Break Body-Image Barriers
Help young athletes embrace who they are
By John Engh
Lately, I have been lucky enough to view some of the interviews the National Alliance for Youth Sports is collecting from top experts for a free, new training that will be offered to coaches, parents, and youth leaders, which deals with understanding good mental-health habits. One of the areas of discussion is how boys deal with body image in sports, and the staggering figures on how many are encountering difficulties, just as many girls have for so long.
© Can Stock Photo / noonie
While watching a friend coach 8- and 9-year-olds at a baseball game the other day, I noticed the catcher was easily the most overweight child on the team. Immediately, I thought of my playing days some 40 years ago and remembered that the heaviest kid on a team was always the catcher. The tall kid who played first base needed to be lefthanded, the best athlete played shortstop, and the worst player was stuck in right field. As I scanned the field, sure enough, there was a left-handed boy playing first base. To no surprise, the right fielder wasn’t very adept and batted last in the line-up. He was replaced by what I can only assume was the next “worst” player after two innings of required play—and he certainly was the smallest boy on the team.
Development Over Winning
I was upset to see that this is still happening all these years later. These are 8- and 9-year-olds who have not even come close to reaching puberty. There is simply no reason to assume that late-developing kids cannot develop into some of the best athletes, but because of a negative self-image early on, we will never know about many of these kids. Sadly, many will end up quitting, and it’s often because the majority of coaches start a season with a certain mentality: “How can I win the most games?” as opposed to “How can I best develop all of my players?”
Developing self-esteem and confidence is one of the leading traits parents hope their children will attain from sports, and it is important to focus on self-image and skill development so children will fall in love with a sport or activity and want to continue. After all, it’s been true since children started playing organized sports that about two-thirds of players quit by age 13, and the number-one reason is they just aren’t having fun.
Stop The Stereotypes
When my own son sees pictures of himself at 8 years old, he barely recognizes himself. He was a slightly chubby, small boy who, of course, got stuck playing second base in his coach-pitch league because he didn’t have a great arm. By his junior year in high school, he was six feet tall with hardly any body fat, but he had long given up on baseball being fun! I remember coaching him at that time; I always tried to rotate the kids on my team through all the positions—especially in practices. Some parents asked why the coaches weren’t playing the best players in the “correct” positions. My favorite answer was that all the players paid the same fee to play in this league, so they should all get the opportunity to have the same experiences.
As administrators, it’s important to pass on this philosophy to coaches, especially those coaching younger children. Let the tall kid play guard in basketball. Let the heaviest kid play quarterback or wide receiver in football. And let a small kid be the catcher in baseball. These are once-in-a-lifetime experiences for children, and we owe it to them to give them the best experience possible. All of them. And in the process—we help them develop that all-important confidence and self-esteem and embrace who they are!
John Engh is executive director of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) in West Palm Beach, Fla. He can be reached via email at jengh@nays.org. To join more than 3,000 communities by starting a NAYS Member Organization, visit www.nays.org, email nays@nays.org or call (800) 729-2057.