A concise, practical newsletter helping families and youth sports leaders navigate youth sports with more perspective, less pressure, and greater purpose.
Now That the Season is Real
Now That the Season is RealIssue 008 - Fall Lead-In Series Finale Fall sports season can hit hard. Schedules that looked manageable a few weeks ago are suddenly real. Practices and games are layered on top of school, work, meals, transportation, homework, and everything else a family already had going on. I've felt that from the athletic director side over the past couple of weeks. Our first full five-day week of school included more than 20 athletic events, along with all of the normal adjustments that come with the beginning of a new school year and sports season. There are schedules to manage, changes to communicate, problems to solve, and plenty of things that couldn't have been anticipated in August. I'm guessing your family's version looks different, but some of it probably feels familiar. That's why Labor Day weekend feels like a fitting time to finish this Fall Lead-In Series. The first seven issues were written largely in anticipation of the season ahead. Now we've actually had a chance to live some of it. Before Tuesday sends us back into another busy week, this weekend gives us a chance to look up for a few minutes and consider what we're learning. 1 IdeaSuccess is worth defining more than once We started this series with a question for your athlete: "What would make this a good season for you? At the time, the season was mostly hypothetical. Maybe your athlete hoped to make a certain team, earn a starting role, score more goals, make new friends, enjoy playing again, or simply find out whether they liked the sport. As parents, we probably entered the season with our own expectations too, whether we said them out loud or not. A few weeks later, some of those expectations have started encountering reality. Your athlete may be playing more or less than expected. Maybe the level of competition has been a surprise, the coach has been different than anticipated, or the teammates have become the best part of the experience. Something your athlete worried about may have turned out to be no big deal, while something nobody saw coming has become difficult. The whole family is experiencing changes together, and it's all useful information. In Issue #007, we talked about what happens when reality doesn't match expectations. We don't need to rush to decide whether every surprise is good or bad, but as the season develops, we should allow what we're learning to sharpen our understanding of what a successful season could look like. This weekend, consider taking a few minutes to think through 3 things:
None of this requires a major family meeting or dramatic change in direction. It may simply mean paying attention to what the first few weeks have taught you. There is still a lot of season left. 1 Resource📊Study: Vast Majority of Sports Parents Feel the Benefits of Youth Sports Outweigh the Drawbacks A new Associated Press/Ipsos poll released in August provides an interesting snapshot of how families across the country are experiencing youth sports. Among parents of K-12 children who participate in organized sports, 89% said the benefits of sports outweighed the drawbacks for their family. Those parents identified plenty of benefits, including making friends, learning about hard work and commitment, learning to work with others, dealing with adversity, improving physical fitness, and spreading less time on screens. At the same time, 84% identified scheduling and logistics as a challenge for their household, and the same percentage identified the time commitment as a challenge. Costs, travel, burnout, injuries, and pressure showed up throughout the findings too. I appreciate that combination. Sports can be deeply worthwhile while still demanding a lot from an athlete and family. In fact, some of the things we value most about sports come through learning to navigate the difficult parts well. The survey is worth a look, especially while many families are settling into the reality of another sports season.
1 Conversation StarterGo back to where we started this series and ask your athlete: "What would make this a good season for you?" If you asked the question when Issue #001 arrived in July, resist the temptation to remind them what they said then. Let them answer it again first. Then ask: "Has anything changed?" You may be surprised by the answer. A goal that seemed enormously important before the season may matter less now. Something they barely considered may have become one of the best parts of the experience. And if their answer hasn't changed, that's useful to know too. Worth RememberingDon't get so busy living the season that you forget to ask what you want it to become. The calendar will keep moving, and there will always be another practice, game, tournament, ride, meal, assignment, or piece of equipment that needs to be found minutes before leaving the house. Every once in a while, it's worth looking up from all of it. Labor Day weekend give us a golden opportunity. The Fall Lead-In SeriesThis issue completes the 8-part Fall Lead-In Series. If you joined somewhere along the way, or one of these topics feels more relevant now that you've had a few weeks to live the season, you can revisit the full series here:
Also From Rising Athlete ProjectIf you're relatively new to the Rising Athlete Project, or curious about why I started it, I recently joined Jake von Scherrer on The Educational AD Podcast for a conversation focused specifically on RAP. We talked about the transitions families navigate as athletes move through youth, middle school, and high school sports, why parent education matters, and how better resources can help families and athletic programs navigate those transitions together. It's about 27 minutes and offers a little more of the story behind what I'm building here.
Thanks for following along through the Fall Lead-In Series. Whether you've read all eight or found Rising Athlete Project somewhere along the way, I hope something here has helped you see your athlete's experience a little more clearly. There's much more ahead. -- Stephen Anderson Founder, Rising Athlete Project P.S. Know a parent, coach, AD, or youth sports leader who would appreciate this? Feel free to forward it along. |
Rising Athlete Report
A concise, practical newsletter helping families and youth sports leaders navigate youth sports with more perspective, less pressure, and greater purpose.
When Reality Doesn't Match Expectations Issue 007 - Fall Lead-In Series A few weeks ago, much of the fall sports season existed mostly on paper. There were schedules, open gyms, summer workouts, and plenty of expectations about what the months ahead might look like. Now, for many families, the picture is starting to become a little clearer. Maybe your athlete is playing exactly the role they expected. Maybe they're playing a different position, competing against stronger teammates, or finding...
The Ride Home Matters Issue 006 - Fall Lead-In Series There are two very different versions of the ride home in youth sports. After a game, parents have often seen almost everything. We watched the great play, the missed opportunity, the interaction with the coach, the questionable call, and the body language on the bench. By the time our athlete gets in the car, we may have spent the last hour accumulating things we'd like to talk about. After a practice, tryout, or open gym, the opposite...
Don't Let Pressure Set the Agenda Issue 005 - Fall Lead-In Series The season has a way of speeding everything up. For some families, this is the first week of official practices. Others have already started settling into the rhythm of games, carpools, and evening routines. Still others are counting down the days until the season begins. Wherever your family falls on the calendar, this is often the point where youth sports start asking for more of your attention: schedules fill up,...