Future Stars Camps Blog – Sports, Kids, Camp!

Endings are often tough for everyone and it's that time of the year, when football season is coming to a close. If your child's team has had a good season and they are heading to the playoffs, here are some tips from USA Football to prepare for an exciting but sometimes stressful time:

John D. Rich, Jr., Ph.d., Psychology Today, shares some interesting insights based on a recent article in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.   Which supports that "Character does seem to be based on foundations that are built in the early ages and participation in sports seems to bring out the best in children with good character."

If you are interested in dance, then you would probably know of Tiler Peck, 28 year old principal dancer with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) from Bakersfield, CA. Tiler's dance training began at age 2 in her mother's ballet studio. At 7, Tyler embarked on her formal classical ballet training with private lessons from Alla Khaniashvili, a former Bolshoi Ballet dancer.

One of the key suggestions to staying in your best form is giving your fundamental drills time in your workout.  Fundamentals are the foundation on which more complicated skills bounce off of.  Often, when your complex maneuvers are not executing as well as they should be, it is probably because a foundational skill needs some attention.

Practical Golf shares some interesting ways to use golf alignment sticks to help improve your swing.  Here are 4 ways that alignment sticks can help you:

Janis B. Meredith of jbm thinks shares a great article on the importance of sleep and how it can help your athlete play better.  Sports notables including Serena Williams talk about getting to bed early, and others encourage athletes to sleep a minimum of 6-8 hours per night, sleep an hour more during training, or even taking an afternoon nap.

Terry Laughlin, founder of Immersion Swimming, shares his swimming facts versus myth interpretations.  More importantly learning to swim the right way from the very beginning can only enhance your swimming abilities.

Sam Snow, Coaching Director for US Youth Soccer shares some tips on how parents can help improve their child's chances of improving at the game.  Find the time to converse with your child's coach about his short and long term goals that include:

As young athletes become more committed to lacrosse, they are also interested in incorporating other avenues to improve their on-field performance. US Lacrosse shares training tips for your youth lacrosse athlete from Jay Dyer, a certified strength & conditioning specialist based in Baltimore.

Every season, no matter what the stats or outcome merits a celebration.  Time spent by coaches and players alike, team bonding and bolstering of skills, the camaraderie of the team,  deserve time set aside to revel in individual and team accomplishments beyond the scores.  To put together a fun gathering, USA Football recommends these 5 ideas: