Nurturing Mental Wellness in Youth SPORTS

In the dynamic world of youth sports, where the focus often revolves around physical prowess, skill development, and team strategy, it's crucial not to overlook a vital aspect of a player's overall well-being – mental health. The link between mental health and athletic performance is undeniable, and prioritizing mental wellness is just as important as working on jump shots and defensive drills. In this blog, we'll delve into why mental health should be at the forefront of every youth basketball program and explore the significant impact it can have on a player's success on and off the court.

The mind-body connection is inseparable, and the performance of youth athletes is deeply intertwined with their mental health. It's not just about being physically fit but also about maintaining a healthy mind to navigate the challenges of the game effectively. Stress, anxiety, and burnout can hinder a player's ability to concentrate, make decisions, and perform at their best. Recognizing this connection is the first step towards building a more holistic approach to youth basketball.

Youth athletes often face a unique set of challenges that can contribute to mental health issues. The pressure to perform, meet expectations, and excel in a competitive environment can be overwhelming. Coaches, parents, and players alike must acknowledge that addressing mental health is not a sign of weakness but a pathway to resilience and sustained success.

Just as physical training enhances strength and endurance, mental wellness practices can build resilience. Teaching young athletes stress management techniques, mindfulness, and coping strategies equips them with tools to navigate the highs and lows of competition. Resilient athletes are better equipped to bounce back from setbacks, learn from failures, and maintain a positive outlook, fostering a healthy relationship with the game and life beyond the court.

Creating a balance between physical and mental training is key to a comprehensive youth basketball program. Incorporating mental health education, workshops, and access to mental health resources into the training regimen demonstrates a commitment to the overall well-being of the athletes. Coaches play a pivotal role in fostering an environment where open discussions about mental health are encouraged, destigmatizing the topic and creating a supportive team culture.

While success on the court is a significant goal, a youth sports program should also prepare athletes for life beyond the game. Prioritizing mental health not only enhances performance in sports but also contributes to personal growth, resilience, and overall well-being. The lessons learned on the court extend far beyond the boundaries of the basketball court, shaping the character and future success of each individual.

In the ever-evolving landscape of youth sports, it's imperative to recognize that mental health is as integral to success as physical prowess. A holistic approach that prioritizes mental wellness ensures that young athletes not only excel in their chosen sport but also develop the resilience and skills necessary for a fulfilling life. By fostering a culture that values mental health, youth basketball programs can play a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of well-rounded, successful individuals both on and off the court.

On January 26/28, the Mental Health Matters tournament will be taking place at Waterford Valley High School in support of mental health awareness, where tournament profits will be donated to the CMHA-NL.

The Summer Off-Season: Why Youth Athletes Should Keep The Ball in Hand

The arrival of summer often brings a well-deserved break from school and organized sports for youth athletes. While it's important to recharge and enjoy some downtime, it's equally vital to maintain a level of activity and continue training during the off-season. Even if it's just a little or in the driveway, engaging in physical activity can bring numerous benefits that contribute to the overall growth and development of young athletes. In this blog, we will explore why it's crucial for youth athletes to stay active and involved in their sport during the summer months.

• Physical and Mental Conditioning: Consistency is key when it comes to physical conditioning. Taking an extended break from training can lead to a loss of strength, endurance, and agility that has been built over the course of the season. By continuing to train during the summer off-season, even in a reduced capacity, youth athletes can maintain their physical conditioning and prevent any setbacks when the regular season resumes.

Moreover, physical exercise has numerous mental health benefits. Regular activity releases endorphins, the "feel-good" hormones, which can alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression. Engaging in sports and training can provide a sense of purpose, structure, and routine, positively impacting the mental well-being of young athletes.

• Skill Development and Technique Refinement: The off-season provides an excellent opportunity for youth athletes to focus on skill development and refine their techniques. With fewer team obligations and game pressures, athletes can dedicate more time to working on specific aspects of their game that need improvement. Whether it's shooting free throws, perfecting a golf swing, or honing a backhand, consistent practice over the summer can lead to significant skill development.

Practicing in the driveway or at local parks can also foster creativity and adaptability. Limited space and resources encourage athletes to explore different ways of training and improvising. These experiences can enhance problem-solving skills and provide a competitive edge when the regular season resumes.

• Building Confidence and Resilience: Summer training and playing opportunities, even in a more informal setting, contribute to the development of confidence and resilience in youth athletes. When they put in the effort to continue training and see improvements, it boosts their self-belief and motivation. Small victories, like hitting a new personal record or mastering a new move, instill a sense of accomplishment and fuel their passion for the sport.

Additionally, playing in less structured environments fosters adaptability and resilience. In driveway games or neighborhood pick-up matches, young athletes encounter varied situations and opponents, which require quick thinking, decision-making, and adjusting to different playing styles. These experiences build resilience, helping athletes to handle unexpected challenges during competitive seasons.

• Maintaining a Sense of Community: The summer off-season is an opportunity for youth athletes to engage with their sport and maintain a sense of community. Participating in training sessions, local leagues, or even organizing informal games with friends allows athletes to stay connected with teammates, coaches, and fellow athletes.

Community engagement helps prevent feelings of isolation and promotes social interaction, which is crucial for young athletes' overall well-being. The support and camaraderie found within the sporting community can provide a sense of belonging and motivation that extends beyond the regular season.

While the summer off-season may provide a break from organized sports, it is essential for youth athletes to remain active and engaged in their sport during this time. Whether it's training in the driveway, participating in local leagues, or practicing with friends, the benefits of continued involvement are numerous. From physical conditioning and skill development to mental well-being and community engagement, maintaining a level of activity ensures that young athletes stay on the path of growth and success. So, let's encourage our youth athletes to make the most of their summer off-season and continue their training journey, no matter how small or informal it may be.

Hard Work and Life Lessons

As a coach, it is important that you are not just teaching the lessons of sport, but also the lessons of life. In today's world, kids are growing up in an age of instant gratification, where they can have anything they want at the click of a button, including a dopamine rush in an instant by logging on to any social media app or video game. This mindset can create an environment where the need to work hard is often forgotten, and attention spans that are needed to succeed in any adult work environment has to be practiced and established, rather than naturally learned through day-to-day life. Teaching kids the value of hard work is crucial for their development, and can help set them up for a successful future. This topic should be essential in all coaching philosophies on and off the basketball court.

First and foremost, hard work teaches our youth the importance of perseverance and accountability. When kids are faced with challenges or setbacks, hard work helps them push through and keep trying until they succeed. This resilience is essential for success in all aspects of life, whether it's in school, sports, or personal relationships.

Moreover, hard work instills discipline and responsibility. When kids understand that their effort and dedication directly impacts their success, they are more likely to take ownership of their actions and decisions. They learn that if they want to achieve something, they need to work hard and make sacrifices to reach their goals. This is essential in the formation of an elite basketball player, as we all know - hard work leads to success on the court. The extra hours put in the gym lead to advanced skill level. Well, that is also the case in the real world. Shaping these kids to be elite athletes is great, but shaping them to be elite people through the life lessons of sport is even greater. Just like those long hours of dedication help you improve your game, your sweat equity will also help you earn the best job, the best promotion, and the best opportunity.

Furthermore, hard work can help kids develop a strong work ethic, which is essential for success in the workforce. Employers value employees who are diligent, responsible, and committed to their work. By instilling these values in kids at a young age, parents can help set them up for a successful career in the future.

Finally, hard work can help kids build self-esteem and confidence. When they work hard and achieve their goals, they feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. This positive feedback can help them develop a growth mindset, where they believe that they can achieve anything they set their mind to through hard work and dedication.

In conclusion, teaching kids the value of hard work is essential for their personal and professional development. It helps them build resilience, discipline, time-management skills, a strong work ethic, and self-esteem. As parents and coaches, we should encourage our kids and athletes to work hard and support them as they strive to achieve their goals. By doing so, we can help them develop into responsible, successful, and confident individuals.

Fundamentals First

What are basketball fundamentals?

The fundamentals of basketball are the foundational skills in the sport that are needed to play basketball at any level. Whether you play street ball or organized official games and practices on a team, you need these listed baseline skills. Gaining the appreciation, the work, creativity, and fun that goes into the fundamentals of the sport will improve your skills and experience with the game. When first participating in basketball it can feel difficult to do some of these skills at first. However, in order to build a house of skills you need to start with a foundation like dribbling and shooting, before you can add a roof of 3 pointers and fade away’s.

In basketball we consider the fundamentals to be dribbling, passing, shooting at the beginner levels. When those skills are later mastered and feel more comfortable other fundamentals like footwork, and defense should be added. Again, if you’re an athlete that wishes to be successful in this game, learning those listed skills and working towards continuous mastery is crucial. No matter your age group you play in or the skill level you feel like you’re at, no one is above working on those 5 fundamental skills. No, not even the professionals like Steph Curry or LeBron James are above continuously working on the fundamentals of basketball. Finding your sweet spot for how you do those skills will create confidence in yourself. Overall, it will help you feel like any court you choose to step on you have the chance to rock the house!

What can working towards mastery of each Fundamental skill look like?

1. Dribbling – Strength and comfort in your hands with dribbling and handling the ball. Having cross overs, between the legs, and behind the back moves.

2. Passing – Being accurate, precise, and intentional in making your passes, as well as hand eye coordination to catch passes

3. Shooting – Achieving proper shot form. The difference between throwing the ball and shooting the ball is that shot form your coach teaches you. Therefore, that shot technique is important, and can make the difference in making shots. Try shooting closer to the net before shooting far away.

4. Footwork – Understanding triple threat and squaring up to the net and the player that’s defending you so you can see the floor. Add pivoting, jab steps, and ripping the ball through the jab steps and being strong with the ball to your wheelhouse.

5. Defense – Use your feet to take quick steps, move and stay in front of the person you’re guarding the best you can. Try to have the self-discipline to not reach with your hands. Optimal defense is played by moving your feet and containing the play so the player your guarding can have a smaller impact on the game.

Why learning the fundamental skills in basketball is important?

As I said above, learning the fundamental skills in this sport will create chances of success no matter who you play with. Whether you’re an athlete that’s on a club team to achieve tournament wins or want to just play recreational for fun, fundamentals should be worked on. Making space to learn the fundamentals will help you in several different ways. Firstly, consistently working on these fundamentals will create confidence in yourself. One thing youth athlete’s in particular don’t realize is that, working towards mastery in these types of skills can create a sense of confidence and competence for themselves that they’ll see later on in life. Those types of abilities can lead over to empowerment in their other abilities and interests in life.

Secondly, in choosing basketball and finding joy in those smaller fundamentals it gives you room to create a growth mindset. A growth mindset is having the capacity to learn from your mistakes constructively and not getting down on yourself because you made those mistakes. Not only will you gain more confidence, but you’ll see the importance of making mistakes in life and how you can learn from them. For example, If you choose to work on dribbling and you continuously drop the ball, it doesn’t matter. You run, pick up the ball and keep dribbling! If you’re working towards mastery, making those mistakes are crucial so you can continue to get back up every time they happen. Let it go, keep dribbling, and understand how you can continue to get better and eventually not drop the ball as much!

In conclusion, giving yourself the space to grow and learn those fundamental skills of dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork and defense even through mistakes, confidence and competence will be gained in yourself! So don’t neglect working on those smaller skills, because there is something to be gained in the long run of the process of learning the fundamentals of basketball!

Tips for working on the Fundamentals at home:

Dribbling

• Take your basketball for a walk in your neighborhood

• Dribble a tennis ball in your basement, garage, or outside

Shooting;

• Just shoot the basketball! Find an outdoor court in your neighborhood and go shoot! Or if you lucky enough to have net in your driveway, just shoot the basketball!

• Lay down on your floor or bed and shoot the ball in the air. Make sure your supporting hand stays still and only supports the basketball, while flicking your wrist of your shooting hand to get rotation on the ball when throwing it up

Passing:

• Find a buddy to pass a basketball with

• Play catch with baseball mitt and ball, or football with a buddy

• Practice passing a basketball off a wall. – Combination dribbles can be added to this.

Footwork

• Find a buddy to play 1on1 with – play 1 on 1 with a friend for fun! Try out different jab steps, dribbling moves, floaters, fade aways. The best way to improve is playing with some kind of pressure! Don’t be afraid to experiment and fail while doing so!

• Simply practice jab steps and ripping the basketball from your triple threat position breathing with the movements

• Squaring up towards the net when you practice shooting

Defense

• Doing exercises to help your back and lower body get stronger to tolerate being in defensive stance for longer

• Wall sits

• Squats

• Planks

Other tips and tricks for enhancing your fundamental skills and knowledge

• Find a player you like their style of play, study their moves and mimic their play

• When watching a basketball game pick 1 fundamental skill and watch how players perform that fundamental skill on the court. Later on, work on those skills you’ve seen so you can apply them to your game.

What does basketball mean to us at 709?

By: Lindsay Garland

What is basketball? The popular sport in its simplest form, is throwing a leather ball in mesh to score more baskets than the other team. Basketball is played at so many skill levels from youth club, to university, to internationally for your country, to professionally! Whatever level you watch or play at, they all carry universal values and lessons no matter where you decide to participate! However, if you ask anyone that plays basketball at any skill level, any age, gender, or race that resides in the positions of player, coach or parent, basketball is a lot more and means a lot more then putting a ball through an orange cylinder.  

Firstly, if you ask a player, your goal is to grow your skill, get your body in game shape, and do whatever the team needs to get the win! Secondly, to a coach, we aspire to teach life lessons through the popular game we love! On offense, we inspire the creation of confidence in our athlete’s abilities. On defense, we push them to bend their knees, get their hands up, and lock down so our players understand they can be great in any environment they choose to step in. Finally, through fitness, coaches lead players to their potential so they can take those learned skills with them for the rest of their lives. Thirdly, if you ask a parent of a player, it’s witnessing the growth of their resident athlete! Because of the game of basketball, parents have the pleasure of watching their child grow socially through cultivated friendships, physically with their skills and abilities, as well as mentally and emotionally creating strength within themselves. 

However, if you ask us at 709 basketball what the sport means to us, it’s a sense of community. To the staff and coaches of 709 we facilitate community, recreation and elite training all mixed up in one fun athletic salad! We wish to inspire respect, fun, and hard work into the community we have created with our favorite sport! Therefore, if you ask any of our staff what does basketball mean to us? It’s playing together, learning together, and inspiring a new generation of players, coaches and parents together! That’s what basketball means to us.  

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