Should Every Kid Get a Sports “Participation” Ribbon?

July 15th, 2012

One complaint I regularly hear these days is that we have become too soft and giving when it comes to rewarding kids for simply “being on the team” when it comes to youth sports (Sport Success 360). Rather than have to earn awards through athletic accomplishments, some folks feel we have become too giving about rewarding kids for simply putting on a uniform and... Read More »

Picking a Youth Sports League thats Right for You

July 5th, 2012

As a sports parent, it’s important that you take the time needed to responsibly decide what type of sport league makes the most sense for your child. For some families, signing on with an intense travel league makes sense, while other families will find a recreational league to better commensurate with their child’s interests and abilities. The reality these days is that “one size doesn’t fit all” when it comes to youth sports... Read More »

Successfully Dealing with Sports Adversity & Failure

June 25th, 2012

Sport psychologists regularly advise athletes of the importance of developing resiliency skills (or mental toughness) in order to maximize athletic skills and successfully deal with sports adversity and failure. In fact, there’s an old saying “It’s not how many times you fall down, but how many you get up,” suggesting that our ability to use failure as a teaching tool is an invaluable lesson for sports (and life) success... Read More »

3 Questions Every Parent Should Ask the Coach

June 4th, 2012

With summer sports just about to start, there are a number of things sports parents should be thinking about so that the sport experience is a positive one for their son or daughter (Sport Success 360). In an ideal situation, youth sports should be fun, safe, and meaningful – but these outcomes do not occur simply by chance. Instead, young athletes gain the most from youth sports when parents... Read More »

Breaking a Sports Performance Slump

May 29th, 2012

Every athlete who competes in sports will eventually experience some type of a sports “slump,” or a period of time where he or she doesn’t perform up to athletic potential and expectations (Sport Success 360). In some cases, the slump is due to an injury or some other unusual circumstance, but in the majority of cases slumps are really just a product of “life,” and the reality that we... Read More »

Playing at the “Next” Level – Mental Toughness is Key

May 24th, 2012

When children first begin playing pee-wee sports, the best athletes almost always excel because of their natural physical advantages in size, speed, quickness, and agility (Sport Success 360). Having a genetic “leg up” often provides an immediate built-in advantage for some kids early in their careers, allowing them to excel on the field... Read More »

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