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For a lot of parents, starting your children out in sports can be a stressful time, no matter what age they are. Most of us love to see them getting started on an active lifestyle because it is a lifestyle with so many rewards, but at the same time, we know of the risks involved in team sports. This should never stop you. Anything worth doing in this life comes with risks. But there are some questions you can ask to make sure the program they are enrolled in is as safe as possible.
1. Do They Have an Emergency Plan?
One question that is always good to ask is whether or not the coach, school, or team has an emergency preparedness plan. Emergencies are thankfully rare enough to be a shock when they do occur, and this is why it's vital for those in charge to plan things out well beforehand.
Planning should include what to do about an injury, having a medical professional on site, and knowing how severely injured players will be transported. Emergency plans should also include supplies, like first aid kits.
2. Do They Require Physicals?
Any serious sports program should require prospective players to get a physical before the season begins. Many injuries occur because the player is not physically prepared for the challenges they are giving their body, and these days, as many students spend their early childhood largely sedentary, it is becoming even more of a problem. A physical can assure your child is ready, identify any possible challenges, and show you where they need to work.
3. Are Kids Grouped By Size?
Another common cause of unexpected injuries that occur, especially in the younger age brackets, is when the program does not properly separate students of different sizes. Some parents that have bigger children may even complain if their child is placed in with older, stronger children their size.
While their concerns are also understandable to a point, it certainly makes no sense to put a 125 pound child in a game with other children who weight 80 pounds�someone is bound to get hurt. Children grow at different rates, and at this age, a smaller, weaker child's body is not ready to compete against someone so big. Accommodations must be made.
4. Is There Off-season Conditioning?
For some children, their involvement in sports is the only part of their lives that features physical activity. The rest of the time they are just doing schoolwork, playing video games, and hanging out at the mall. This makes them very prone to injuries because they are not keeping their body conditioned for athletic competition, and a good program will include some type of off-season conditioning.
For parents of younger children, this is very unlikely, but at this age, they don't need to push it too hard anyways. Take off-season conditioning into your own hands, and keep it basic. Just make sure they are staying active throughout the year or perhaps playing different sports in different seasons. Mix it up to avoid overtraining injuries due to repetitive movements.
5. Are Coaches Educated?
One last question you should ask is if they coaches are prepared for the task of training your child. A good coach will have some background in physical training specifically for the sport involved, and at the very least, they need training in first aid and CPR. If not, what makes them qualified to teach your children in the first place?
Just to be clear, you don't always have to ask all of these questions all of the time because most coaches will have some sort of introduction for the parents, such as an orientation speech or an information packet that educates you about what they are doing with safety. But these are definitely some questions you should be asking before you hear their spiel, and you should expect some answers. Sports are a great introduction to many different facets of the adult world, but to get the most out of it all, safety is number one.
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