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Youth Sports and Self Esteem March 16, 2008

Posted by Darrell in : Healthy For Life, Just For Mom , add a comment

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Building the self esteem of children should be what sports is about.  Through varying degrees of success children grow and learn what it takes to be a great person, teammate and friend.  

Here are my 3 Keys to Building Self Esteem.

  1. It has to be Fun.
  2. Proper Coaching and Teaching.
  3. Confidence Breeds Success.

Introducing these keys are fundamental to having a great sports experience.

Fun... If they are having fun they will listen better.  If they are listening better they will learn more.  The more they learn the more confidence they will have in what they are doing.  Keep it simple and they can and will have success.  Just know at an early age fun is the key to any healthy activity.

Proper Coaching and Teaching… How kids are treated in their initial sports experience usually stays with them for a long time.  Teaching the kids the rules and the basic fundamentals of the sport are very important at this age.  The younger they learn the fundamentals the sooner they can start working on what it takes to get really good.  If their coach builds a solid foundation with fundamentals you will see your child’s self esteem grow. That will lead to more confidence.  That confidence then starts to spill over to other aspects of their life. 

Confidence Breeds Success … I am often asked, what’s the difference between self esteem and confidence?  That is a great question.  To me they go hand in hand.  I believe it starts with self esteem.  Self esteem is how you look at yourself.  If you see yourself having success then you work on things that will enhance your chance at success.  If you are negative and everything is a fight then it is difficult to ever reach your full potential.  Being coach-able and teachable gives your child a better chance to learn the skills it takes to have a great sports experience.  

Self Esteem builds Confidence, Confidence leads to Success and Success builds even more Self Esteem.  All three are equally important in building a life long work ethic.  Work Ethic is what we are hoping to teach childen through sports, the right way to do things. 

Mom Tip:  When your child is young encourage them to ask the coach any question that they may have.  Kids sometimes feel stupid if they think they are the only one who doesn’t know something.  If you see your child is a little confused make sure to talk to the coach after practice to clear up any questions.  The longer they go not knowing what to do the farther they get behind the other kids. 

God Bless

Darrell

Let The Kids Play ( Part 3) March 5, 2008

Posted by Darrell in : Healthy For Life, Just For Mom , 1 comment so far

Building Block No. 3

IT’S YOU !

That’s right I said it.  It’s You.

Of the 3 Building Blocks this is definitely the most important.  

The foundation for a successful future starts at home.  I don’t care what you call home or who calls who what. 

Money can’t buy what it takes to be successful.

What it takes to be successful comes from the heart and you can’t buy that.

Self Esteem, Confidence, Work Ethic, Willingness to Fail and Learning How to Win and Lose all starts at home.  Whoever has the power to influence our children controls what and how they think about these issues.  These issues control about 95% of your child’s thinking and how they respond to different situations.  If YOU are the greatest influence in their life then you have a major role in molding and shaping how they see the world.

Please stop and look at yourself, where do you stand on these issues? 

I found out the hard-way, through my life and through my kids, that life’s lessons are either Taught or Caught. 

Make sure You’re the teacher, before they catch life’s lessons from influences you can’t control.

When I work with Elite Athletes that have a chance to go to college or even play professionally most of the time I spend with them is preparing them mentally to handle all of the issues we have discussed in this post. 

So ask yourself how do you impact your child’s…

I will be tackling all these issues in future posts.  If you understand what your child is thinking and what they are looking for out of their sports experience you can look for resources that will help make it the best it can be.

Mom Tip:  You are the most important influence in your child’s life.  Don’t let television or video games be your baby sitter.  Daily habits start with YOU, if it is important to You it will be important to them.

God Bless,

Darrell