Building Confidence in Young Athletes

Teams can keep score, even when kids are young, and the players will still have fun and learn physical and mental game skills.That's the message from former Walt Disney Studios Executive Sasha Graham, a sports mom, former youth sports coach and author of “Whitney Wins Everything.”Keeping score means young athletes learn how to cope with mistakes and losses. And they're better team players, she argues.

Baseball can be a "self-esteem destroying sport" because mistakes are a big part of the game, says Josh Thole, former catcher for the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.But parents can help ensure the sport doesn't hurt their kids' self-esteem, he says. First of all, they shouldn't focus on mistakes, but instead, should concentrate on helping sports kids move past mistakes.

Pickleball’s popularity is growing quickly, with many schools offering it for the first time. The sport is easy to learn, doesn't require much equipment and is accessible to kids of all income levels. It offers the opportunity to build confidence and make new friends, say Mike Nielsen, the AAU’s new pickleball chief, and InPickleball president Richard Porter.

Stereotypes about girls in sports hurt girls' confidence, dreams and performance, says Donny DeDonatis III, CEO of the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), a former pro athlete and the dad of twins in youth sports.He describes his worries about how such stereotypes affect his own daughter, age 7, and what he's doing to ensure girls and women have equal opportunities in sports.

What are the habits of supportive sports parents?Sharkie Zartman, a college professor, UCLA and USA national team volleyball athlete, author, coach and radio host explains how to best support young athletes.

A study by the Aspen Institute and Utah State University–commissioned by TeamSnap–revealed what parents want most from youth sports and how the pandemic affected kids’ ability to meet those goals. Team Snap’s survey showed that parents, most of all, want kids to have fun, said Peter Frintzilas, CEO of TeamSnap, a youth sports management app. Only 54 percent of parents said their kids are still having fun. Only 52 percent said that participating in youth sports is having a positive impact on kids’ mental health. And 52 percent said they felt like their young athletes were performing at pre-pandemic levels, meaning they hadn’t improved. How can parents help kids whose confidence and performance were undermined during the pandemic?

Coming out of the pandemic provides a much-needed opportunity to re-design youth sports in a way that provides kids with more fun and human connection, and ultimately, more confidence.That’s the word from Meredith Whitley, PhD, associate professor in Adelphi’s School of Health Sciences and co-editor of the Journal of Sport for Development. She provides tips for building connection and giving kids more control of their experience. She also suggests ways to create an inclusive and supportive team culture.

Communicating and connecting with sports kids is an important bonus of youth sports. Harley Rotbart, pediatrician, sports parent and author of the bestselling No Regrets Parenting says it’s important for parents to take advantage of the opportunities to connect with kids while helping them participate in youth sports. The car ride is one great opportunity, he says. During this “unprecedented” pandemic, it’s also critical to help sports kids cope with the challenges of social distancing and political battles at home, in school and at sports over mask wearing and vaccinations, he says.

In their efforts to help sports kids develop a growth mindset, parents and coaches should keep in mind that giving too many compliments can get kids "stuck" thinking they don't need to grow in certain areas, says Michaela Renee Johnson, bestselling author and a top iTunes podcaster with her ”But Why” podcast which encourages people to look at life with a growth mindset. She’s also a licensed therapist.

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