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To help educate people on the most pressing concerns regarding high school and youth sports, a group of AIA Academy experts have compiled fact sheets that provide information on how to create a healthy sport experience. Example topics include general nutrition recommendations for youth athletes, supplement use, sport injury, physical practice, mental practice and substance abuse. All fact sheets and links to further resources can be found at Healthy Sport Information.
In addition to fact sheets, our team of experts is available to answer questions related to youth sport and physical activity. Do you have a question that needs answering? Send us your questions on nutrition, psychology, physiology, strength and conditioning and we'll post the best ones - with an answer from one of our experts posted on this page!
Be sure to check the questions posted on the page below before submitting a new question because one of the experts may have already answered your question. It can take up to several weeks to post answers to new questions received. Please note, the experts do not answer every question and do not answer individual-specific or school-specific questions.
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QUESTION: My daughter, 11, is a very talented athlete. During the game, her focus wanders and she has trouble concentrating. She then is not ready when it is time to make the play. We have told her that she will not be allowed to play if she cannot figure out a way to stay focused during the game because in spite of her talent, she will never be more than a mediocre player if she does not. Her next tournament will be coming up soon and we have told her that she needs to show significant improvement at that tournament or she will have to quit the team. How do I get her to focus?
-Concerned Parent
ANSWER: Although I applaud you encouraging your daughter to be physically active at a young age, your child is 11 years old and as such, her attention will wane from time to time. She is transitioning from a developmental stage where children are naturally drawn to concrete objects, such as the ball. When there is little action or not a concrete object within her vicinity for her to run after, it will be difficult for her to maintain her attention and readiness for the ball. It is a natural aspect of being a child to be interested in many things and have difficulty "focusing" on a single subject for a long duration of time. Even adults have difficulty maintaining attention. However, children are NOT miniature adults, their bodies are still developing and they are learning from their environments. It would be unrealistic to expect a child to display a similar ability to an adult in being able to maintain her attention when there is little action. Try to think back to what it was like to be a child and why you would be interested in sports or physical activity. Was it to be with your friends? Was it to have fun? According to research, these are the most common reasons that children participate in youth sports. From your comments, it appears that you may be unintentionally pushing your child to participate and you may be leading your child to believe that her parents' attention to her depends upon her being a good athlete. Sometimes parents become emotionally involved in their child's sport and what they think is encouragement can be viewed by the child as a form of pressure. Young athletes often find themselves facing the following dilemma:
- If they quit sports, their parents will withdraw support and attention
- If they play sports but do not perform well, they will get negative feedback or comments from their parents
- If they do perform well, they will be treated more as a "pro" instead of as “a child”
Think about the type of relationship that you would like to have with your child and when your daughter is grown, how she will look back upon her childhood experience playing sports. Positive feedback, communication, encouragement, understanding, and support that are not contingent upon the child's performance may help your daughter enjoy her experience more.
QUESTION: Do you have any current information about steroid use with high school student athletes, particularly football players?
- Lynn
ANSWER: Both boys and girls need to know the facts about steroids because using steroids can be very harmful to an adolescent's body. Teens seek steroids for a variety of reasons, so steroid use is a problem not only affecting football players. Below you will find several resources that may help you talk to your teen athlete about the dangers of using steroids:
QUESTION: Is there a standard temperature or range of temperatures when physical activity/athletics should be conducted indoors instead of outdoors?
- Clayton
ANSWER: The question that you pose is a difficult one to answer, considering that Arizona is typically extremely hot throughout the year. Caution should be used when youngsters are physically active in the Arizona heat and steps should be taken to avoid heat-related illness. Children are not little adults and they do not adapt to extreme temperatures as effectively as adults for the following physiological reasons:
- Children have a higher surface area/mass ratio than adults, which allows a greater amount of heat to transfer between the environment and the body.
When being physically active, children produce more metabolic heat per unit of mass than adults because they are not as efficient when moving their bodies.
- Children have a lowered sweating capacity than adults, resulting in a lowered ability to cool their bodies.
- Children have a lowered cardiac output at a given oxygen uptake, which results in a lowered ability to convey heat by blood from the body core to the skin.
In addition, children adjust to heat more slowly (up to twice as long) as adults (Bar-Or, 1983) and they do not instinctively drink enough fluids to replenish those fluids lost during activity. Please refer to the AIA Academy’s online “Healthy Sport Information” fact sheets and “Features” sections for additional information on hydration, heat-related illness, heat strokes, and heat cramps.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Sports Medicine (1991) identified that children with the following conditions are at a potentially high risk for heat stress: obesity, febrile (feverish) state, cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal infection, diabetes, insipidus, diabetes mellitus, chronic heart failure, caloric malnutrition, anorexia nervosa, sweating insufficiency syndrome, and mental retardation.
According to Dr. Robert Pangrazi (1998), the intensity of activities that last 30 minutes or more should be reduced whenever relative humidity and air temperature are above critical levels. When humidity and air temperature exceed the corresponding levels below, the intensity of physical activity should be curtailed and children should be monitored for signs of heat-related stress:
Humidity level (%) Air Temperature (Degrees F)
40 90
50 85
60 80
70 75
80 70
90 65
100 60
Note that Arizona is typically quite humid and hot in the summer months, so parents and teachers should carefully monitor children for heat-related illness whenever children are physically active.
QUESTION: I have teen athletes who are asking me questions about creatine, like how does it work, what exactly it does, and is it safe for them to use. I did not know the answers to this so I told them to hold off on buying or using any until we were able to do some research on it and get some solid answers on it. Could you help me to explain this to them?
-Joseph
RESPONSE: Thank you for your question regarding supplementation and young athletes. Sport dietary supplements can be potentially harmful for adolescent athletes, especially since the substances are not subject to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) testing. Manufacturers of dietary supplements are not required by the FDA to prove the effectiveness of their products or the accuracy of their labeling. Therefore, the safety profiles of these products are largely unknown. Many health care professionals and organizations, including the American College of Sports Medicine, discourage their use in individuals under the age of 18.
Creatine Monohydrate is an amino acid that is produced by the liver and is also available by high-protein foods like red meat, fish, and poultry. Creatine is a compound found in human and animal skeletal muscle, where it helps to fuel energy bursts for explosive muscle contractions. However, short-term side effects of taking creatine supplements include nausea, cramping, stomach pain, diarrhea, dehydration, and a rise in blood pressure. The long-term side effects of creatine supplement usage are not known, but may include liver damage, kidney damage, high blood pressure, or heart problems.
The AIA position statement regarding supplementation is available online at http://www.aiaonline.org for your reference. As with all supplementation, we caution against its use in children and adolescents. We recommend that coaches and parents should discourage youth from using creatine supplements, dietary supplements, and performance enhancing substances while keeping the lines of communication open for young athletes to ask additional questions. Young athletes would benefit most from a well-balanced diet, proper hydration, and age-appropriate physical activity.
QUESTION: My daughter achieved a starting center position, as a sophomore, on our varsity basketball team this season. After a few games that her play wasn't up to her coach's expectations, he told her that he was dropping her to JV. Was this the right thing to do?
-Concerned Parents
RESPONSE: Your question is a very good question in that it highlights the importance of communication between players, parents, and coaches. There are many things that are taken into account when coaches are deciding who starts the game, who comes into the game off the bench, who plays on Varsity, or who plays on JV. We would suggest that your daughter first ask the coach what specifically she can do to improve as a player.
Although it may initially be difficult for her to approach the coach, suggest that she seek the coach’s honest advice and be open to working on those aspects of her game that may need improvement. Often times, coaches are very willing to give players specific suggestions or instructions so that they can then improve their skills. Also remind your daughter that although she might be upset right now, this can be a great opportunity for her to refine her skills and gain added confidence, which will benefit her game in the long run. If she focuses her attention on those aspects of her game that can be strengthened and improved, she will soon see that the playing experience in JV might not only improve her technical skills, but might also be a lot of fun when she sees that improvement.
The important thing is to keep the situation in perspective: Even Michael Jordan hit bumps along the road to basketball greatness. Jordan was actually cut from his high school basketball team in Wilmington, North Carolina, his sophomore year. He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship...along the way to becoming perhaps the best basketball player to ever play the game. He persevered after his initial set-back and strengthened his basketball skills through many hours of practice, which aided him along his path to becoming a better basketball player. If she takes a positive approach to the situation and views playing on the JV team as an opportunity to work on her skills so that she can become a better player in the upcoming years, she will soon see that this can be a great opportunity to gain valuable experience, while also having fun.
QUESTION: I am a high school athlete who also plays club sport. Because of my schedule, I often get home late at night. I know nutrition is very important, but I'm not sure what and when I should be eating before and after practice.
-Tiffany
RESPONSE: The timing of meals is important and when possible, should fit around practice and competition. Before practice it is important to leave at least an hour in between eating and practicing. If you practice after school, a snack between lunch and practice is important. More important is eating after practice. Because practice lowers the carbohydrate level in the body, it is vital that these stores are replaced for the next practice session. The most effective time to replace this carbohydrates is within 30 minutes of the end of the session, as this is when the muscles are most receptive to taking on the fuel. Other high carbohydrates, low fat snacks are also useful for this period or the ride home. It is best to have another meal when at home, provided it is not too late. Fast food, although convenient, is not a good option, due to the high fat content and poor nutritional value.
For more information about nutrition and sport performance, visit the Healthy Sport Information page of the AIA Academy website.
QUESTION: My coach has told me that goal setting will help me play better. How do I set goals?
-Andrew
RESPONSE: Your coach is right. Goal setting has been shown to influence the performance of athletes of varying ages and abilities. It is a technique that all coaches and athletes should understand and use. However, it is often misused and misunderstood. A number of guidelines should be used when setting goals. The acronym SMART can be used to help in the goal-setting process:
Specific: Setting specific goals are better than "do your best" goals.
Measurable: Express goals in terms of measurable outcomes ( i.e., increase your shooting percentage by 10% in the next three months).
Adjustable: Goals should be adjusted (made more or less difficult) when there is an injury setback, a plateau in development, or goals are achieved sooner than expected.
Realistic: Set difficult, yet realistic, goals.
Time based: Set a date when the goal will be achieved. In addition, set short, intermediate, and long-term goals. Visualize a staircase with the long-term goal representing the final step, the first step your current level, and each successive step a progression of short-term goals.
Like all mental skills, goal setting is not a magical formula that guarantees success. It is a tool that when combined with a high work ethic and good choices can assist an athlete in his/her journey of personal and athletic growth.
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