10 Signs of a Good Youth Sports Coach

While youth sports coaches come in all shapes and sizes, with different types of personalities, here are the ten things a parent should look for as signs of a good youth sports coach:

1. The coach has demonstrated his/her commitment to the health, safety and development of players by becoming trained in child development, safety (first aid/CPR/use of AED, injury prevention and treatment) and in the sport he/she is coaching; 
2. The coach teaches, models and demands respectful behavior, fairness and good sportsmanship;
3. The coach insists on proper sideline behavior by parents; 
4. The coach sets realistic, age appropriate expectations for athletes; T
5. he coach understands gender differences but avoids reinforcing culturally-based gender stereotypes; 
6. The coach Is patient, stays calm and never loses his cool; 
7. The coach doesn't unnecessarily intrude on the learning process during practices and games, knows when to teach, emphasizes the positive, makes practices fun and teaches that sports are as much about having fun than about winning; 
8. The coach adjusts his coaching style to fit the individual and team. Like a good teacher, the coach gets to know his players as individuals, is sensitive to their needs, both in sports and their personal lives, understands what works and doesn't work to motivate an individual player to do his or her best, and helps them learn new skills. By being child- rather than adult-centered, he allows every player to express their individuality and realize their full potential 
9. The coach looks for team-building opportunities. She looks for chances to help her players bond as an effective and cohesive team by, for example, holding team parties, going to high school games together as a team, team carwashes, and encouraging high fives, rally caps and "dog piles." I used to bring a cooler with popsicles and other frozen goodies for break time during practices. It is the little things that go such a long way to bring together a group 
10. The coach Is sociable, empathetic and has good communication skills. 

Source: Read more: http://www.momsteam.com/team-parents/coaching/general/ten-signs-of-a-good-youth-sports-coach#ixzz3pLt6pQhK

Kids who play multiple team sports are 40 percent less likely to be obese!

Parents who want fit kids shouldn’t make them diet, they should make them play team sports. New research finds that children who play on several sports teams are nearly 40 percent less likely to be obese. "Team sport participation had the strongest and most consistent inverse association with weight status," wrote researcher Keith M. Drake, of the Hood Center for Children and Families at Dartmouth in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and colleagues in Pediatrics, in a study published July 16. "Obesity prevention programs should consider strategies to increase team sport participation among all students." "Adolescents who played on three sports teams or more in the last year were 27 percent less likely to be overweight/obese and 39 percent less likely to be obese compared with adolescents who did not play on any sports teams," write the researchers. The researchers also found that teens who walked or biked to school more than three days a week had a 33 percent lower risk of obesity than those who took the bus or rode in a car. In the study, researchers surveyed 1,718 New Hampshire and Vermont high school students and their parents about their daily habits, diets, weight, and physical activity. Other factors associated with a lower risk of being overweight or obese included extracurricular physical activity and eating fruits and vegetables. A separate study published this March in the journal Obesity finds that the number one way parents can help an obese child lose weight is to lose weight themselves. In the study, parents who served as role models and shed weight themselves proved to be the most inspiring and motivational method for their own children -- more than making changes to the home food environment or enrolling kids in physical activities, researchers said. (Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/team-sports-key-factor-preventing-childhood-obesity-article-1.1117065)

Cleaning Your Used Sports Equipment! Easy steps you can take with household products!

A sports parent’s worst nightmare is opening up their player’s equipment bag three months from now and getting enveloped in a cloud of funk that makes their hair stand on end. Smelly athletic gear is a fact of life for most youth athletes, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something you can do to stop odor in its tracks! A little proactive maintenance goes a long way in minimizing sports stuff stink.

Here are a few tips to remove odor from sports gear:

Get everything dry.

You don’t need to wash your youth athlete’s equipment after every game (let’s be honest, washing hockey and football pads isn’t a quick chore) but you should at least hang everything out to dry. Think about a wet bath towel they lay crumpled up for a few days; doesn’t smell too fresh does it? Bacteria thrive in moist environments like wet shoes or gloves, which causes odor. Weather permitting, hang your child’s gear out to dry outside in the sun after every game. If the weather is bad, squeeze them in over your laundry machine or in the garage (if the funk is too much to handle).

Invest in baking soda.

Baking soda is great at removing odors from just about anything, including sports equipment. You can sprinkle some baking soda inside your player’s cleats at the end of the day to minimize foot odor, pre-soak their uniforms in a baking soda solution ((4 tablespoons baking soda in 1 quart warm water) if your regular detergent doesn’t seem to be doing the job or throw some in their equipment bag to fight the odor battle for you overnight.

Clean gear with a vinegar solution.

Getting equipment like helmets, pads and skates clean isn’t as easy as throwing a jersey in the wash on extra hot. To get rid of the odor causing bacteria lingering on your youth athlete’s equipment, fill a spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and warm water and spray their gear down! You don’t have to wipe the vinegar solution, just wait for it to evaporate. If your player can’t stand the smell of vinegar on their equipment (even if it is an improvement of their regular sports gear stink), add a few drops of lavender or another oil to mellow out the smell. You can also use a vinegar solution to wipe down your own sports equipment like a yoga mat or free weights to help kill odor causing bacteria.

Sports Coaching Made Easy - 1000's of ideas, build and share training plans & more!

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Link courtesy of www.SwapMeSports.com!

Back to School and Deals!

It's getting to be that time - and summer has flown on by! Lots of deals are flying around and helping parents save money is the name of the game. As you look around for great deals for the kids, keep these coupons handy. And if you buy new sports equipment to replace outgrown stuff, consider donating or selling your items on www.swapmesports.com. Donating your equipment can help children who can't afford to play - get active and involved in team sports!

Click here for Sports Authority: $25 off $100/$50 off $200 or $100 off $300

The September issue of Parenting Magazine features great back to school shopping coupons- one is a $10 off of your next $50 purchase at Land's End.

Click here for a website on all the latest back to school deals at Deal Taker!

Help Fight Childhood Obesity

I found this great article that all parents should read.

John Whyte, M.D., MPH

Chief Medical Expert and VP, Health and Medical Education at Discovery Channel

Childhood Obesity: What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us

It's always somebody else's problem. Even when it comes to our own health, we always think the latest risks never apply to us. Most patients know that being overweight predisposes them to diabetes. But nine times out of 10, when I tell my patients with diabetes that if they lost weight, they might be able to improve their diabetes control, the response back to me is "Dr. Whyte, I've been overweight for 20 years... and I've only been diabetic for a year." They either simply do not make the connection or they just do not want to see it.

Unfortunately, that ignorance is no longer restricted to their own health; research also shows that many patients have wrong perceptions of their children's weights. What do I mean?

The majority of parents recognize childhood obesity as a serious health problem. Yet, nearly 85 percent of parents of overweight children think their child as being at a healthy weight. If you consider that a third of children are overweight or obese, it's obvious that the numbers don't add up. In some ways, this is no surprise: no parent wants to admit that their child is overweight. Doing so can damage a child's self-esteem at a tender age when image and self-concept are being developed. Parents also shrug it off as "baby fat" that children will lose in their older years.

But the sad truth is that school-age children and teenagers aren't babies; carrying extra weight can't always be blamed on the growth process. Some parents may also feel that extra weight on their kids is proof that they are providing for them sufficiently, which is a rewarding feeling for parents. On the other hand, it's possible that a lot of parents just don't know what a "healthy weight" is. Ask yourself: Do I know how fat is too fat?

Parents aren't the only ones at fault. Doctors also are to blame. Many pediatricians hesitate to bring up a child's weight to the parents. Interestingly, data show that parents are more likely to misclassify their child's weight if their pediatrician fails to comment on it. In fact, less than 8 percent of parents recalled being told by their pediatrician that their child was overweight.

Even though pediatricians have a responsibility to intervene for the good health of the patient, it isn't always this clear. Some pediatricians are not aware of the latest guidelines, other others are worried about offending parents by suggesting that their child is overweight or obese.
So what's my advice to parents of overweight children?

Well, it's important that you don't feel discouraged if your child is overweight - most kids are nowadays. But at the same time, don't neglect it. You can actually help curb the rise in childhood obesity. Your children's generation is the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents! No parents want this for their kids.

So, get educated. Learn about what obesity is, what dangers accompany it, and how to detect it in your children. Then take action. Ask your pediatrician about your child's weight, and keep track of your child's BMI-for-age in between visits. Learn how to prepare healthier foods at home. Promote more physical activity. Maybe even lead by example and join your kids in getting active.

It's important to be honest with yourself early: one study shows that 73 percent of the heaviest nine-year olds will still be obese at age 50. Much of the focus on the fight against obesity has been on school lunches, vending machines, fast food marketing, and video games. And kudos to Mrs. Obama for raising awareness of childhood obesity.

But if we all acknowledge childhood obesity as a problem, but think it doesn't apply to our kids (and chances are it does!), then we will never solve the problem.

Parents are central to that solution. Loving your kids isn't about spoiling them with their favorite junk foods and turning them into couch potatoes. It's about caring for their health. Show your kids how much you love them by being honest with yourself about their weight and looking out for their healthy future.

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