“The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves.” Anonymous

What's Ahead
Parents:
   Enjoying Exercise
Coaches:
   Winning at All Costs
Players:
  What Time is It? Now!

Maine Youth Sports
www.maineyouthsports.com
P.O. Box 442
Cumberland, ME 04021
inquiry@maineyouthsports.com
(207) 415-6321

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Improving the Odds for High School Sports

Statistically, the odds of a child playing sports at the high school level are good. A study by the National Federation of State High School Associations reports that over 50% of all kids participate in some form of high school athletics. The following table shows the odds for playing a particular sport.

If parents want to give their child an edge for future high school participation, they should start working as soon as possible to accomplish these tasks:

• Help kids develop a love of the game.
• Make sure they have fun and look forward to practices and games.
• Encourage multiple sports to build a well-rounded athlete.
• Don’t specialize in any one sport too early.
• Take breaks from playing.Some kids starting high school athletics have been playing organized sports longer than some professional athletes’ careers and they are already burned out.
• Support team-oriented play. At the high school level, teams can’t win without everyone working together.
• Demonstrate a healthy life style by providing a good role model and participating in physical activities.
• Put school first. Athletic participation is often tied to success in the classroom. Emphasizing school success at younger ages gives kids the best foundation to develop throughout high school.

Kids don’t start reaching their potential until they start developing their adult bodies during puberty. Parents who push too hard with too much activity, training or stress, risk burning their child out before they even know what their child’s true potential is. If parents want to see their child have the opportunity to participate in high school athletics, they need to emphasize the mental aspects of sports participation until such time as nature and coaches can do the rest.

Hi! Glad to See You!

Over time, coaches build their list of standard phrases they use to talk with players. These phrases become verbal shortcuts that players come to understand mean more than the words themselves. Most phrases deal with game or practice situations, but some concern attitude - either the player’s or the coach’s. One of the best of these is “Hi! Glad to see you.”

Ideally, players would be motivated from within to play their best in practices and games. However, coaches often need to help players tap into inner strength. This help doesn’t have to wait for game or practice time. It can start from the first contact a coach has with a player. While a simple “hello” will suffice, a more enthusiastic greeting gives players a boost even before they start.

Making players feel welcome and wanted gives them a break from other childhood pressures. These feelings also give them encouragement to be there and try their best. Sometimes the most effective coaching techniques are also the simplest.

Getting Better Means Attention to Details

Players don’t just get better. They get better at many small things that add up to an overall better player. For example, passing requires getting better at things like vision, timing, balance, speed and decision making. If players improve in all of these areas, then they become better passers.

For players, it is important to understand how very basic things contribute to their performance in a game. From this understanding, players can start working backward to identify and correct the details that lead to overall improvement. Coaches often ask players to do drills or exercises that may seem irrelevant but may be one of the many details players need for improvement.

John Wooden, a former NCAA college coach who won 10 championships in 12 years, put it best in his book “When you see a successful individual, a champion, a ‘winner,’ you can be sure that you are looking at an individual who pays great attention to the perfection of minor details.”

3 Myths about Nutrition and Your Sports Performance

Many athletes have preconceived notions about what they should be eating in order to perform at a high level. Today we will tackle 3 lingering myths about nutrition so you can make sure your body has what it needs to perform at its best.

1. If you perform at high intensity, your diet must be OK Many athletes believe that if they are performing well and they are feeling good, their diet must be OK. Many of them do not know that if they ate better, meaning regular, balanced meals, their performance could improve 10-15%.* A regular, balanced meal consists of quantity (enough), quality (mixture of good food), and timing (before, during, and after exercise). There is no such thing as the perfect diet, nor is a perfect diet necessary, but a little attention to detail can have a significant, positive impact on performance.
2. Calorie and nutrient intake should remain level all year Your body's needs are always changing depending on the amount of exercise you are putting it through. As your training increases, so are your body's carbohydrate needs. For example, an athlete exercising for one hour requires 2.7 to 3.0 grams of carbohydrate. For two hours, this increases to 3.6 grams. Three hours requires about 4.5 grams. Four hours requires 5.4 to 5.9 grams. Thus, the more you exercise, the more you should make sure you have enough carbohydrates.

   This also works in reverse. In the off-season, many athletes consume the same as they did during the season. This results in athletes reporting to training camp overweight. Make sure you maintain a fine balance between input and output to maximize your performance all year round.

3. The body knows best when it comes to refueling Many athletes believe their body can tell them when to eat and when to drink. The main problem with this is that hunger and thirst can diminish with exercise. By the time your body kicks in to tell you to eat or drink, your nutrient levels are down or your body is already dehydrated. This works the same way before exercise. If you are nervous and do not feel hungry, your performance will reflect the lower level of fuel. The best way to counter both of these is to eat on a healthy, regular schedule regardless of what your body seems to be telling you. A small carb snack after exercise can still be consumed even if the hunger is not there. A few extra sips of water or a sports drink can help even without excessive thirst, and sports drinks or a light carb bar before a workout can keep your nervous stomach fueled. Although bodies are generally right, your brain can intervene and do what is best for your body to refuel, replace, and recover.

*Info from Bonci, T&C Spet. 2001

Nutrition Bonus Link: A great tool to estimate your body fat:
http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/pi.shtml

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