Burnout & Breathing Room in Youth Sports

Burnout is a thief.  Burnout steals all the great life skills that youth sports can teach.  It is up to the sports-parent to get on the same page and align their goals with that of the student-athlete.  And it is also up to the sports-parent to create breathing room and purposefully schedule downtime from competitive youth sports.

Breathing Room.  Breathing room is a critical part of skill development. Breathing room is not a luxury or something to be “earned” by on-field performance.  Scheduling purposeful downtime allows the athlete to decompress and digest what has been learned.  Even a machine-like Navy SEAL requires downtime.  Shouldn’t same the same apply to a promising twelve-year-old wide receiver?

The Seven Mental Dwarfs

The Seven Mental Dwarfs. 

If this is your child’s first sports season, review those areas where he or she struggles making progress outside of sports (school work, chores, playing nice in the sandbox, etc).  It usually involves a combination of these seven mental roadblocks:

·        procrastination;

·        perfectionism;

·        fear of failure;

·        analysis paralysis;

·        limited comfort zone;

·        indecision; or

·        complacency. 

Expect to see these same mental roadblocks pop up in athletic development.  Create a game plan to address these issues to keep the athlete motivated.

California Interscholastic Federation - Sports Parents' Resource

The CIF website is a great resource for student-athletes and new sports-parents.  Lots of free information on safety, athletic scholarship eligibility, and the onslaught of rules and regulations that go into high school sports participation.  Considering bookmarking for reference.... 



California Interscholastic Federation

Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game

An example of why process-oriented goals are so important for when a student-athlete must deal with a bad, unfair outcome.  Imagine being one out away from pitching a perfect game (only 23 pitchers have done this in 135 year of pro baseball) and the first base ump blows a call on the final batter.  How to respond....



Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

N.J. Dad files $40 million lawsuit after his son is kicked off track team for missed practices | Prep Rally - Yahoo Sports

Suing your son's high school track coach for $40M is not exactly the best way to attract college athletic scholarships.



N.J. Dad files $40 million lawsuit after his son is kicked off track team for missed practices | Prep Rally - Yahoo Sports

CA - Online Family Law Self Help Info

With school coming up, divorced sports-parents should make sure they are on the same page with school sports expectations - time commitments, adjustments to custody schedules, expenses.  What is in the "best interests" of the student-athlete? 



Keep the "best interests" standard in mind when making major decisions that impact your child's participation in sports (which may serve as a child's safe harbor when there is conflict at home.) 



Online Self-Help Center - selfhelp

The Savior Fallacy: Over-Betting on Star Players in Sports and Business

Why the "Treadmill of Mediocrity" theory may be wrong.  Sometimes it doesn't make sense to blow it up and start over. 



The Savior Fallacy: Over-Betting on Star Players in Sports and Business - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic