Fitness – Considerations for Youth Athletes and Parents

By: Jennie Mann and Dutch Schotemeyer

The word fitness gets thrown around a lot in conversations about youth sports. But what does fitness really mean? Is fitness something that can be measured objectively? Or is fitness subjective to the player, sport, and situation? 

The Merriam-Webster defines fitness and fit as follows: 

fitness is: the quality or state of being fit

            fit is: sound physically and mentally

Fitness is the quality or state of being sound physically and mentally.  Often hard to describe in specifics, but most of us know it when we see it.  Too often poor fitness leads to poor performance, which leads to a lack of interest in sport and eventually a lack of sport in a young person’s life. Youth fitness is a vitally important aspect of an athletic career.

Youth Fitness Foundations

When athletes are between the ages of 10-20 years old, it is important to hone different components of fitness.  Between the ages of 10 and 20 the mind and body are very malleable and lifetime habits and techniques form during this time.  As people age, they default to learned movement patterns from this developmental age of life.  It is vital to good healthy movement over a lifetime to develop good habits and movement patterns when athletes are young.

Before establishing lifelong fitness habits and techniques, a basic understanding of fitness is required.  In an effort to simplify fitness, consider the ten components of fitness.

The 10 Components of Fitness

1. Cardiovascular Endurance – The body system’s ability to gather, process, and deliver oxygen
2. Stamina – also known as muscular endurance – the body system’s ability to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength – the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to apply force.
4. Power – the ability of the muscle or group of muscles to apply maximum force in a minimum time.
5. Agility – the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
6. Speed – the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Flexibility – the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
8. Balance – the ability to control the placement of bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base.
9. Coordination – the ability to minimize transition from one movement pattern to another
10. Accuracy – the ability to control the movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

Fitness in Sport

Not all athletes are the same and sports demand different things from different athletes.  When we play sports, we train a very specific subset of these 10 components depending on the sport and even the position played within the sport.

For example, a quarterback on a football team would need high accuracy where a lineman on that same team needs high strength and power, accuracy is less important to the lineman.  A running back may focus on speed, agility and balance, with a need for all components to be truly successful.  Marathon runners and triathletes have a high-level of cardio endurance, but typically very low strength.

Soccer players need a high aptitude in the majority of the components of fitness to be successful.  A balanced fitness program creating mastery of all of the components of fitness will help soccer players develop and minimize injuries. 

Taking a deeper dive into the lives of athletes aged 10-20 leads to a conclusion that most athletes in this age range are solely consumed with their sport.  This singular focus on their particular sport creates a blind spot with regards to the importance of cross training.  This blind spot becomes a hindrance to true development and improvement in their sport of choice.  It goes without saying that improving an athlete’s performance across the 10 components of fitness will make them a better athlete in their sport of choice.  Finding the right mix of training is vitally important to every athlete’s development.

Next Steps

Finding the right fitness partner is the first step, I encourage you to look at the various options in your local community to find a youth fitness training program that works for your athlete.  If you live close to San Clemente, CA, there is a functional training program at OC Athletix and I encourage you to check them out. http://www.ocathletix.com/schedule/ They are located at 1504 Avenida de la Estrella in San Clemente, CA.  

For more information contact the author Coach Jennie at Jenrenmann@gmail.com. 

Please our post on returning to play considerations here.

Jennie Mann

Jennie Mann graduated from Purdue University with an electrical engineering degree and playing Division I soccer all four years followed by three years playing semi-professionally.  She has coached soccer for over 20 years and is currently the Assistant Varsity Girls Soccer Coach for the local high school and the head coach for two competitive youth club soccer teams.

Jennie’s love for fitness and athletics has been a common thread throughout her life; in addition to her soccer career, she was a National Powerlifting champion in high school, and an Ironman triathlete.  Most recently competes in the top 2% in the world in Crossfit for her age group.

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