How Parents And Coaches Can Help Young Athletes Succeed In Sport And Life

People often think professional players show up at seven o’clock for a seven-thirty game, get dressed, and play. They do not realize that the players often arrive three or four hours before game time to work on their skills.

“Many athletes have tremendous God-given gifts, but they don’t focus on the development of those gifts. Who are these individuals? You have never heard of them—and you never will. It is true in sports and it is true everywhere in life. Hard work is the difference— very hard work.” - John Wooden

Good results rarely happen by chance. Hard work, coupled with correct knowledge, is necessary for ultimate success. There is a famous saying that goes “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Often, people say a player was lucky when they do well or win. In reality, hours and hours of work produced the good results.

Very few young players work as hard as they could, but that is probably a good thing. Too much hard work at a young age often leads to burnout. Parents and coaches should promote the idea that hard work leads to success and rarely will success come without the hard work, but they should not push their player to the point of overexertion or disaffection.

It is frustrating for parents when their kids do not want to practice. Often, parents cannot understand this, especially when the parents feel they have been nothing but encouraging with the child’s participation in the sport. It is important that parents and coaches understand that they should try to inspire young players, but motivation comes from within the players themselves. All athletes are different. Some are self-motivated at a young age. Others become motivated at a later age, and some never seem to attain the motivation for sports.

Letting a young athlete know that they can develop this talent with desire and practice is good. These words may create the love of the sport and the motivation at some point in a young player’s career. It all starts with love of the game, followed by hard work, which produces success. Those three, love, hard work, and success build upon and feed off each other. No one can make a player a major-leaguer; only the player can do that. Nevertheless, parents and coaches can help players develop a love of sport, a good work ethic, and success.