I want to challenge you to think differently about the youth sporting structure.
Specifically, I want to share one unique insight from Serena and Venus Williams’ rise to dominance in the Tennis world.
If you haven’t seen the movie King Richard – this is a slight spoiler on the movie. The insight I want you to reflect on is how their dad pulled Venus out of junior competitions at 12 years old after going 63-0 in junior tournaments. For the next 3 years Venus and Serena focused on training and having a more ‘normal’ childhood focused on school, family, and being a kid.
Their father, Richard, felt that all the tournaments they were going to were not helpful to their character development and the ‘pressure’ was unnecessary at such a young age.
This unconventional decision obviously worked out pretty good for them.
It is a great example of thinking differently about the youth sport structure. He decided to not just go with the status quo. To me this is inspiring and revolutionary – it was a mindset first decision.
I’d be curious to see a 12 year old hockey player give up formal games and tournaments for 3 years – just focus on development (and save all the money and time traveling to games).
They could still scrimmage, play small area games, and learn fundamental team concepts. But the priority would be getting their touches in and optimizing their development.
I wonder what the impact on the players’ mental well-being and character development would be?
There is a ridiculous amount of pressure to perform and win on most AAA minor hockey teams and youth sports in general.
I’m not saying this is an obvious or easy decision. Instead, I’m using the contrast to encourage players, parents, coaches, and leaders throughout the game to be mindful of the structure and environment of youth sports. I challenge you to think differently – don’t just accept the status quo.
Blair has over 13 years of experience as a Professional Dancer, Assistant Dance Captain & Cast Manager, as well as an additional 17 years of training. Over the last 3 decades, she has lived and experienced first hand the highest of highs & lowest of lows that come with pursuing a career in the Performing Arts.
Sean Mahoney is a member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), and a Master’s candidate in the Sport and Performance Psychology program at the University of Denver. For as long as he can remember, Sean has been fascinated by human performance and how to gain an edge over the competition. For most of his athletic career, he focused on the physical aspect of performance but neglected the mental. Because of this, he struggled with performance anxiety, focus issues, and limiting beliefs pertaining to confidence and self-doubt. His lack of focus on optimizing his mental game prevented him from reaching his full potential.
As a former member of McMaster University’s women’s soccer team, Emilie intimately understands the demands and challenges athletes face on and off the field. Although she encountered many challenges as a high-level athlete, particularly struggling with self-doubt and overthinking, Emilie was able to make a remarkable transformation when she began to embrace the principles of sports psychology.
Danielle Hanus, MA
Monica Russell, MA
