I am touching on a subject here that may be offending to some, but I feel compelled to get the message out there to everyone who is willing to listen.  The Cary Patch is a good forum to discuss and distribute information for the purpose of education and to offer my experience in the field of Training, Exercise and Competitive Athletics. 

I recently spoke to some parents and discussed what were the long-term goals of their family in terms of their athlete. 

Notice I said FAMILY since goals; needs and aspirations of this athlete will affect the entire family with sacrifices including time, travel and financial obligations. 

After we sat down we planned out a periodization for the year of a training schedule so the athlete had an idea of what they can expect in terms of progress, performance and what I believe is most important here- INJURY MANAGEMENT. 

This particular athlete we sat with, is coming off of an injury and we must plan our year based on this and schedule accordingly.   If the injury is not taken serious and is not factored into the overall equation of the periodization for the year, you can bet the athlete somewhere down the line will re-establish another far greater injury to that or develop a different one that was contributed to by that original injury if it was not HANDLED properly. 

I am calling on all the parents and coaches out there right now to ask their athletes and kids if they have 1.) Any areas that hurt? 2.) For how long has the area been hurting? 

In addition to this I am asking you to ask yourself this:  Have you ever said to your athlete "DEAL WITH IT, SUCK IT UP, NO PAIN NO GAIN, GET USED TO THE PAIN", however, unless you are that athlete, how do you truly know how bad it hurts or to the extent of why it may hurt or even how to treat it? 

I know you may say this, "I know my child better than anyone and they are just not trying! They can do it if they put a little more effort into it! They are just lazy!, They have no heart!, They are just being a baby!, OR Back when we played...you have it easy now a days", etc. 

Pain in an area is a sign something is not right. 

Pain my even be deferred to an area and the root cause is somewhere else.  It may be a cause of something that maybe starting to go wrong or it maybe the body telling you something is already wrong. 

Athletes should not play through pain levels, because it will create a sense of false chemical reactions that the body will get used to and when an injury does arrive it may be too late to fix. 

Small injuries are easy to fix quickly with simple techniques of mechanics and modalities, but often times athletes, especially when they are young, tend to not say anything out of FEAR and they let the problems go and then they can become bigger issues that take longer to heal and from there they can become huge problems that can exist lifelong. 

This is so important in young undeveloped athletes who can develop growth-plate issues with untreated injuries.  I discuss these topics so frequently with professionals and we see this everyday but yet, whom do we hold responsible for the actions of this?  Athlete? Parent? Coach?  All of the above, we do not know YET.

Most people think our job is to train people, collect a fee and send them off and then do it again.  UMMM no. Our responsibilities are far greater than that in terms of what we provide our athletes and the teams we consult for. 

Now what rights do you as parents have and what roles do you play?  First my experience, when it comes down to pain, this is when I first get a chance to meet most of my athletes and clients, when they are already injured.  It's " Hello Matt and Kellyann--- my name is----   my child---- has a----- that they did playing-----.   What do you suggest?"  Kellyann and I bring the athlete and parent in and discuss what is the big picture is in terms of what has been going on, what did they do prior, currently, and evaluate everything, this includes taking photos of the athlete in movement for assessment (with the parent consent and the parent present.)  Then we go over the photos and determine the issues.

What we then see and hear is that the pain is manageable and wow, it is correctable based on biomechanical movement based analysis. But why was there pain ever in the first place, what caused it, and here is where I want to know the level of responsibility.

Was it truly the athlete that injured himself or herself? or was it a true movement pattern that could have been avoided that was never instructed properly from a low playing level?  

I recently saw an Athlete on Monday who had some pain from playing a few soccer games this past weekend. After an evaluation and photos we looked at their strengths and determined some movement patterns that can be made more simple and efficient. 

What we also determined was that some of the current practicing and training conditions might have lead to the injury that this person is dealing with. Coaches at all levels need to step up and watch not only how the game is played on a skill level, but look at the way kids are moving.

Take the first day of practice and instead of running them into the ground by saying, "Go faster!"  determine what the issues are and come up with a solution, instead of compounding the problem with your idea of "I know with more practice this kid will get better and faster." 

Stop treating these kids like they should know what to do and instead teach them, lead them and educate them on how to perform.  If you cannot do this then please seek out someone who can.

This is the approach that injures athletes, so in my experience determine that if there is pain, listen to the athlete (unless you have a valid reason not to listen to the athlete or your child, which is total nonsense). Find a way to educate yourself in how movement effects performance and learn the aspects of running correctly. 

Coaches seem to like to tell everyone about how many games they won, but yet they never say how many kids they kept from getting injured today. There is more to every game than a ball, especially soccer.  Before more athletes are injured look at how they are being taught, parents and step in and ask questions about more than the game. 

If your kid looks like they are running funny that is because they are running incorrectly and can get hurt. 

Ask your coach for advice, if they cannot offer any, then seek out help for your child, but do not let this go, because you have a right as a parent to see that your athlete is learning the safe way. 

These concepts are not new for me or for parents, but so many times parents are afraid to ask questions to the coach for fear of "PLAYING TIME".  The approach I have is Educational Performance Coaching. Teach the athletes how to perform, not just coach with "show and yell". 

Give the athletes homework and make sure they stay safe from injuries.  Kellyann and I have numerous kids now with these issues. Habits are hard to break but the rewards for them are well worth it.  If you want the right to coach, it is your responsibility to make sure that your athletes are safe.