Building Confidence in Young Athletes Lisa E. Cohn

About 70% of kids drop out of sports by the age of 14, and of those, twice as many girls drop out than boys. That's the word from Nicole McCormack, general manager of brand solutions at TeamSnap, a technology platform for sports parents and coaches.

Why do girls drop out and what can parents and coaches do to keep them in sports?

Honest Game, a female-owned sports tech company, conducted research in 12 states to date and has found that about 50% of high schools in the states studied lack an educational pathway for students to play NCAA college sports. This issue disproportionally impacts kids at under-resourced schools, where as many as one in two athletes lack the courses required by the NCAA.

Joyce Anderson, co-founder and COO of Honest Game, explains how Honest Game can help ensure athletes complete the required courses.

As an attorney, Judie Saunders represents youth athletes in civil court, internal investigations, mediations and arbitrations.

Bullying by coaches, physical and verbal abuse and sexual abuse are some of the issues she addresses for her youth athlete clients. Racial slurs and body shaming are also issues she addresses.

Saunders, who serves as co-chair of Griesing Law’s confidential & sensitive investigations practice group, gives tips to parents about the legal avenues they can pursue for their sports kids. She stresses the need to remove kids from teams if they feel unsafe.

New concussion rules and regulations can build respect in young athletes for their opponents. In addition, the rules don’t hurt kids’ other mental game skills.

That’s the word from Thomas Heiden, who played college hockey at Notre Dame and has coached many different sports for a few decades. He’s also a trial lawyer with Latham and Watkins and has tried high-profile sports lawsuits, including a high school concussion class action lawsuit.

Kids are coming to Skyhawks Sports Academy camps with confidence challenges, says Sarah Kelley-Reid, a sports parent and the East Coast regional manager at Skyhawks Sports Academy, which provides skill-based sports experiences for kids 4-14.She describes how teaching life skills--including respect, teamwork and inclusion--helps builds sports kids' confidence.

Recruiters and coaches look for a number of mental game traits when they’re evaluating athletes, says David Kmiecik, senior recruiting manager for Next College Student Athlete (NCSA). He describes how recruiters identify these traits and answers the question: How can athletes (and their parents) look their best in front of recruiters and college coaches?