School sports ?

MAYNARDSMOM

MAYNARDSMOM

Cathlete
My youngets son who is now in 7th grade started playing his first school sport, soccer. He has always played soccer on the youth league & is a very active boy. (You may remember my thread at the beginning of the summer where he cut the tip of his finger off on a Wed & broke his ankle the following Sun :confused: )
He has had 2 practices for soccer, another one tonight with the weekend off thank goodness, then practice every day next week after school.
The boy cannot walk w/o a limp because his one calf is so sore from running. He said other boys are also sore. Now all that we know about recovery, stretching etc tells me he should take it easy. Last night I had him stretch, ice & an epson salt bath. (The coach only stretches them BEFORE not AFter like he should IMO) I'm worried about him running again today on it. Someone tell me I'm right here please.
I am going to call the coach & talk to him today before practice but I don't want to get labeled "that mom" already!! :eek: I may not have some degree in physical fitness but I do feel I know enough after years & years of doing this.
Back me up ladies...;)

Thanks for listening, I feel better now.
 
I have an 11th grade girl who has played High School Field Hockey since Freshman year....I couldn't agree with you more about the "crazy" attitude towards exercise and EATING!!....First off let me say, the coaches act like since there kids they should just go, go, go....she practices or has games 5-6 days per week for 2-3 hours at a time!!! She has so much DOMS at the beginning that she can barely move! And the eating, there isn't one person telling these girls that they need to "feed" there bodies! And not just "food", but good choices at the right time...Carbs before, Protein after....YIKES it makes me nuts!!!

But after getting that off my chest, let me tell you what I did that has made a world of difference....I took matters into my own hands and had her "train" during the summer before the season begins. So what we do is basically start off slow 3x per week and do 1/2 hr cardio and then 1/2 hr of no weigh drills....kids do not need WEIGHTS! This year by doing this it has made a world of difference and she is able to handle the "military" attitude of the coaches....Good luck and be careful how much you say, most of the coaches tend to be ex-high school/college athletes who are completely out of shape and think they know it all!! I'd like to see some of them play a sport or even do an hour of straight cardio, they probably have a heart attack!!
 
I know exactly what you're saying about the coaches & their own (or lack of) physical abilities. We have plenty of those also. This particular coach is not like that in the sense that he's not the "military" type, however I can't see him running w/the kids either. I have heard nothing but positive things about him over the years.
Your suggestion was excellent & I actually told my son 2 weeks ago he should start running on his own to prepare. I did not follow through & now he is feeling it. Will know better for next year, or the next sport.
Also agree whole heartily about the food issue. I keep telling my son to take a healthy snack to eat before practice, "We don't have time Mom"...Great, lunch was how many hours ago? How can they practice like that on no fuel? When he has games he will have 1 1/2 hours from the time school gets out to game time, I will be sure he eats something in between.
When we speak up be become "that" parent. :(
I plan on calling the coach shortly so I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Couple of ideas:

Get him some granola type bars or Kashi protein bars. He could eat it between his last class and the gym. Ask him to stop by a drinking fountain (do they still have those?) or possibly donate a large container (I am thinking like the large Igloos) for the team to be able to have water available?

Next, maybe he could just take it a bit easier - but when I am really sore I still workout because it helps ease out the soreness.

And lastly - can you just ask him to stretch for a few minutes after practice even if it is on his own? Or maybe he can "recruit" a couple of his teammates to do it to and ya never know, maybe Coach will get the hint ! :rolleyes:

Good luck - it's so hard when you have less "control" over how things work and when other adults are involved in doing what you believe is not always in the best interest of your children.
 
Coming From a Coach

I have coached at the varsity level for 8 years and I coached middle school sports for a few years before that. I find it hard to believe that the kids have no time to eat before practice. Can they have a granola bar or fruit and some water while they change or on the way to practice? What about having some water while switching classes? Schools still have water fountains. They can even snack while switching classes before the last class so that the food has time to digest. For me personally I always stressed healthy eating but that doesn't mean they do it.

As far as stretching after the workout, he can always do it on his own if the coach doesn't stress it or allow time for it. If you don't want to say anything and the coach sees the kids doing it he may start incorporating it into his practices. I know that my girls were always very vocal if something hurt or they weren't warmed up or cooled down enough.

As far as the soreness it comes from not doing sports specific workouts in the summer, which is fine. At the middle school level the kids are always coming in somewhat "out of shape" for their particular sport. Some kids even do so at the varsity level.

Please don't generalize all coaches as out of shape wannabe's. I always ran with my girls. In fact one weekend my husband's soccer team won Sectionals on Friday night (they eventually won the state championship), my cross country team won Sectionals on Saturday, I boarded a plane that night and then ran the NYC Marathon on Sunday!
 
Just want to second

What everybody else has said: definitely pack a snack (granola bar or how about some dried fruit?) and he can stretch with perhaps your instruction after practice. Keep the epson baths up that will help. Let us know how it goes with the coach.
 
My DD is a senior and has been on the varsity soccer team since 9th grade. I hate to tell you but that is the way it is in high school sports, especially at the varsity level. Right or wrong. DD plays year round and is on a traveling team in the summer so you'd think she would be prepared for tryouts. Well, tryouts are 4+ hours per day and this year they lasted 1 1/2 weeks. I don't think there was a girl on the team that wasn't hurting in one way or another. They stretch really well after workouts and take a lot of ice baths. There is not a lot of time for recovery. Last week she had 4 games in a row! Her coach is an ex-professional player from Mexico and he walks the talk and is very big on conditioning. They are now 8 games into the season and their bodies have adjusted.

ITA with others about the snacks. DD takes kashi or lara bars, small bags of trail mix, etc.. and eats them while suiting up for practice. I would also start his training well before the season so he is better prepared but it is inevitable that there will still be a lot of sore muscles.

JJ
 
I did speak with the coach & he was very open to my ideas. I made sure to let him know that I was not complaining in any way, but had a few concerns. I even voiced the eating issue which he said the kids could eat on the bus before games. He also said that he had noticed that the kids were sore & would be stretching afterwards also. He was very good about my concerns.
I do apologize for generalizing coaches. I do realize that not all are out of shape & there are so many excellent coaches out there. I did not mean to offend anyone.
I plan to stretch him out when he gets home & I told him that together we could do Stretch Max tonight. Love that one!!
 
Good for you Tami for being an advocate for your son. I'm glad to hear you received a positive response from the coach.

JJ
 
Just a thought . .

Our son had lower leg and foot issues last year at the beginning of football. His feet have always grown really fast and then his body has to catch up. He jumped from a 9 to an 11.5 in about 5 weeks time. Klemkadidlehopper feet.

It took two pairs of shoes and inserts to get the pain to go away. He was checked for Osgood-Shloter (not spelled right) syndrome but that was not the case.

Orthotics may be an answer ~ good luck.
 
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