In the past decade, there has been a significant shift in the way kids become involved in youth sports. There used to be a push for young athletes to be multifaceted and possibly even participate in different sports for each season of the year. However, this mindset is no longer the expectation, and the push for sport specialization is at an all-time high. Families pick one sport early on for their children as they become solely focused on training in those movements and techniques. Mark Fitzgerald, a performance training coach and the co-ownder of Kelowna High Performance, believes this practice can lead to burnout rather than fame.
He utilized the analogy of baking a cake to explain the components needed to build an athlete. Similar to a cake, each athlete is unique and special. There are different ingredients, flavors and combinations combined together to produce the final product. Secondly, baking a cake is hard to do without instructions, and this remains the same when coaching athletes. Coaches need help and guidance to find the best strategies that will work with each of their players. Fitzgerald finished this analogy by noting that while having a recipe is important, the true value is in the execution of those steps. Different coaches and athletes can look at the same development plan and apply it for themselves, but it comes down to the effort and energy that the player devotes to it.
Fitzgerald builds on this concept by drawing on the importance of recognizing training styles for pre-puberty and post-puberty athletes. One of the key differences between the do is whether or not the athlete is in that stage of growth in development. During the pre-puberty age, Fitzgerald emphasizes the need to encourage exposure to various sports and instill competitiveness. This is the age when it should be centered around play rather than training. At this stage, it’s time to work on hand-eye coordination, body awareness, and making sure that the sport is still full of enjoyment for them. As the athletes grow older into that second post-puberty stage, Fitzgerald encourages them to open it up to the most specific training. This includes an introduction to weight lifting and movement exposure.
By emphasizing sport specialization later on in an athlete’s journey rather than when they are still in that pre-puberty phase, it protects them from the injuries that come with consistent overuse. Fitzgerald noted that the majority of players have hip and groin issues from the repeated movement patterns. One of his clients, Brent Seabrook, who made a notable name for himself in his time in the NHL, had a hip replacement before he was forty. Seabrook said, “15 years of hockey aged my body at least 30 years.” When developing players in youth hockey, the focus should be on creating a well-rounded athlete alongside a great hockey player. Fitzgerald closed his presentation by emphasizing the idea of just playing. Allowing athletes to play when they are younger to save their bodies and their drive for when they are growing into more developed players.
Story written by TCS Live intern Mackenzie Mielke.
