The Importance of Role Models for Young Athletes
Who's Your Kid's next Role Model?
Every athlete needs a good role model, especially young, up and coming stars. Learning how to navigate through their sport and through life can become difficult if there isn't someone positive to look up to. For the majority of the time, however, most athlete-role models are popular professional players, who are distant from the day to day lives that your kids have. Kids can and will learn so much from studying the game and style of these players, but a lot more is missing. College athletes have the perfect blend of determined passion and balance. These athletes not only embody what every parent wants for their kid, but are easier to connect and build relationships with than athletes who have already dipped their feet in the professional world.
Academics/Balance
Whether they are just starting college finishing up their degree, these high level athletes are students first. In order to get recruited and to continue playing, academics have to be a priority. Even before college, middle school and high school programs do not allow kids to play if their grades are low. Finding motivation to get scores up and stay on task is very tough. Additionally, it is hard to excel without advice from those who have moved forward in life. Learning good study habits, how to communicate effectively with teachers and peers, as well as having a positive attitude all take time to learn. With the help of a good role model, school doesn't have to be stressful. Instead, it can be seen as a way to prepare for challenges in the future, and can be used as motivation to play the sport that you love.
Eating/Overall Health
In everyday life, regardless of being an athlete, good eating habits and staying healthy is very important. Surprisingly, being an athlete doesn't mean that you are fully healthy. Even good athletes could have poor diets and are not as knowledgable on how to stay in tip top shape. Connecting with an older athlete, who is still playing and who remembers what it was like to be in middle school and high school, can offer great advice to help your young athlete thrive. Knowing what to eat and when to eat it, what kinds of foods help and hurt the body, and how much of certain foods to have are all but a few reasons why having a current athlete role model can help. Additionally, younger athletes may not know about ways to keep their body high performing. Learning about certain warmup and recovery techniques could be very helpful. Training and learning from a high performing athlete one on one will motivate and inspire these young athletes to take the next step.
Building Community
All all of the older athletes that your kids will encounter will be from local colleges. Using the short distance as an advantage, building up long-term personal relationships can become possible. Going to their heroes' games nearby can be inspiring for your kids and also beneficial for the community. Overall, it is important to have a role model. By giving these young athletes opportunities to learn from a good example, their lives will be more successful. Although it is easy for kids to be entranced by the popular pros, incentivize them to truly learn from someone they can look up to, speak to, and train with.
Thank you, and we will be back next week for another blog post! Please feel free to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for updates and news from all things Top Tier.
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