The Culture of Snacks - Part 2

In my previous post I discussed whether or not it was necessary to offer snacks to children in youth sports.  Assuming we all agree for the moment that there is no harm to offering our kids a snack at the end of play, then this begs the question of what kind of snacks should we offer?

One parent, who has a background in nutrition and athletic training, suggested avoiding sugary and processed foods in favor of healthy snacks.  This parent was particularly concerned about the link between processed foods and the rates of obesity, cancer, and other diseases.

I felt a bit remiss as a parent and a coach that I had never thought of this before.   It also made me wonder why the concept was not more prevalent in youth sports?   I was also surprised when the idea was met with disinterest and in one case out right resistance.

Obesity is a rising crisis in the country.  The USA now has one of the highest rates of obesity among all developed nations. Childhood obesity in particular is something we as parents and coaches should be concerned with.   Information of the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states that:

"Obesity now affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States - triple the rate from just one generation ago."

The CDC also makes the following suggestions for parents to help fight childhood obesity:

 

Provide more fruits and vegetables, limit foods high in fat and sugar, and prepare healthier foods at family meals.

Serve water instead of sugar drinks.

Encourage physical activity every day.

 

It therefore seems counterproductive to give our players unhealthy snacks at the end of an athletic event, considering we are actually trying to promote staying active to encourage our kids to stay fit and healthy.   Also if we are going to prepare healthier options for our family meals, why not at game time too?

Choosing to offer healthy alternatives to processed foods gets kids into healthy habits at a young age.  In doing so we help curb bad habits now, and provide our children healthy nutritional habits that will stay with them as they develop into young adults.

The Culture of Snacks - Part 1

A recent debate broke out between the parents of my 5 year old's soccer team.   As the debate raged on one voice reached me clearly above the din and it asked pointedly "Why do we need to give the kids snacks anyway?".  Although its intent was to be facetious, it made me stop for a moment and think about this culture of snacks in youth sports.

After I engaged this fellow and asked him what he meant, he recalled to me his childhood bereft of snacks.  "We were lucky to have water and orange slices"  So why is it ours kids require a snack after a 1 hour game? 

I thought about my own 2 children,  my 5 year who gets a snack after every game and my 9 year who has since left the snack culture behind.  I realized I had lost track of when my older child stopped getting snacks at the end of a game and it peeked my curiosity as to what others thought might be the appropriate age to forgo the post game snack or if snacks were need at all.

If we do indeed give snacks out after games, what is the benefit if any?  What about the drawbacks? Are we pre-conditioning our children in someway to bad eating habits? 

Please tell me what you think, do our kid's need snacks after games?  If so why and at what age do you think this no longer applies?

Pitfalls to avoid as parent coaches

Here are 5 tips to help parent coaches be a better parent.

1.  Do not show favoritism to your child
This is one of the more common pitfall's that I encounter as a youth sports coach.   The best advice I can give is to create team rules and enforce team rules equally for all players.  Favoring one child above another can cause resentment and harm him or her socially.

2.  Likewise do not be overly hard on your child.
As a parent-coach it is easy to fall in to the trap of over-compensating for perceived favoritism by being too critical of your child.   Unnecessarily pressuring any child can result in negative outcomes, and hurt your parent-child relationship.

3.  Do not hold you child to a higher standard then the other players
This is much like being to hard on your child, but for a different reason.   Here the coaching parent may feel that their own child is some how a representation of his or her coaching abilities.   As a result you demand perfection while forgetting that your child is just that, a child. 

That leads us to the next tip.

4.  Leave it on the field
Try not to bring the game home with you.  Coaching critiques belong in practices and games, not the dinner table. If your child wants to discuss something about the game, try to discuss it as his/her parent not as the coach.

5.  Understand your child is not you.
You child is playing, not you.  The glory days of travel soccer, HS football or state championship swimming are well behind you.  Simply put, do not be disappointed if your child does not excel in the same way you did.  Keep the focus on the child doing his or her personal best and having FUN, rather than how the child measures up to your abilities.

Four Tips for Coaching Kids

I dug up this article from Feb 2011, posted over at Draft Day Suit.   It's short and to the point.

Follow this link to read the full article:  Four tips for coaching kids sports

Kick Off!

The fall season is perhaps my most favorite time of the year, so for me its an apt time to "kick off" my blog. I mean there is so much to love about the fall;  cooler weather (after a sweltering summer) brings cheaper energy bills, trees changing colors, Halloween, and of course FOOTBALL! 

Football is my favorite sport of all time, a classic battle of skill & will.  Oh how I love thee football! Let me count the ways, the NFL (Go Giants!) and College (Go Rutgers!), of course Fantasy Football (Go ME!) and last but not least is coaching a local youth flag football team.   The last will be the focus of this blog for the next 8-10 weeks, as I share my experiences and thoughts on my second season at the helm.