Studios Executive Sasha Graham, a sports mom, former youth sports coach and author of “Whitney Wins Everything.” Keeping score means young athletes learn how to cope with mistakes and losses. And they're better team players, she argues.

 Baseball: A Self-Esteem Destroying Sport for Kids? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:22:21

Baseball can be a "self-esteem destroying sport" because mistakes are a big part of the game, says Josh Thole, former catcher for the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. But parents can help ensure the sport doesn't hurt their kids' self-esteem, he says. First of all, they shouldn't focus on mistakes, but instead, should concentrate on helping sports kids move past mistakes.

 Why Kids Love Pickleball | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:29:10

Pickleball’s popularity is growing quickly, with many schools offering it for the first time. The sport is easy to learn, doesn't require much equipment and is accessible to kids of all income levels. It offers the opportunity to build confidence and make new friends, say Mike Nielsen, the AAU’s new pickleball chief, and InPickleball president Richard Porter.

 How Stereotypes Hurt Girls in Sports | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:28:55

Stereotypes about girls in sports hurt girls' confidence, dreams and performance, says Donny DeDonatis III, CEO of the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), a former pro athlete and the dad of twins in youth sports. He describes his worries about how such stereotypes affect his own daughter, age 7, and what he's doing to ensure girls and women have equal opportunities in sports.

 Sports Parents: Support, Don't Take Over | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:25:22

What are the habits of supportive sports parents? Sharkie Zartman, a college professor, UCLA and USA national team volleyball athlete, author, coach and radio host explains how to best support young athletes.

 Help Sports Kids Who Lost Confidence During Pandemic | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:17:09

A study by the Aspen Institute and Utah State University–commissioned by TeamSnap–revealed what parents want most from youth sports and how the pandemic affected kids’ ability to meet those goals. Team Snap’s survey showed that parents, most of all, want kids to have fun, said Peter Frintzilas, CEO of TeamSnap, a youth sports management app. Only 54 percent of parents said their kids are still having fun. Only 52 percent said that participating in youth sports is having a positive impact on kids’ mental health. And 52 percent said they felt like their young athletes were performing at pre-pandemic levels, meaning they hadn’t improved. How can parents help kids whose confidence and performance were undermined during the pandemic?

 Remaking Youth Sports to Build Connection, Confidence | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:29:27

Coming out of the pandemic provides a much-needed opportunity to re-design youth sports in a way that provides kids with more fun and human connection, and ultimately, more confidence. That’s the word from Meredith Whitley, PhD, associate professor in Adelphi’s School of Health Sciences and co-editor of the Journal of Sport for Development. She provides tips for building connection and giving kids more control of their experience. She also suggests ways to create an inclusive and supportive team culture.

 Communicating With Sports Kids Before & During Car Rides | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:28:44

Communicating and connecting with sports kids is an important bonus of youth sports. Harley Rotbart, pediatrician, sports parent and author of the bestselling No Regrets Parenting says it’s important for parents to take advantage of the opportunities to connect with kids while helping them participate in youth sports. The car ride is one great opportunity, he says. During this “unprecedented” pandemic, it’s also critical to help sports kids cope with the challenges of social distancing and political battles at home, in school and at sports over mask wearing and vaccinations, he says.

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