Sports Parenting

Why Kids’ Identities Shouldn’t be All About Sports

Building Confidence in Athletes

Sports kids face a number of challenges when their identity is all about sports, said Dr. Becca Wallace, a clinical pediatric psychologist at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. Children often get overly involved in sports, leading to their identity being closely tied to their athletic performance. She offers tips for creating … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Getting All the Goodness Out of Youth Sports

Building Confidence in Athletes

There’s so much goodness that can come from participating in youth sports, but ensuring kids experience that goodness requires teams to establish team cultures based on clear expectations of players, parents and coaches. Team agreements and ethical coaching can help create the opportunity for sports kids to benefit from all … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Toxic Sports Cultures Hurt Kids’ Mental Health

Building Confidence in Athletes

Hillary Cauthen, a sport psychologist and author of “Hello Trauma: Our Invisible Teammate” gives tips for helping sports kids cope with toxic sport cultures, including coaches who yell at and demean kids. Listen to Learn More: Video Mental Coaching from Anywhere in the World One-on-one mental performance coaching is the … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Archery Builds Confidence and Focus in Kids

Building Confidence in Athletes

Archery can provide numerous benefits to kids–including building confidence, focus and success. Kids realize these benefits fairly quickly because they often find success as beginners, said Tommy Floyd, president of the National Archery in the Schools Program. The former school principal recently was a guest on our Ultimate Sports Parent … Read Sport Psychology Tip

The Link Between Sports Kids’ Mental Game and Mental Health

Building Confidence in Athletes

The mental game is critical to sports–and improving mental health can boost both kids’ mental game and performance. That’s the word from Laura Erickson-Schroth, chief medical officer at The Jed Foundation, which works in schools and sports organizations to help kids improve their mental health. Video Mental Coaching from Anywhere … Read Sport Psychology Tip