Parents of Elite Athletes Must Play Role in Preventing Overtraining

By Dr.Lorraine Williams, TrackMom.com

Many parents and coaches of gifted, talented child athletes entertain dreams of first of Junior Olympic Gold for their young athletes and then future Olympic Gold.

A watchful eye needs to be taken with elite child athletes, said Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, during a session at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. Thompson shared, “The focus has to be first and foremost on the well-being of the child,” this can create both physical and psychological pressures. One sign that a child is being pushed too hard or too far is when they start to say things like they don’t want to go to practice or they want to quit their sport. If this type of feedback from a child becomes persistent, parents need to listen, and take a step back to consider what is best for the child.”

The psychological pressure as well as physical demand that may ensue needs to continually be monitored, and if need backed off at times to protect an athlete from injury. Being prepared with a comprehensive health team in the event of injury is paramount to recovery.

“Catastrophic injury can usually be prevented if coaches pay attention to what is happening with a child athlete during a training session,” said Thompson. “Some kids train six or seven hours a day. Coaches need to be sure the children are getting proper rest, and also that they have proper nutrition.”  He notes that good nutrition is important in injury prevention, as it can help build and maintain healthy bones and muscles.

“I think we have to keep in mind that child athletes are first of all children,” said Thompson.  “They are not adult professional athletes. They need adult guidance as they engage in their sports, but they also need to be protected.”

As we boldly move heaven and earth for our youth athletes we also need to make sure we have taken care of the basics of rest, nutritition, and recovery and injury injury prevention.