Strenco

Listen back to my chat with @fhsperformance on all things children’s sport open.spotify.com/episode/0PxjtB…

Sport does far more for children than improve their fitness. It builds character, develops relationships, teaches resilience, and shapes how they handle disappointment and success. Recent podcast with @colnoc77 explored all this for parents & coaches 🧵

We discuss all of this and more on the latest episode with child and adolescent psychotherapist Colman Noctor. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0PxjtB… YouTube: youtu.be/hrDu0JujCLA?si…

A six-year-old and a sixteen-year-old have completely different needs in sport. Most coaching decisions around when to introduce competition, scoring, and specialisation are not well informed by what the child actually needs at that age.

Sport has become a replacement for the street, the road, and the green where previous generations grew up. The difference is that sport is adult-led. Children are getting less practice at making their own decisions and working things out themselves.

The most important non-physical benefit of sport is social. The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of your relationships. For many children, their local club is where those relationships are built and maintained over years.

The biggest risk in youth sport is removing the fun too early. When performance, metrics, and pressure replace enjoyment, children who joined because they loved it find a reason to leave. The challenge is keeping both in balance.

The goal of children's sport is to keep as many as possible playing for as long as possible. When planning or reviewing seasons, ask yourself: does your club serve the community, or does the community serve your club? The answer should shape future actions.

If you coach your child's team, the bias does not always go the way people think. Many coaches substitute their own child first because it is easier than taking someone else off. Your child notices this and it has a cost.

If you coach one child's team and not another's, the child you are not coaching will notice. Match schedules will invariably clash, you have to choose, and they make that known. There is no clean answer to it, but it is worth thinking through before you commit.

Children need to be coachable by adults who are not their parents. It is a life skill. If yours has only ever been coached by you, look for at least one activity where that is not the case. The unfamiliarity is the point.

After a game, the two best tools you have are empathy and curiosity. Ask how it went and what it felt like. Do not conduct a debrief. Children want your time and attention more than your analysis.

Be careful about over-inflating the egos of young players. Recognise what they have done, but keep it grounded. You are not just developing athletes. You are developing people. A bit of humility goes a long way.

Get more details and examples by checking out the full conversation on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0PxjtB… YouTube: youtu.be/hrDu0JujCLA?si…

If you have a spare 9 mins today, I’d recommend you give this #TEDtalk a listen or watch. The hidden impact of AI on Loneliness and Trust are important to be aware of, before it’s too late.. youtu.be/fHTHPYj2zl0?si…

Great episode made possible by asking on a great guest. Must listen for parents of children involved in sport, or coaches of young people. Will get a thread out in the next few days.

“Children’s sport does not need to choose between enjoyment and development. We need to realise that one sustains the other.” Excellent piece from @colnoc77 irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/pare…

“In sharing this, I am not trying to ‘join the conversation’. This isn’t about advocacy, branding, or becoming a public face of anything. If anything, once this is written, I’d like to leave it there” irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/pare…

The latest episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast with @colnoc77 is a must listen for parents. Colman Noctor: ‘Behaviour is always the signpost to a problem. It is very rarely the problem’ irishtimes.com/podcasts/conve…

Fascinating watch 👇👇👇