Children And Sports Training

How to develop coordination and physical skills in young athletes.

How to develop coordination and physical skills in young athletes.

Coaching Children: Sports science essentials is the first book in Australia specifically aimed at helping community coaches and fitness professionals design safe and effective training programs for children.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, e, i, t.

All coaches working with children will know that they differ substantially from adults in their capabilities, capacity for development and in their ability to meet the demands that sport places upon them. Coaching Children in Sport provides an up-to-date, authoritative and accessible guide to core knowledge and coaching skills for anybody working with children in sport. Written by a team of leading international coaching experts, teachers, psychologists and specialists in children’s issues in sport and health, the book explains why children should not be treated as mini-adults in sport and helps coaches to devise effective ways of working that not only achieve results but also take into account the best interests of the child. It examines key topics such as: fundamental coaching skills coaching philosophies and models children’s physical and psychosocial development children’s motivation safeguarding and child protection issues and coaching ethics sport and children’s health talent identification and high performance coaching reflective practice in sports coaching. Including case studies, practical reflective activities and guides to further reading throughout, Coaching Children in Sport is an essential text for all courses and training programmes in sports coaching. It is also vital reading for all students, teachers and practitioners working with children in sport, physical education or developmental contexts.

The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.

This book has arisen out of a need for a text which tackles the special issues relating to coaching children (from 6 - 16) in sport. Academics (many with coaching experience) and practitioners have been commissioned to write on their specialist areas.