A global pandemic has hit hard the sports practices as socially distanced with limited children and contact, resulting in picking up and discovering that rest means active rest and not passive. Likewise, sitting on a couch playing video games, kids are neither willing nor prepared to take active participation in sports. We have started witnessing a rise in overuse injuries from deconditioning and lack of preparedness.
Problems resulting from homesickness:
Parents are forced to multitask at home due to the COVID-19 situation. They work, entertain kids; maintain the physical and emotional wellbeing of kids. Nevertheless, this has ultimately added to their responsibility for academic oversight. And now, when children attend sports camps, families try to recreate their backyards and avoid attending viewing them play. Kids spending hours at home resulted in restricted activities for them. They are forced to repeatedly do similar tasks time and again. This has limited their physical activity resulting in a lack of fitness and health. Kids lost readiness to return to sports as it endangers them with lots of injuries and sprains.
There has been a significant rise in injuries among young league players. Adding to this, the young player’s poor technique is going unnoticed. Their mistakes remain inattentive and uncorrected. In absence of coaches, the monitoring of the activities is minimal. Besides, there is a lack of safety equipment or whenever available its proper usage. It’s an overwhelming task to keep the kids on track to get back to sports. Parents need the best way to aid their kids to stay on course to be prepared; here are a few of the tips to do so.
Encourage parents to set goal-oriented objectives:
Parent-child relations can be daunting if attempting to transition to coach-athlete relations. It’s safe to advocate for children for fun and enjoyment rather than actively do coaching. Encourage your child to become goal-oriented along with their coaches. Set objectives for their fitness and health for routines. Dr. Megan Babkes, Professor of sports and Exercise Science at the University of Northern Colorado recommends handy guidelines for establishing objectives. She advocates a four-pronged approach, long-term goals, intermediate goals, short-term objectives, and lastly, process goals. Process objectives assist athletes to stay grounded and humble in the moments of building confidence.
Read more: 6 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR YOUTH SPORTS COACHES
Keep few things in mind:
Dr. Babkes also suggests athletes take a multidisciplinary approach for improvement. She says set objectives beyond improving performance and scoring goals. Athletes should set aside practice goals, mental games, and nutrition objectives. He suggests ways to aid athlete to stay on track for participating in sports when they start again:
Create diversity in activities:
The time constraint on every activity is vital to keep children active and strong. If a child complains about an activity, alter the activity. The change will keep the spirit and interest of children alive in sports. Always remember rest days are very important, even at home. They should have a set schedule to play and rest so that the mind doesn’t get exhausted. The toughest psychological impacts on kids are depression and a sense of despair and isolation. Kids require friends and being away causes distress. For it, social gatherings can do wonders.
Conclusion:
Uncertainty is guaranteed with the pandemic so, there is a lack of stability about the future and even the present. There is a lack of certainty and stability all around. When sports will return to normal is a big question. Keep in mind; we all are together in this. Coaches, doctors, trainers, educationalists, all are giving their best to keep young athletes healthy and fit.
Take a deep breath and continue to shower your love, affection, and concern towards your children. This is the biggest motivation for them which helps them to do what’s right for them.