Healthy Bodies

The Value of Team Sports

Why should children participate in sports? Because sports are one of the easiest ways to keep our God-given bodies in good shape. A healthy body makes it easier for us to serve God. And sports, especially team sports, are one of the best ways for children (and adults!) to keep fit.

As I was researching information about the US women’s national soccer team, an article by Erin Bried caught my attention. Bried asked: “What if the secret to getting in amazing shape was making exercise a team effort? Imagine taking a break from logging miles solo on the treadmill. Playing games would become your workouts, the fun your motivation, your teammates the most inspiring personal-cheering squad you could hope for.” Her point is that exercise is easier and more fun when you do it in the context of a game. Similarly, exercise science professor, Marcus Kilpatrick, has observed  that  “we tend to view sport as play and exercise as work, which is why we call one a game and the other a workout.”

Imagine this common scene in your home:

“Johnny, would you please mow the lawn this afternoon?”

“Dad, why do I always have to do it? Why don’t you ask Mary once in a while.”

“I do ask her to help. I’m asking you to help this time.”

“But dad, you always make me do more.”

Ask a child to mow the lawn or scrub the tub, and he may complain like you’ve asked him to wash all the windows on the Empire State Building! But put him on a basketball court and he has the unconscious energy to play for hours.

Being part of a team makes workouts easier to stick with and more enjoyable.  One study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that “when paired with a more capable partner, female exercisers not only put in more effort than those working out alone, but also pushed themselves a staggering 208 percent longer.” I have been playing basketball for over 50 years. When I am done running up and down the court for an hour I am thoroughly exhausted and have to peel my sweat-soaked jersey off of my upper body. Would I push myself this hard if I was working out alone?!

Children need from 30 to 60 minutes of vigorous, age-appropriate, daily exercise. Team sports are an easy way for children to meet that need.

Children's Coaches,Part 1

The Influence of a Coach

My sophomore year of high school I tried out for the school’s  basketball team—along with 120 other boys! At the first practice we were divided into two groups based on our junior high coaches’ assessments. I was placed in the “lets-cut-them-quickly” group. By the end of the first week of practice, I was one of two boys left from that group! And by the end of the season I was playing on the "A" team. I have Assistant Coach Ben Newcomb to thank for my survival and promotion. He alone saw and encouraged the talent that I had. Though he yelled and threw clip boards and kicked chairs—mostly in response to my errors!—I loved him because he believed in me and pushed me to become a better player. His coaching nurtured a passion for basketball and, more importantly, a confidence that if I worked hard I could accomplish an important goal.

But I also had negative experiences with coaches. When I was in fourth grade I tried out for a Little League team. On the day that cuts were announced, I was one of the boys cut. As I dejectedly climbed on my bike, the coach asked if I would lead calisthenics. I agreed, hoping I was being given a second chance. When we were done, I stood around not knowing what to do next. But the coach said, “That’s all, Schock, you can leave now.” I felt humiliated in front of the other boys. Had the coach intended that? I don’t know.

Former NFL star Joe Ehrmann has written: “One of the great myths is that sports build character. They can and they should. . . . But sports don’t build character unless a coach possesses character and intentionally teaches it.” Your children’s coaches can have a profound impact on your child’s development. In my next post I will look at what a parent can do to help that influence be a positive one.

 

Compassion for NBA Players?

As I have watched the NBA Finals this past week, I have been reminded that televised sports provide an excellent opportunity to talk with children about life’s challenges.

Last night the Warriors’ Andre Iguodala missed 8 consecutive free throws. (I haven’t even seen a middle school player miss 8 free throws in a row!)If your child is a big Warrior fan and frustrated by Andre’s struggles, you might ask:

·         How do you think Andre felt?

·         How do you think his teammates felt?

·         How do you think his mother felt?!

·         How would you feel if you were the one who missed all those shots while millions of people were watching you on T.V.?

These questions can help a child develop compassion as he realizes that these highly skilled athletes are people, too. People with feelings. People who fail. People who become discouraged. People who don’t want to let their teammates and fans down. Even MVP’s LeBron James and Stephen Curry have had bad games in this championship series.

And we all share their weakness. When we fail repeatedly to live up to God’s standards, we, too, can become discouraged or ashamed. Fortunately we know a God who understands our makeup:

¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;^[a]

 he remembers that we are dust. (Ps. 103) 

We are all less than we would like to be—and God knows it. May we experience God’s compassion in our failures so that we can extend that compassion to our fellow, fallen human beings.

 

Selecting A Sport, Part 7

SHOULD MY CHILD JOIN A SELECT TEAM?

Our three boys played on select soccer teams. I coached our youngest son’s team for six years. Though it was a mostly positive experience for us, I’m not sure it would be in today’s select system. My primary concern is that these teams have amped up the time and commitment required. As a result, many youth sports have become serious business. If your child wants to play for one of these teams, consider:

1. Watch Over Your Child’s Whole Development: Just because a child has talent does not mean that you are obliged to enroll her in a select program. As I stated earlier, look at all of your child’s needs and see how that particular commitment fits into her whole development.
2. Watch Out for Specialization: If your child plays one sport nearly all year, it will greatly increase his odds of developing an overuse injury. Even professional baseball pitchers rest their arms during the winter. Furthermore, narrowly focusing on one sport may not even produce the best athletes. A Division I college soccer coach commented: “Hands down, the best kids in our program, ... have been kids who have played three sports, who have had balance, who maybe started late in soccer but they’re really enjoying it and they can develop.”
3. Watch What Develops: Though it may be painful to extricate your child from her commitment to a team, have the courage to live out your convictions. Is the coach too harsh? the schedule too demanding? your child’s academics faltering? Your child may initially object to being withdrawn, but later, when she has her life back, she will probably thank you.
4. Watch Your Motives: Don’t let your child become a surrogate for your dreams. This is his life, not yours!
5. Watch Your Expectations: Parents may view the time and money they spend on their child’s sport as an investment—and investors want returns! After one top athlete in our city underperformed to dad’s expectations, he told her: “If we're going to spend all this money and travel to tournaments, you better work more on your game.” The return that many parents of select athletes are hoping for is a college scholarship. Though NCAA schools award about $1 billion for athletic scholarships they offer over $30 billion dollars for academic scholarships! These statistics led one sports leader to wisely advise: “If you want to get money from a scholarship, go home and read to your children every night!”

 

Selecting A Sport: Part 6

Think About Mental Health

A child’s mental health can be significantly impacted by sports. Here are some issues to consider when helping your young child choose a sport:

• The League: Educator Bruce Svare wisely points out that a “youth sports program should be judged on the basis of how it treats its least talented kids, not on how it treats its most talented kids.” I would avoid a sports program that doesn’t legislate ample playing time for young kids.
• The Coaches: In one study it was found that youth hockey and baseball coaches rated having fun considerably higher than swimming, wrestling, and gymnastics coaches. Furthermore, baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey coaches rated winning significantly lower than wrestling coaches. These results only suggest trends. It is best to check out a coach to see what emphasis he puts on winning, having fun, and developing skills.
• Advanced vs. Recreational: Children’s sports today are often organized into advanced and recreational leagues. The theory is that grouping athletes with similar skills will produce a more uplifting experience. But one study of 9 year-olds found that kids who participated in recreational leagues viewed themselves more positively than did kids in advanced leagues. Though the research didn’t explore why this was true, could it be that the recreational leagues emphasize winning less? Some kids don’t want to play sports seriously, preferring fewer practices and modest competition. Don’t push them to a greater commitment.
• Stress: Moderate levels of stress usually enhance a child‘s experience—kids enjoy the excitement. But high levels can be damaging to their emotional health. As expected, individual sports create more stress than team sports. If you lose a golf match you can’t blame your teammates. If your golf ball goes out-of-bounds, guess who hit it there?! A study of girls competing in eight different sports found that gymnastics was the most stressful, followed by track and field, swimming, tennis, softball, volleyball, basketball, and field hockey. Do winning athletes handle the stress better? No. Studies have found no correlation between anxiety and a child’s ability. Better athletes may be burdened by higher expectations.

Cathy and I were pleased with our sons’ involvement in soccer, partly because of its lower stress. Standing on a soccer field, a young child can watch the clouds fly by or search for a four-leaf clover, but few (other than the child’s parents!) notice. On the other hand, a former Olympic ice skating champion explained the stress in her sport: “In four minutes of free skating you’re being judged on a whole year of practice. Not many sports put you through that, being the focal point of the entire arena. You’ve got to look like you’re enjoying yourself and accept the judges' decision and not throw a tomato at them. It’s tough.” Because of the stress of individual sports, it might be best to guide your young child toward team sports. She can begin learning the individual sports with minimal direct competition.

Selecting A Sport, Part 5

Think About Physical Health

Each year over 4 million kids visit emergency rooms as a result of sports injuries—a fourfold increase since 1995! As kids’ sports have hit “the fast lane” with longer seasons, more sports, harder training, young bodies have suffered.

Children’s hearts cause only minor concern since they can withstand nearly any test of endurance. But the overuse of joints (e.g., shoulders and knees) can cause serious damage because the bones of pre-teen kids are still growing. The problem with overuse injuries is that some are hard to detect: no blood, no bruises, no broken bones. Even x-rays or MRI’s may not reveal anything. As a result, parents have to depend on their child’s self-report. “But what if my child is faking it?” Even if he is, he may be telling you something important—for some reason he doesn’t want to compete.

In former days, children often played sports without adults present. If a child hurt his arm throwing a baseball, he probably went home and rested it. But now he has multiple coaches and his parents to please. He hears them say foolish things like: “You just need to learn how to play through the pain.”

Some sports are more likely to cause injuries. A boy who played high school football in 2006 in South Dakota was seven times more likely to receive a season-ending injury than a boy playing basketball! In a recent season, the University of Georgia lost 19 football players to season-ending injuries.

A chief concern in football is the potential for concussions. One survey found that 61% of NFL players had experienced at least one concussion and one-fourth of them had had three or more. Those who had concussions reported increased problems with memory, concentration, speech impediments, and headaches. Another study reported that Alzheimer's appeared far more often among retired NFL players than the national average—19 times the rate for men ages 30 through 49!

Fortunately, football officials are listening to these statistics. High school referees now commonly remove players who show any sign of a concussion, not just when an athlete loses consciousness. If trainers even suspect a concussion, the player may not return to the game. Unfortunately, many high schools don’t have a doctor or athletic trainer present to evaluate athletes. Some schools claim they can’t afford a trainer. But one expert believes “that means you can't afford to have a program. The presence of a certified athletic trainer makes your program safer by every measure, and if you can't afford to make the program safe, then you should be closing it up.”

Sports injuries can be avoided if parents understand how a particular sport stresses children’s bodies. For example:

• Pre-teen runners should run no more than 3 miles a day because the growth plates at the end of bones are vulnerable to injury.
• Soccer and basketball players may need extra support for their ankles with all their stopping, starting and cutting.
• Baseball pitchers, especially in the pre-teen years, should have their innings strictly limited. I know a father who keeps a pitch count for his son and won't let him pitch when he reaches the limit.
• Some medical experts believe that young female runners who over train are more vulnerable to injury than boys because their bodies mature differently.
• Don’t let your young child specialize. She should play a variety of sports because each sport will stress different body parts.

Finally, Dr. Stuart Brown, who directs the National Institute for Play, believes that risk is an important part of children’s play: “I don’t want to foster broken bones and concussions. But an inherent part of being playful is taking risk. What you don’t want to do is have the risks be excessive.” He is concerned about parents who hover over their kids, thus limiting their freedom to explore, to risk. He observes that children’s playgrounds demonstrate this over-concern: “There are no teeter totters and most of the swings don’t really go very high, and the monkey bars can only be three feet high. You know, it’s reasonable to have safe playgrounds, but it’s also reasonable to have challenging playgrounds.” When we are overly protective of our kids, we may  be “keeping their bodies safe while we are endangering their souls.”

Selecting A Sport, Part 4

WHICH SPORT? 

The specific choice of a sport can be difficult because kids have a rainbow of choices. Some issues to consider:

Think About a Child’s Need for Success

Before you decide whether to sign your child up for baseball or basketball, remember what is primary: young children need to succeed. Sports psychologist, William Beausay explains:

All children need a series of happy, victorious experiences. The normal defeats will come in the routine give-and-take of their own play. But they must learn to succeed before they can accept defeat. After thirteen, they then must be defeated to instigate further growth.

Success is important for a young child because he can’t reason that if he fails, he will be good at some other sport or other activity.

A child’s success will be greater in a sport that fits his talents. As a child athlete, our son Andrew had the endurance of a South Dakota winter—even his brothers were impressed with his stamina on bike rides. Soccer was a perfect fit for him.

I recently saw an e-mail address that included the words: raisingswimmers. Is someone forcing an identity on the whole family? Would a child be allowed to pursue golf or soccer? One psychologist has written that girls who are allowed to pursue “their true interests are two steps ahead of the game. Teens who believe their parents have hopes for them that are in line with their actual talents and passions—feel most equipped” for the future.

Think About Exercise

Medical experts report an alarming increase in heart problems for the young—a problem lessened by vigorous exercise. If your child is interested in a sport like bowling, you might encourage her to swim or bike also. Since the benefits of exercise are temporary, my wife and I wanted to establish the habit of exercise in our kids. Thus, our routines included physical activity—vacations included hiking and swimming; we biked to restaurants; we kicked a soccer ball or threw a Frisbee while dinner was being prepared; we walked our cocker spaniel--whose idea of fetching a stick was to run away from us and see if we could catch him!

Parents, turn in your chauffeur license and let your child bike or walk herself to school, to ball practice, to a friend’s house. (The media’s fixation on the rare child abduction has led many parents to be overly protective of their children. Your child has a 100 times greater chance of dying in an auto accident than being abducted!)