Coaching isn’t easy…there is pressure from parents, administrators, and athletes – all with different agenda and needs. These days, helping athletes through mental health struggles and tough times can also be part of your role as a coach. But your mental health matters too. Now more than ever, it’s easy to end up [...]
Creating strong boundaries is an important and often overlooked piece of the coaching dynamic. A lack of boundaries can not only impact a team’s success, but also lead a coach to experience burnout and negative mental health effects. Here, TrueSport Expert Kevin Chapman, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of The Kentucky Center [...]
TrueSport Expert Nadia Kyba As an athlete, you may have grown up with a ‘win at all costs’ mentality, and the idea of quitting anything was frowned upon. Or maybe you feel like leaving a sport will disappoint a parent or coach. If you’re debating your future in a sport [...]
Kevin Chapman, PhD As a busy coach, you likely haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about your own mental health and wellness. Sure, you’ve told your athletes to seek professional help if they need it, or maybe even spent time doing group activities with your team to promote mental [...]
Have you ever stifled the urge to shout at a parent, referee, or player during a big game? As a coach, you probably know that it’s important to be a good role model for your young athletes. But what does that look like when you’re on the sidelines at a big game [...]
If your high school team is from Florida where you train at sea level year-round, you might be feeling intimidated when you hear that the National Championships will be held high in a mountain town in Colorado. On the other hand, players from Northern California may start to feel nervous when competing [...]
Returning to sport from illness of any kind can be tricky, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s only gotten more difficult. But even a simple cold or stomach bug can leave an athlete sidelined without a clear idea of when it’s safe or advisable to return to sport. Here, Dr. Michele LaBotz, [...]
Kevin Chapman, PhD Young athletes face tough transitions on a regular basis. Whether it's something big, like a move to a new school, or just the start of a season with a new coach, these transitions can be significant sources of anxiety. But you can help your young athlete navigate [...]
As parents and as coaches, we often understand that there's value in pursuing a goal, even when it seems unattainable. Every hero's journey encounters some moment of adversity, some chance that they won't reach their goal. And even losing out on a goal has value because it instills resilience. Deborah Gilboa, [...]
Even from a young age, the sports children play and the teams they join can shape them into the adults that they will become. Here, three TrueSport Ambassadors are sharing how sport has changed their lives, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. If you’re a parent or coach of a young [...]
This last Games cycle has taught many athletes and coaches the importance of prioritizing mental health as much as we prioritize physical health in sport. And for some athletes, that may mean sitting out major competitions—as gymnast Simone Biles elected to do in the Tokyo 2020 Games—and it could even mean quitting [...]
Youth sports may seem expensive, especially if you're on a tight budget. Between team fees, extra lessons, and all the gear needed for a growing athlete, it adds up fast. And with the holidays coming, the list of sports-themed needs and wants is likely getting longer and longer. But sports don't need to [...]
If you have a diverse group of student athletes, you may be wondering how to best support all of them at the same time in an increasingly complex social environment. These days, coaches are often expected to understand a huge variety of athlete experiences and use those experiences to help their athletes [...]
Many parents get into coaching because they have a child in the sport. It can be a fun, rewarding experience for both of you, but as you might have realized, it can also be a challenge. As a parent and a coach, it can be difficult to establish expectations and boundaries that [...]
As a coach, you may have suggested icing a sore ankle or taking a hot bath after a grueling practice to alleviate aches and pains. But some of the age-old recommendations around ice and heat have been debunked. Ice and heat still have a place in an athlete’s recovery, though, and can [...]
Supplement Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Have you evaluated your diet, met with a physician, and fine-tuned your training program only to find that you really do need to use a supplement? Now it’s time to decide which supplements might actually [...]
Supplement Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 At some point, almost every athlete has wondered if they need to use supplements to perform at their best, whether it’s vitamins for general wellness, whey protein for muscle growth, or a B6 pill for [...]
Supplement Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Many athletes believe they need dietary supplements to perform at their best, but what do you think? Is this trust deserved? While it’s true that some supplements can be helpful in some circumstances, often, the [...]
Supplement Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Now that you know supplements are regulated post-market, you’re probably aware that all supplements are not created equal. Some are manufactured in safe environments with high quality control standards and then tested and certified by [...]
Coaching your child's team or coaching your child in an individual sport can be an extremely difficult task, albeit an incredibly rewarding one. It's not a position that should be taken lightly, and there are a few things to remember before you start. Here's what a group of TrueSport experts and coaches [...]
It’s been a full year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, forcing coaches, parents, and athletes to change how they viewed team sports. Entire seasons, including practices and competitions, were canceled, and for many, the future of youth sport is still uncertain. The pandemic forced coaches to quickly figure out new ways to [...]
When it comes to youth sports, we’ve all seen the shocking videos of parents letting their emotions fuel violent outbursts against other parents, coaches, and even young officials. But what if that angry outburst comes from one of the athletes on the field? How would you as a coach or parent help [...]
Supplement Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Did you know supplements aren’t regulated like medications? Did you know that a ‘natural’ supplement doesn’t mean a safer supplement? Did you know that you can’t trust supplement labels? Due to post-market regulation, all supplements [...]