National Youth Sports Program To Breakthrough Fears: Part 2
Channel: Mental Toughness Trainer
Date: 2012-06-05

http://www.mentaltoughnesstrainer.com

National Youth Sports Program to Breakthrough Fears Part 2

So if a young child is feeling bad about himself or crying in his room after a game, does it sound like a good idea to yell or tell them what they did wrong? Not, if your goal is for your kids to have fun and help their personal development.  Clearly, some youth sports programs are not serving our kids or building confidence, which is one of the primary reasons parents have their kids play sports.

The Mental Toughness Academy has embarked on an important mission to teach the only real protection from negativity and abuse -- building a child's SELF CONFIDENCE. If your child has confidence, they will be able to hear criticism with perspective, so they don't get hurt and they bounce back easily from mistakes and setbacks.

Our goal is to help kids in sports feel confident, so they can receive the tremendous benefits that playing sports offers.  Also so they will be protected from the hurts and destructive comments that can come from abusive coaches, parents and even teammates. 

How can kids in sports develop that confidence?  

There are several ways parents can help their children by giving them unconditional encouragement and a bigger perspective on playing their sport. 

There are many excellent national programs for coaches and parents to learn how to positively influence their kid's sports participation. Here's a few for starters: 

The National Alliance for Youth Sports (link to: http://www.nays.org -target new, open in new window) does a great job of teaching parents, coaches and administrators how to make kids' sports safe, fun and healthy. 

The National Youth Sports organization (link to: http://www.nysonline.org/-target new, open in new window) is another resource for kids in the 5 Southwestern states.  

The National Council of Youth Sports (link to http://www.ncys.org/  target new, open in new window) has some excellent resources for parents and coaches. 

While these resources are helpful, parents can't count on their child's coach to have taken or "buy into" any of these training.  

Parents' helping their child build up their self-confidence is really the best assurance they can have, that they will be able to overcome adversity and be successful in their sport and in their life. 

To start, parents need to create a safe place for their kids to air their fears and insecurities.  Mental Toughness Academy put out an ebook called The 10 Commandments For Being A Great Sports Parent to advice parents on establishing positive open communications and creating safe environments for kids to share their feelings.

In order for parents to understand their child's insecurities, they need to remember that the number one priority for a teen or pre-teen is to fit in.  If parents notice their child is being less social, they need to find out why.  If they hear "excuses" for not going to practice, then it's time to have a heart to heart talk with them to get to the bottom of it. 

Visit http://www.teenmentaltoughness.com to download FREE: 
"The 10 Commandments For A Great Sports Parent" ebook
and "Master The Pressure" a GAME-CHANGING guided visualization for teen athletes.