ATSC maintains a web page that contains information for parents. CLICK HERE to be directed there.
In June 2010, Gordon Miller the VYSA Technical Director posted a message on the VYSA web site (CLICK HERE) . In the article, Gordon states:
"By playing soccer all the time and specifically too early in a child’s development there is risk of a multitude of potential consequences:
1. Overuse injuries
2. Inadequate development in basic body movements and other sport skills
3. Early burn-out
4. One-dimensional sport-specific preparation
5. Too much/too soon and early sport retirement
It’s extremely important to develop the whole body in relation to balance, speed, power, agility and flexibility. Playing other sports will aid in that development. Other sports can add to a child’s growth through the acquisition of additional motor-skill development and added psychological situations from which to draw upon. "
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From:
Brian McCormick PES, M.S.S.
Player Development Newsletter 4.27 - Oct 19 2010
In “A Multidimensional Approach to Skilled Perception and Performance in Sport,” in Applied Cognitive Psychology (1999), Werner F. Helsen and Janet L. Starkes tested general visual abilities and task-specific skills to explain the difference between non-expert and expert performers. In a variety of tests, they found that the significant difference was in the task-specific skills, not the general abilities. Experts and non-experts did not differ when tested for general visual abilities; however, in tests of sport-specific tasks or recognition, experts were quicker and more accurate. In essence, “court vision” or “field vision” is not a visual ability or an innate quality but a perceptual-cognitive skill learned through experience.
In the most interesting of the three experiments using soccer players, they measured Initiation Time, Movement Time, Ball-Contact Time and Ball flight Time. The biggest difference between expert and intermediate players was in Initiation Time. “Experts may be capable of using advance visual cues or probabilities to make a much earlier decision,” (Helsen and Starkes, 1999). They anticipate based on prior experience, which reduces their information-processing load and decreases their total response time. This anticipation means that experts make more effective use of environmental cues and process this information quicker so they can make quicker and more accurate decisions.
This study showed that skilled performance relies on experience in the specific activity as opposed to general abilities. These learned cognitive skills transfer from sport to sport.
Therefore, rather than wearing out players with year-round soccer - playing basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby, water polo or ultimate Frisbee provides similar learning of cognitive-perceptual skills. Players need additional practice with the specific motor components, as passing a ball while treading water differs from passing an oblong rugby ball which differs from using your feet to pass a soccer ball or a stick to pass in field hockey. However, the ability to read the play, attend to the proper cues and make the appropriate decision separate experts from non-experts, then the deliberate play in multiple sports provides valuable implicit learning that enhances performance from sport to sport once the athlete reaches a minimal level of dexterity with the sport’s elements.
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STOP - Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention
In April 2010, the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine launched a campaign to curb sports injuries in children.
The number one culprit in overuse injuries is sports specialization.
According to Dr. James Andrews, the president of STOP and world renowned orthopedic specialist, “You just have this enormous pressure nowadays on kids to play one sport year round.” Decades of research studying sports injuries in children has led Dr. Andrews and the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine to develop specific common sense recommendations for youth sports. The number one recommendation is “Encourage your child to be involved in more than one sport”, according to Dr. Andrews, “Cross-training helps develop their bodies."
Athletes are specializing in one sport at younger ages. Year-round training puts more strain on muscle groups without providing the overused muscles sufficient recovery time. Although precise data are hard to pinpoint, numbers assembled by the coalition suggest that overuse is responsible for nearly half of all sports injuries to middle and high school students. And according to the US Centers for Disease Control, more than half of all children’s sports injuries are preventable.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends young athletes limit training in one sport to no more than five days a week, with at least one day off from any organized physical activity. In addition, athletes should take time off from one sport for two to three months each year. Taking a break from a sport allows injuries to heal and the opportunity to work on strength training and conditioning to reduce the risk of future injuries. It also helps kids take a psychological break, which is necessary to avoid burnout, or overtraining syndrome.
An overuse injury is an injury caused by repetitive stress to muscles, tendons, and connective tissue that does not have time to heal. The tissue is repeatedly stressed from too much activity resulting in microtears to the connective tissue. If the tissue does not have a chance to heal from the initial damage, inflammation can set in. This can result in localized pain, swelling, and point tenderness to the area. The clinical definition is “Repetitive tissue insult with insufficient time to heal".
According to a recent Boston Globe article:
Surgeons and physical therapists say they see an epidemic of overuse — fractures, tears, and worn-down joints — in children who are playing at higher intensities and at younger ages. Surgeries to repair shoulder, elbow, knee, and hip injuries, once thought to be adult fare, are being routinely performed on preteens and teenagers.
“We can repair these injuries and get them back up and playing . . . but we don’t have evidence of what they will be like 20 years from now,’’ said Dr. Mininder Kocher, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in adolescent sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston.
“All of these injuries,’’ he said, “predispose them to arthritis.’’
Because young athletes’ bones are still growing, they are vulnerable to problems in the growth plates, the soft cartilage at the bones’ ends.
Dr. Mark Lemos, an orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, said he often finds with his injured young patients that the competitive push is coming as much from the parents as from the children. Lemos understands that tug. He is a former collegiate hockey player who played professionally in Europe, and has two athletic children, aged 12 and 13.
“Sometimes we have to shut kids down so they can have a good life in the future,’’ he said. “For me, it’s the game long-term, not next week.’’
Lemos’s recommendations for avoiding overuse injuries?
Cross-training. Encouraging young athletes to branch out and try one or two other sports that would help build up other areas of the body and give the overused parts a break.
“Multiple sports will benefit them at all levels,’’ Lemos said. “Even guys who play professional sports cross-train.’’
