TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer If your athlete is struggling to fall asleep, stay asleep through the night, or is dealing with some mild feelings of anxiety, tweaking their nutrition habits can help. Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, offers a few simple [...]
Jennifer Royer, PhD Youth sport has many stakeholders, ranging from the athletes themselves to their caregivers, coaches, sports organizers, and communities. While all those roles come with their own challenges, the role of schools or communities in helping to develop healthy youth sports can be especially complex. A recent recommendations [...]
Athletes today have more inputs and reasons for being overwhelmed than ever before. Even in youth sport, the demands on their time are plentiful: travel teams, school teams, tournaments, required time in the gym for strength training, expectations of extra coaching in the offseason, and often, year-round play. Then, there are school [...]
As a coach, you play a large role in your athletes’ lives, and helping them set realistic, meaningful goals as a team and as individuals is one of the most important parts of a successful season. While athletes should feel ownership over both individual and team goals, you can help them optimize [...]
While it’s tempting to set all your goals for the season around specific athletic performances, goals that are oriented around wellness can make you both a stronger athlete and a healthier human. Simple changes to your daily routine, like making more time for sleep or eating the right snack after practice, can [...]
As national statistics and stories continue to unveil, young athletes are in crisis in the U.S. right now, thanks in large part to a plethora of pressures placed on them. With this in mind, how can you best support their mental wellness while helping them grow as people and athletes? Here, one [...]
TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer The holidays can be a dietary minefield, especially for student-athletes who are focused on eating a healthy diet. Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, shares some tips on how to approach holidays and vacations mindfully so that athletes [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Parents have the tendency to want to ‘fix’ things for their athletes by offering their help or their opinion on challenging situations. But while that may feel necessary and satisfying, it’s rarely the best way to improve your athlete’s ability to be resilient. Board-certified family physician and [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD As a coach, your goals probably extend beyond getting your team to win games. Most coaches are also trying to teach athletes how to think for themselves, navigate challenging situations, and take on positions of leadership. All those life skills require athletes to develop resilience, both as [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Building your resilience in the face of adversity is an important part of developing as an athlete and as a human. Passing that knowledge and these practices on to your teammates can also help the team navigate tough moments and get through challenging situations! Here, board-certified family [...]
More conversations are happening about the importance of mental wellness for student-athletes, and mental health is increasingly talked about in similar ways as physical health. But how are communities, schools, trainers, parents, coaches, and even the athletes themselves best able to support mental wellbeing within youth sport? It’s not an issue that [...]
TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer When chilly fall weather hits, there’s no meal that’s more comforting and satisfying than a hearty soup or stew. And with your athlete in the middle of a competitive season and busy school year, soups are also a simple option for parents who are simply too [...]
TrueSport Expert Nadia Kyba Unfortunately, workaholism is a term that’s no longer reserved for adults, and our experts are finding that young athletes and student-athletes can easily fall into this trap too. Workaholic tendencies are often praised as hustle, grit, or enthusiasm, but over time, these tendencies can lead to [...]
TrueSport Expert Nadia Kyba Social media usage amongst young athletes is all but guaranteed, and as a coach, you have the difficult task of ensuring that your athletes are using it to enhance team culture rather than spread negativity. It’s tempting to ignore how athletes approach social media, but because [...]
TrueSport Expert Nadia Kyba You’ve probably heard of self-care, but have you heard the term ‘communal care’? As a member of a team, whether you’re in a leadership role or not, you can be practicing communal care to help your teammates—and to help yourself in the process. But how do [...]
Concussion research is a rapidly evolving field, and over the past several years, there have been a lot of changes in recommendations regarding concussions and their treatment. Newer research shows that some prior recommendations, including prolonged periods of rest, were not helpful for recovery. Given that concussion treatment today is very different [...]
TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer Cooking for hungry young athletes can get expensive fast. But there are a few simple ways to get smart about saving, even as food prices continue to stay high. Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, shares a few [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Many parents mistakenly think that setting rules like ‘respecting your elders’ is enough when it comes to teaching kids and teens about respect. But what exactly does respect mean, and what does it look like in the real world? As with many things in life, the best [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD As a coach, you likely have certain assumptions around receiving respect from your athletes. However, when was the last time you really considered what respect means to you—and how your athletes define it? Respectful behaviors might seem obvious to you, but often, what you consider signs of [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD As a young athlete, you may struggle to ask for respect from your coach, your peers, and even your parents. For example, you might need your coach to communicate feedback differently or you may want your teammates to stop using a particular nickname. Here, board-certified family physician [...]
As a parent, you may not realize that your young athlete’s school or sport program may employ an athletic trainer. In fact, you may have never even heard the term “athletic trainer” before! These trainers serve an important role in your athlete’s development, and they can be your athlete’s greatest advocate in [...]
Are you finding that some of the athletes you coach are suffering from stress fractures? Perhaps you’re hearing about athletes from other sports at your school also suffering from stress fractures. If so, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, stress fractures are very common in young athletes particularly in runners, dancers and female endurance [...]
Being an athlete comes with a certain element of risk: Some sports are more injury-prone than others, but any athlete can potentially develop an acute or chronic injury. Many injuries are preventable, though. Here, Dr. Michele LaBotz, a TrueSport Expert and sports medicine physician, explains how you can be your own greatest [...]
For young athletes, maintaining a positive body image is difficult at the best of times, but when a competitive team atmosphere is added into the mix, that positivity can become even harder. No matter how much you talk about the importance of pulling together as a team, your athletes are going to [...]
TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer Calcium is the mineral that is most critical for bone health, no matter an athlete’s age. But is your athlete getting enough calcium in their daily diet? It can be tricky to make sure that they are eating enough to hit the 1,300-milligram per day recommendation, [...]