Tell me if this is you or has been you: “Mom or Dad, be my (fill in the sport) coach this year, please!” You have no clue about much in that sport much less any kind of true fitness knowledge, yet now you’re in charge of 10-15 kids and they expect you to know and show them all how to be professionals. So you ask another parent to volunteer and be your trusted assistant, maybe they have some kind of sports and/or fitness knowledge. Somewhere in your mind you remember your football or PE teacher who coached football, and make the kids do the same warmups you did in high school. The recreation district gave you a book to read and use to teach the sport and some drills, but who has time for that? Each practice you hope nobody gets hurt, no parents yell at you, your kid still talks to you, and you go undefeated by some miracle.
Unfortunately this scenario plays out all over the country, in every sport, every season of every year. What is being done to educate volunteer parents on fitness and age appropriate exercises so kids keep coming back past the age of 13? The answer is not much to nothing at all. The majority of kids do not start at a travel team level and do not advance to that level. Most kids just want to have fun with some friends and winning comes later. With all of the issues dealing with government, recreation district leaders do not invest in providing volunteer coaches with the proper tools to teach kids how to be overall better athletes and develop a love for all sports.
As we all know, the more educated you are in a subject the greater the appreciation you have for it. It is about time recreation districts provide a way for volunteer coaches to be better and have more confidence in leading their teams. With the technology of devices today, a systematic approach to age appropriate fitness can be provided along with the old handouts on a specific sport. That is what my company, Movement Academy, is working on with a sports complex in Hammond, LA. No infrastructure needs to be invested, and all coaches in all sports benefit. Kids are smarter because their brains are stimulated properly, they will stick to sports longer, less injuries occur, and more revenue is generated as a result of all the above.
Recreational sports are the backbones of communities. Kids from different schools meet each other and develop friendships, parents develop new friendships, and lifelong memories are made. It is truly about having fun, learning socialization skills, and having new experiences by playing a variety of sports. Suggest to your rec district leaders to invest in providing volunteer coaches better tools. Everyone wins in the end. For a free report on how fundamental movements improve cognitive ability and reduce injury, call 985-276-9394. Leave your name and email address and the report will be sent to you FREE. You have no obligation to purchase anything.
Everything starts on the grassroots level. Let’s get this movement going today!
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