For young athletes, breakfast is an important meal, but it’s also the most likely to get skipped in order to finish that homework assignment or catch the bus. And as a busy parent, you may simply find yourself struggling to make a healthy breakfast for your athlete as you rush to get [...]
Hot weather is coming, and that means your athletes are at a higher risk of becoming dehydrated during practices and games. And even mild dehydration can impact athletic performance, as well as an athlete’s general health. Losing just two percent of an athlete’s bodyweight through sweat loss can change how an athlete [...]
As an athlete, sports nutrition and hydration can get incredibly confusing. Are you supposed to be drinking plain water, or sipping a sports drink, or chugging a protein shake? Do you really need electrolytes…and if so, which electrolytes matter most? Unfortunately, the answers to sports nutrition questions tend to be nuanced, and [...]
As with volunteer umpires and referees, volunteer coaches are a critical part of keeping youth teams intact and giving kids the opportunity to play. Unfortunately, because of poor treatment of these volunteers, many end up quitting. In fact, in the U.S. in recent years, whole seasons have been put in jeopardy because of a [...]
Kevin Chapman, PhD Mental wellness can be difficult for parents, coaches, and other guardians to cope with when it comes to young athletes. Is a bad grade on a test just because an athlete didn’t study, or is it a sign of something deeper? Is an athlete who’s been tired [...]
Unfortunately, young athletes may find themselves on the sidelines for days, weeks, or even full seasons after concussions. These injuries can be frustrating since there’s no simple rehabilitation timeline, and as the brain heals, the body might feel ready for sport when the brain is not. As a parent or coach, you [...]
Maybe you’ve heard your coach tell you to ‘walk it off’ or ’shake it off’ when something went wrong during a game, or you lost a critical competition. While that advice is usually coming from a well-intentioned place, unfortunately, it makes many athletes feel like it’s not right to feel sad, mad, [...]
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 [...]
Assumptions and biases are unfortunately impossible to avoid entirely—and to say that you don’t have any around race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, disability, or any other identities, makes it impossible for you to grow as a person. As a coach, your teams almost certainly contain a diverse multitude of athletes with different [...]
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 [...]
As an athlete, it’s recommended that you eat every three hours throughout the day, so it’s important to find snacks that travel easily, offer the right nutrients, and actually taste good too. When it comes to nutrition, the goal is to find snacks that fill you up and keep you energized through [...]
You may have heard of inflammation in popular news media lately and wondered if it could impact your athlete. Or maybe your athlete has been feeling more sore than usual and you’re not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Inflammation sounds scary, but for athletes, it’s a natural [...]
You might think of bone and joint health as something older adults have to contend with as they age, but in reality, childhood and adolescence is the time to lay the foundation for bone and joint health. In fact, the National Institutes of Health points out that “up to 90 percent of [...]
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 [...]
Struggling to get lunch packed on hectic mornings? If you have a young athlete on the go, you know providing a good meal for them midday is critical to their ability to get through practice. But it’s tough to make time for meal prep and packing a tasty lunch when you’re already busy.Here, [...]
You've probably heard the hype about collagen supplements. While collagen material can be used medically to treat burns or serious wounds, should you be taking collagen in supplement form? Dr. Amy Eichner, PhD, the Special Advisor on Drug Reference and Supplements at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, weighs in with the hard truth [...]
As your athlete gets older and more competitive in sport, you may be wondering if adding protein powder into their daily routine is a good idea. But before you go out and buy the biggest tub of protein that you can find in the grocery store, there are a few things you [...]
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, [...]
If you bought an Instant Pot (or any type of pressure cooker) in the hope that it would simplify your life and cooking, but now it rarely gets used, then this is the article for you. When dealing with packed schedules for kids in different sports, plus your own work and other [...]
Setting team goals for the season or the entire year should be a group effort—not a coach-driven spreadsheet or list. Each athlete on your team will come into the season with different goals, motivations, and values, and as a coach, part of your job is to help the team blend the overarching [...]
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 [...]