While intervention and reporting may be uncomfortable, the most important thing you can do for your athlete is protect them, and it’s your responsibility as a parent, coach, official, or other present adult to educate yourself and act. According to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, here’s what you need to know about recognizing, responding to, and reporting abuse and misconduct.

RECOGNIZE Abuse and Misconduct

Recognizing abuse and misconduct is a critical first step to both preventing and responding to it. To start, it’s important to realize that abuse and misconduct can happen between an athlete and many different people, including another athlete, a coach, coach’s assistant, athletic trainer, or physical therapist.

We’ll cover the types of misconduct and abuse below, but keep in mind that even if you can’t label a behavior or it doesn’t violate a policy, you should always report anything that concerns you. Additionally, while the below are referred to as misconduct, they can all be considered child abuse depending on severity, as per federal and/or state law.

• Emotional Misconduct: Emotional misconduct can include both verbal and physical acts, from name-calling to throwing equipment at an athlete. Stalking and denying support can also be considered emotional misconduct.
• Physical Misconduct: Physical misconduct is any behavior that does or could lead to physical harm, which includes both contact and non-contact acts. Examples include punching, knowingly letting athletes return to play after injury without medical clearance, and withholding food or water.
• Sexual Misconduct: Sexual misconduct includes a wide range of sexual actions that are done without consent. It also includes grooming, sexual harassment, nonconsensual sexual contact or intercourse, sexual exploitation, exposing a minor to sexual content/imagery, sexual bullying behavior, and sexual hazing.
• Bullying: Bullying involves repeated and severe physical, verbal, social, or sexual behaviors, including name-calling, spreading rumors, taunting, or ridiculing someone based on gender or sexual preferences.
• Harassment: Harassment refers to repeated or severe conduct that causes fear or humiliation, degrades an athlete, creates a hostile environment, or attempts to establish superiority based on an athlete’s age, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, national origin, or disability.
• Hazing: Hazing involves physical, mental, emotional, or psychological conduct that could intimidate, degrade, abuse, or put an athlete in danger in order to be socially accepted. This could include conduct like making people play drinking games, physically restraining them, or depriving them of water, food, or sleep.

RESPOND to Abuse and Misconduct

If you witness or know about misconduct or abuse, never assume that someone else is taking care of it. Be sure to intervene and put an immediate stop to any misconduct or other harmful behavior you witness. If you learn about misconduct after the fact, determine if it has stopped, and if not, take action to stop it.

As you prepare for your role as an active bystander and/or mandatory reporter, keep these best practices in mind:

• Understand your sport organization’s policies and know what actions to look for, how you are expected to respond, and how to report.
• Regularly discuss acceptable and unacceptable behavior and hold everyone accountable for their behavior.
• Respond quickly to inappropriate behaviors to prevent escalation and continued harm.
• Respond consistently to misconduct you witness or learn about so there is no confusion about boundaries and accountability.
• Consider the developmental level of those involved when identifying acceptable behaviors and responses to those behaviors.

If abuse is disclosed to you, respond with these best practices in mind prior to reporting:

• Listen with empathy and let the athlete tell you the details they want to share at their own pace. Keep your body language and facial expressions open and non-judgmental.
• Thank them for telling you and trusting you.
• Remind them that you and others are here to help.
• Inform them of your next steps, including who you will report the information to. Remember, even if a child does not want the incident reported, mandatory reporters must follow legal reporting requirements.

If abuse is disclosed to you, do NOT:

• Doubt the accuracy of the report. Remember that false reports of abuse are very rare.
• Ask leading questions. Only ask open-ended questions and let the athlete tell you what happened in their own words.
• Call a child’s parents. Let authorities like child protective services identify when to communicate with parents and the appropriate steps needed to ensure a child’s safety.
• Check with other people to uncover more information or confront the perpetrator, as this can jeopardize the athlete’s safety.

REPORT Abuse and Misconduct

To best protect athletes, report abuse or suspicions of abuse immediately and regardless of your mandatory reporter status. Make sure you familiarize yourself with federal and state reporting requirements, as well as SafeSport reporting requirements.

For adults affiliated with the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, the SafeSport Code requires you to first follow applicable state or federal laws around reporting abuse and misconduct, but also to report:

• Child abuse, including child sexual abuse, immediately to law enforcement and the U.S. Center for SafeSport
• Sexual misconduct regardless of age immediately to SafeSport
• Emotional and physical misconduct (including bullying, hazing, and harassment) to your National Governing Body or SafeSport
• Violations of proactive prevention policies (such as the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies) to your National Governing Body

Your athlete’s team should have an abuse prevention policy already in place, which should include detailed instructions for reporting suspicions of abuse. If you haven’t seen this policy, ask the coach. Often, part of the reason abuse and misconduct are allowed to continue is that they are reported to the wrong people. Don’t automatically go to the athlete’s parents, the school administrator, or the coach.

If you’re unsure who to report to, go directly to local law enforcement, where they are better trained to handle these situations. You can also direct questions about abuse and misconduct to the SafeSport Helpline at 866-200-0796 or safesporthelpline.org. More information on reporting to the U.S. Center for SafeSport can be found here.

_________________________

Takeaway

Additional resources on recognizing, responding to, and reporting abuse are available here. Other local and national organizations are also available to help, including RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.

Caveat: While nutrition can be used as a tool to improve sleep quality and help ease mild symptoms of anxiety, if your athlete is struggling with sleep disturbances or anxiety, it’s important to talk to a medical professional in addition to making smart nutritional choices.

Reduce Anxiety

1. Eat Enough and Keep It Balanced

“The first line of defense for your overall physical and mental health is to make sure that you have a well-balanced diet,” says Ziesmer. “Consuming a variety of different foods over the course of the day, particularly a lot of different fruits and vegetables, is going to help ensure that your athlete gets the nutrients they need. It’s also important to make sure your athlete is eating enough: Under fueling can exacerbate sleep and anxiety issues.” She also recommends a check-in with your family doctor to get bloodwork done to make sure that your athlete isn’t deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, including zinc, magnesium, and vitamins D and B.

2. Get the Right Fats

“Omega 3 fatty acids are extremely beneficial for brain health, and have been shown to help reduce anxiety,” says Ziesmer. Fatty fish are the best source of Omega-3s, so if your athlete likes salmon, tuna, and mackerel, add those to the shopping list. If your athlete isn’t a fish fan, Ziesmer says that flaxseed, walnuts, flaxseed oil, or walnut oil also contain high amounts of Omega-3s.

3. Get Some Sun

“A huge percentage of the U.S. population is deficient in vitamin D,” says Ziesmer. “And low vitamin D levels have been linked to anxiety. Fortunately, vitamin D is relatively easy to obtain: Just spend time outside in the sun.” She recommends roughly 30 minutes per day in bright sunlight. If that’s impossible in your area, especially in the winter, there are plenty of foods that contain or are fortified with vitamin D.

4. Include Magnesium and Zinc Sources

Magnesium and zinc are both important minerals for preventing and reducing anxiety. “Leafy greens, nuts, and seeds are a great source of magnesium, while zinc will primarily come from meat sources,” says Ziesmer. “Liver, oysters, cashews, and egg yolks are especially good sources of zinc.”

Promote Sleep

5. Cut Back on Caffeine Early

If your athlete tends to drink a caffeine-infused sports drink during afternoon practice, that caffeine could be wreaking havoc on their sleep schedule. Some people feel the impact of caffeine longer than others, so if your athlete is always wide awake around bedtime, try cutting out caffeine after noon. “Caffeine makes our brain go into overdrive. And even if you don’t feel the obvious effects of it, it can still keep you awake at night,” Ziesmer adds.

6. Create a Routine

Cutting caffeine helps promote sleep, but the best way to help improve your athlete’s snooze time is to help them create smart routines and rituals around bedtime. This means things like setting a schedule for bed/wakeup times and adding soothing pre-sleep activities, like reading a book rather than scrolling on Instagram, or taking a warm shower after practice. Ziesmer says a set schedule and routine—including bedtime snacks and beverages—is the best way to promote sleep.

7. Enjoy a Warm Beverage

While chamomile tea is touted as the best herbal option for making someone feel sleepy, any relaxing herbal tea that your athlete likes is a great option. The ritual of having a cup of tea before bed can help put your athlete in a state of relaxation—and of course, provide some bonus hydration! Any herbal tea will work well before bed, but make sure it doesn’t contain caffeine. Adding a bit of milk to the tea can also be sleep inducing, Ziesmer adds.

8. Add a High Protein Dessert

A higher protein snack before bed can help a young athlete sleep better, especially if there’s a late game or practice, or if they tend to underfuel during the day. If your athlete complains of waking up in the middle of the night feeling hungry, a protein-dense snack before bed will help. A mug of hot chocolate made with one percent milk, for example, is a tasty and protein-dense treat in addition to being a soothing warm beverage. Ziesmer also recommends a small bowl of Greek yogurt with berries and granola.

__________________

Takeaway

Nutrition can help improve sleep and reduce feelings of anxiety by giving the body more of what it needs (like antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables) and less of what it doesn’t (like caffeine).

Here, Dr. Michele LaBotz, a TrueSport Expert and sports medicine physician, shares six simple goals to set around sleep, recovery, nutrition, and strength training that will improve your overall wellness and support your athletic goals.

1. Get Enough Sleep

Did you know that teenagers are actually supposed to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night for optimum health, not the 7 to 9 hours recommended for adults? And did you know that children 6-12 years old should get 9-12 hours of sleep each night? That’s right: You need more sleep. “More and more evidence is coming out on the importance of meeting these sleep recommendations for injury prevention, athletic performance, and overall mental wellness,” says LaBotz.

If you are currently getting less than these recommended amounts, LaBotz warns that you may be chronically sleep deprived. The trick with chronic sleep deprivation is that you do not actually feel tired. Although cutting back on sleep for a night or two may make you feel drowsy, going with less sleep over longer periods does not create that same feeling. You may feel well-rested, but your body is not. When you are chronically sleep deprived, your body sends false messages about how awake you feel.

The challenge for many young athletes is that between school, sport, family, and friends, it often seems there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. However, for athletes looking to optimize performance and minimize injury, LaBotz emphasizes that making sleep a priority is key. If you are not consistently getting the recommended amount of sleep, pick a week (or two) where you are going to follow a sleep schedule based upon the clock, and not on how tired you feel. You may need to gradually build up your sleep time over a few days, but after experiencing the changes sufficient sleep can deliver, most athletes feel that it is time well spent!

2. Get Enough Recovery Time

If you’re on a travel team and a school team, you may accidentally fall into the “no recovery days ever” trap, says LaBotz. This isn’t good for your body, which means it’s also not good for your long-term development as an athlete. You should have at least one recovery day per week, even if it means skipping a practice to make that happen. This is important for maximizing your physical and mental performance and reducing your risk of injury.

Often, coaches aren’t aware of how much extra work you’re doing with the other teams you’re on, and if they did, they wouldn’t recommend training as much as you are. Talk to your coach or athletic trainer about what your current total training load looks like and find out if you should be skipping certain sessions in favor of time off or less intense active recovery.

3. Prioritize Strength Training

“For the vast majority of sports, strength training should be part of training,” says LaBotz. “It should be built into your training week rather than an addition to everything else you are already doing.”  If you are not currently involved in strength training, set a starting goal of doing strength work twice a week for 20 to 30 minutes.

If your coach hasn’t built it into your training plan already, talk to them about how you can best fit it in. You may also want to talk to an athletic trainer to help you build a routine that hits all the major muscle groups. Focus on technique and not just on how heavy the weights are! Remember, strength training should be part of your training for sport, and not just an “added on” activity.

4. Find a Recovery Protocol That Works

Some athletes love to foam roll their legs after a workout. Others prefer hopping in an ice-cold bath to soothe sore muscles. Some prefer doing an easy yoga flow. Find what works and feels good for you, and make time for it in your routine, says LaBotz. Set a goal of doing a few minutes of active recovery, particularly after a hard workout.

5. Improve Your Post-Workout Fueling

“For athletes who are training every day, it’s important to have a snack that’s rich in carbohydrates and includes a little bit of protein after practice,” says LaBotz. If you typically have dinner within 30 minutes of finishing practice, that’s usually plenty. But if it’s longer than that before you’re home and at the dinner table, you should have a snack on hand that you can eat when practice is over.

“Make sure you have something in your locker or something in your gym bag that you can eat or drink right after you’re done,” says LaBotz. This could be as simple as half of a sandwich, a carton of chocolate milk, a handful of trail mix, or some cheese and crackers. (Get more locker-friendly ideas here.)

6. Have a Life Outside of Sports

If you’re so busy playing sports that you never have time to see a movie with friends, or to participate in any other extracurriculars, it’s time to set a goal that actually takes you away from your sport. “You should have variety in your life,” says LaBotz. This variety protects your mental and physical wellness, as well as reduces the risk of burnout in sport.

_______________________

Takeaway

In addition to setting goals for your athletic performance this season, consider setting some that focus on overall wellness. Goals around sleep, recovery, strength, and nutrition will ultimately make it easier to achieve your athletic goals—and make you a stronger, healthier human in the process.

A recent recommendations report from TrueSport  detailed the ways different stakeholders can best serve young athletes in terms of mental wellness, and included recommendations for those systems and communities. Here, one of the authors of the report—widely recognized sports sociologist Jay Coakley, PhD,—and Jennifer Royer, PhD, Senior Director of TrueSport and Awareness at USADA, share the tangible ways communities* and systems can best support mental wellness for student-athletes.

1. Understand the impact an organization can have

“We have to have a healthy system in order to have healthy athletes,” explains Royer. “We need the tools to teach athletes resiliency, self-confidence, and self-advocacy. If we don’t have that in place at the systemic level, it’s really difficult to successfully support athletes.”

“I think it’s important to focus on restructuring youth sports, rather than dealing with individual issues here and there,” adds Coakley. While a coach may have a direct impact on their athletes, we will see more lasting and durable change from the community and larger systems.

2. Understand your responsibility as an organization

As the report lays out, individuals like coaches, families, and athletic trainers can actively support young athletes, but organizations are tasked with making broader changes at the policy level and then executing and enforcing those policies. Mental wellness as a complement to physical wellbeing for athletes must be the highest prioritization for any organization working with or supporting young athletes. Seeing each individual athlete as a human being who needs to be addressed in the broader context of their humanity rather than solely for their prowess on the playing field must be the starting point for any stakeholder in youth sports.

3. Understand the pressures that student-athletes face

“We have to recognize that this group of young people is not experiencing life, culture, sport, school, or work the same way as past generations,” says Royer. “Everything is different, including the fact that they live in an entirely global society that is more transparent because of social media. We have to advocate for athletes differently because they are living in a different world now. And sport has to be different going forward, or it stands to lose the participation of all these young people.”

4. Understand the importance of youth sport accessibility

Given that sport is a potentially crucial protective factor in many young people’s lives, ensuring access becomes a key step in addressing mental wellbeing for our children. As youth sports have gotten progressively more privatized and expensive, communities and larger systems can play an important role in improving access to sport for all young people, regardless of income status. The report notes that creating partnerships between public and private sport organizations as well as sport governing bodies may be key in helping bridge the gaps in sports participation.

This is best done at a systemic level: On a small scale, a private club coach may connect with a high school coach to help student-athletes coordinate training and competing for two teams. But that doesn’t address the issues of pressure and access that are facing many more athletes within that same system.

5. Understand the individualism of each athlete

It’s easy to see youth sports as a singular mass. A baseball team, for example, may seem like a singular entity. But in reality, it’s a group of individual teens with entirely different life experiences and stressors. As a community stakeholder, understanding that each athlete has a different cultural context, a different family or financial situation, and a different set of thoughts and feelings is key. And regardless of the economics in the community, statistics indicate that young athletes are likely to be struggling with their mental wellness.

Sport can’t help these individual athletes build resilience and healthy tools for managing emotion if they continue to drop out at alarming rates. “The report supported the assertion that in an advantaged situation where families could afford the pay-to-play model, athletes are facing burnout and anxiety and leaving sport,” says Royer. “Conversely, athletes in challenging economic situations aren’t getting the opportunities to play because they can’t keep up with the financial demands of individual coaching, year-round instruction, or travel for competitions.”

6. Understand what’s needed in your community

The report points out that looking for unconventional solutions to difficult problems—like the ability to use a local community center or gym after hours for practice time or providing public funding for sport—can help begin to solve the overarching problem of accessibility to sport. If your area is economically diverse, this can be even tougher to reconcile, as some athletes will have access to private clubs and travel teams, while other athletes may be struggling to find a place to simply train or practice. Look for ways to bring communities together and pool resources. The more athletes we can keep engaged in sport, the greater our chances to support healthy development and growth.

7. Understand that support should come from multiple sources

Even if you believe that the area you’re in has a thriving, healthy youth sport community, there are always more ways that you can support athletes. Remember, each athlete has unique needs. And beyond the current young athletes already participating in sport, there is a huge percentage of the youth population who aren’t playing a sport because of various external and internal factors. “Athletes get their support from multiple sources,” says Coakley. “Support doesn’t only come from one place. It’s best if it comes from multiple places.”

______________________________

Takeaway

The overall health of a youth sport program is dependent upon organizations and communities taking responsibility and creating change. Most importantly, systems need to prioritize athlete wellness alongside performance, find ways to support access to sport, and recognize the individual needs of athletes.

* Note: We’re using ‘organization’ and ‘community’ interchangeably here and are simply referring to any larger-scale group that has a stake in youth sport and the general health and wellbeing of children.

With this in mind, how can you best support their mental wellness while helping them grow as people and athletes? Here, one of the authors of a recent recommendations report on mental wellness in youth sport—longtime sports sociologist Jay Coakley, PhD—is helping break down the tangible ways that caregivers and coaches can support athletes.

1. Humanity over athleticism

The title of the report is “Humanizing Sport,” speaking to the fact that taking care of young people needs to be the top goal for coaches and caregivers. Adults often struggle to remember that young athletes are under immense amounts of pressure while still developing the life skills and resilience necessary to cope with that pressure. It’s important to understand that the situations a young person is dealing with are valid and important, even if as an adult, you can look back and see how minor those problems are in retrospect. For example, an athlete fighting with a teammate may seem minor, but for that athlete, it can take a huge mental toll.

As a coach, it’s also easy to see a team of athletes as one singular mass—’the team’—but Coakley urges coaches to remember that each team member is their own individual with a different set of skills and struggles. For family members too, it’s easy to focus on a young athlete’s talent on the field rather than prioritizing their happiness on that field.

2. Relieve pressure

Even without meaning to, caregivers and coaches can add huge amounts of pressure for athletes. “For example, sports are often expensive these days, which is a source of pressure for a child who knows that parents are using discretionary money for their sport participation, and because of that, they feel trapped,” says Coakley. Mentioning things like the price of sport or the need for an athletic scholarship can put an unhealthy burden on your young athlete.

Coaches often create similar pressures for the team or for certain players by setting outcome-specific goals like winning certain games and placing more emphasis on wins than progress. Coaches and caregivers who limit unnecessary triggers for stress and pressure, while seeking opportunities to develop athlete resilience, create an optimal environment to support student-athlete mental wellbeing.

3. Take mental health as seriously as physical health

Often in youth sport, mental health is an afterthought, if it comes up at all. But Coakley says that mental health is potentially more important than physical health for young athletes. “Unfortunately, within sport culture, it used to be defined as a weakness if you had a mental health problem,” he says. “It’s hard to change that culture, but that’s our goal.”

To start, have open conversations with athletes about mental health, let them know that they can come to you if they’re experiencing any distress, and focus on mental wellness alongside physical wellness on the team. You can do goal-setting exercises throughout the season, make sure athletes and their families understand your open-door policy, and host weekly check-ins with the team to tackle any issues that have come up.

4. Have regular one-on-ones with athletes

Whether you’re a caregiver or a coach, having individual conversations with your athlete on a regular basis is an important part of monitoring their mental wellness. “Good coaches have weekly one-on-one conversations with their athletes,” says Coakley. “They might be short conversations, but these quick talks let the athletes know that the coach cares about them and helps coaches catch any potential issues early.” In alignment with athlete safety best practices, be sure these conversations are always observable and interruptible.

The same is true for parents and guardians: Make sure you’re having at least one check-in with your athlete each week, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Intentionally creating time to connect with your athlete leaves room for them to share anything they may be struggling to process or move through on their own.

5. Don’t be afraid to refer out

Many of the recommendations in the report center around seeking appropriate help and guidance from other professionals. While coaches may feel as though they need to be the therapist, nutritionist, physical therapist, and sleep specialist, it’s important to remember that wearing all of those hats isn’t actually in the best interest of you nor your athletes. It’s simply overburdening you and keeping your athletes from getting the professional care that they need. Instead, build relationships with experts who are qualified in these different areas and try to make them readily available for your athletes. If financial means are a concern, Coakley suggests reaching out to local universities and seeking out students looking for internships in the fields of physiotherapy, sports dietetics, or psychology. Consider the sport administrators in your particular system as a great ally in this effort. Seek their guidance and support to identify appropriate resources to supplement the important work you’re doing as a caregiver or coach.

_________________________

Takeaway

Serving young athletes means taking care of their mental wellbeing as well as their physical health. This begins with seeing athletes as whole humans, rather than viewing them as one team, or as individuals who are only defined by their athletic achievements. For coaches and caregivers who interact closely with athletes, this should include regular check-ins and open conversations about mental health. It should also include seeking expert help when needed, rather than trying to do everything yourself.

Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, shares some tips on how to approach holidays and vacations mindfully so that athletes can feel comfortable getting the nutrients they need and the flavors they want.

1. Help Your Athlete Understand Intuitive Eating

Simply put, intuitive eating is learning to listen to your body’s hunger cues and respond to them appropriately. Ziesmer explains that leaning into intuitive eating makes it easier for an athlete to enjoy tasty treats at a holiday party and to stop when they’re full. “Eating intuitively helps you avoid those big spikes in hunger, where you go too long without eating and then you’re starving,” says Ziesmer. “When you’re eating, it’s also about asking, ‘Am I satisfied? Or am I still hungry?’ You don’t always need to clear your plate—but it’s also okay if you do.”

2. Don’t Restrict

For young athletes, developing restrictive tendencies is unfortunately all too common, and the hype around ‘not gaining weight over the holidays’ may actually cause those tendencies to show up. Ziesmer says it’s important to ensure that your athlete has a healthy relationship with all types of food so they can maintain a nutrient-dense diet while still enjoying the seasonal festivities during the holidays.

3. Start with a Nutrient-Dense Meal

Showing up to the holiday party after not eating all day is a recipe for going overboard on the tasty treats. Ziesmer says that the easiest way to avoid overindulgence and the stomachache that’s likely going to follow is to eat a nutrient-dense snack beforehand. This strategy shouldn’t cause stress: Balance is the priority, so keep in mind that a single indulgent meal won’t unbalance a generally healthy nutrition plan.

4. Aim for a Balanced Plate at Meals

Sitting down to a big family meal? Focus on the different elements on the plate, says Ziesmer. Is there a source of protein (like chicken, fish, turkey, or tofu), a whole grain (like brown rice or  whole wheat rolls) and some vegetables (like steamed broccoli or a side salad)? Don’t panic if instead of a whole grain, mashed potatoes are your carbohydrate options, and instead of a kale salad, canned green beans are the only vegetable. Do the best with what you have!

5. BYO Healthy Snacks

Heading to a hotel or a family member’s house for the holidays? Stock up on healthy snacks and meal options that you can easily travel with so your athletes don’t miss out on important nutrients during the trip. “If you are staying at a hotel, you can ask for a mini fridge in your room,” says Ziesmer.” Stock the fridge with fruit, chopped up vegetables and hummus, string cheese, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and granola.” If you don’t have fridge access, mixed nuts, shelf-stable fruits like apples, dried fruit, and homemade granola bars are great options too.

6. Make New Traditions

Rather than throwing out current family traditions, try to add a few instead! Remember that with most foods, whether it’s ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ largely depends on context. A big mug of hot chocolate after a day of sitting and watching movies may not be the most nutritious choice, but that same mug of hot chocolate is actually a great blend of carbohydrates and proteins that can help an athlete recover from a 5K training run. If most of the holiday traditions and vacation activities in your family center around food, consider suggesting a few new traditions that include movement. A snowball fight or walk before Christmas dinner helps create balance.

7. Pay Attention to Portion Size and Unconscious Snacking

At parties, it’s easy to snack through the evening and be completely unaware of how much you’ve eaten. Because of this natural tendency, Ziesmer recommends taking a mindful approach to eating to truly enjoy every bite. “I try to help people really think about what they’re eating: What does the food smell like, how exactly does it taste, how does it feel in your mouth?” she says. “When possible, try to eat without distractions and pay attention to what you’re eating. Try to focus on eating the food instead of doing other things at the same time.”

8. Look for Healthy New Favorites

The best way to make sure that there will be something nutrient dense at the party you’re heading to is to bring a healthy dish! A slow-cooker stew that’s packed with vegetables, beans, and lean protein is a great addition to a buffet, while a dense salad with dark leafy greens and a wide variety of vegetables is an easy dish to bring for a sit-down dinner. Consider making a fruit-focused dessert or a big dish of chopped vegetables and a Greek yogurt-based dip for an appetizer.

9. On a Specific Diet? Let Family Know Ahead of Time

If your athlete is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or has a specific food intolerance, don’t wait until the table is set to bring it up. “Have a conversation before you get there,” says Ziesmer. “It’s a lot less stressful and a lot less tense when you discuss it with the host beforehand. This approach takes the emotions out of it and lets you figure out a solution. Is there a vegan option for your athlete, or should you bring a dish?”

10. Focus on Movement and Sleep—Not Just Food

It’s easy to get stressed about ‘eating right’ over the holidays and on vacation, but Ziesmer reminds athletes and caregivers that movement and sleep are just as important—and just as prone to getting off-kilter during this chunk of time. Urge your athlete to maintain a reasonable sleep schedule, aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep per night, and to get in some movement every day. This doesn’t have to mean running laps or hitting the gym—it could mean going on a walk or bike ride with a friend, tossing the basketball around in the driveway, or doing some gentle yoga.

______________________

Takeaway

The holidays should be a time to enjoy yourself—not stress out about what you should or shouldn’t eat. It’s okay to enjoy food simply because it tastes good, and you can find balance by also working in nutrient-dense snacks and meals, exercise, and good sleep.

That’s why the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and TrueSport began hosting an annual mental wellness conference in 2021. The first iteration focused broadly on youth athletes and the 2022 conference addressed the specific challenges facing student-athletes. In 2023, however, TrueSport has expanded the focus of the symposium to further address the larger sport landscape that athletes are operating in and the need for collaborative solutions.

Dr. Jennifer Royer, Senior Director of TrueSport and Awareness at USADA and TrueSport, explains, “We’ve focused narrowly on athlete mental wellness in the past. But we’re leaning into the idea that there must be an intentional system in place in order to best support athletes. If we don’t have healthy systems, we don’t have healthy participants. We need coaches, trainers, schools, and communities to be proactive and evolving around this topic. In order for athletes to learn resiliency, self-confidence and self-advocacy, we need the people around them to be able to teach those from experience. If we don’t make change at the systemic level, there’s no hope of supporting athletes correctly at the grass roots. Coaches, who have such an impact on young athletes’ experiences, deserve the support and training necessary to help them in these efforts.”

The focus on sport systems is the product of research TrueSport and mental health thought leaders, including lead researcher Jessica Kirby, PhD, began at the conference in 2022. The resulting recommendations report, “Humanizing Sport,” doesn’t focus on one specific mental wellness issue, but instead, looks at the challenge wholistically and proposes system-wide improvements.

Essentially the recommendation report argues that sport can act as a key protective factor in support of mental health. Additionally, it showed that student-athletes face two distinct problems that impede that benefit: For athletes in lower socio-economic situations, they were lacking in resources needed to engage in youth sport, thanks to the growth of ‘pay to play’ clubs and other expensive additions to youth sport. Then, for athletes in the middle and upper class who can afford those luxuries, burnout and overtraining became much more prevalent. It seems an obvious conclusion, but if athletes are not staying in sport, it can’t meet those young athletes’ needs and our opportunity to help stem the growing tide of youth mental health challenges is lost.

“But what I found encouraging is that the solution to both challenges is the same,” says Royer. “That gives us hope that there is a systemic approach that will work, one that allows us to address healthy, trusted adult relationships that make a difference for young people. We need an organizational culture that supports a process-oriented youth sport experience, communities that encourage participation, and student-athletes who learn to trust their intuition about what feels right for them.”

To be clear, this doesn’t mean getting rid of competitive sports or canceling club leagues and playoffs. “We’re not an organization making the case that healthy competition is a bad thing,” says Royer. “Competitiveness is a value we espouse and think is healthy, when done the right way. What shines through in this research is that a win-at-all-cost mentality is bad for everyone involved. That kind of performance-oriented culture doesn’t help anyone, and we’ve learned that it doesn’t even necessarily contribute to sustainable wins in a desirable sport culture.”

The research makes it clear that focusing on long-term whole athlete development actually leads to better performance, while a focus on winning at all costs may generate some early wins but will eventually lead to a team in crisis. “If we look at the long-term participation levels, having a process focus pays off,” says Royer. “That means making sure that we’re growth-oriented, that we’re creating a motivational culture, that we’re fostering healthy relationships, and that we’re watching out for the overall wellbeing of every athlete.”

Unfortunately, youth sport in the U.S. is arguably at a collective crisis point due to the focus on winning at all costs. The way to correct this, Royer and the researchers behind the paper believe, is to start by looking at athletes as humans first. “Recognizing that a young person is so much more than a singular identity as an athlete is critically important,” says Royer. “This concept helps the athlete—and those around them—establish some parameters around what feels productive and what doesn’t.”

This means athletes, coaches, families, schools, and communities need to focus on the athlete’s health first, and prioritize their safety, whether it’s safety from physical or emotional or mental injury. “It has to be OK for an athlete to ask for help, whether they’re struggling with an emotional situation or a sprained ankle,” says Royer. “It is just as vital to their growth and success long-term to address those social-emotional wellbeing issues as it is to recover from a physical injury.”

To be able to have these conversations means having a high level of trust with the adult in charge, though. And that’s where coaches play a vital role in improving youth sport. “Trusted adults are in positions of authority, and they are decision makers in this sport space,” says Royer. “They have to prioritize those healthy relationships, and develop their own toolkit of wellness practices, to help their athletes grow.” That’s why the 2023 mental health conference will focus on coaches and mental health.

Without these strong relationships and a commitment to the idea that the mental wellbeing of an athlete is as important as their physical wellbeing, youth sport will fail to live up to its full potential. Every individual has the ability to affect change on their team and in their community. But it starts with releasing the stigmas around mental health and prioritizing mental wellbeing as a pathway to a great sport experience that strives for success that far exceeds the narrow lens of competitive wins.

It can be daunting to think about overhauling youth sport from the ground up, but Royer believes it’s the only way to save it, to grow participation while also nurturing healthy athletes who stay in sport long after their time in developmental sport.

Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, shares a few tips for buying food on a budget, as well as recipes for a few meals that keep costs low.

Cost Saving Tips

1. Meal Prepping is Budget-Friendly

Meal prepping is not just a time-saver: it also saves you from expensive last-minute restaurant stops and hunger-filled trips to the grocery store. It also ensures that you actually use all of the food that you do buy, and it allows you to buy ingredients like chicken or oatmeal in bulk, which is cheaper than purchasing small single-serve packages.

2. Don’t Waste Leftovers

Often, that single chicken breast left over after dinner ends up sitting in the refrigerator before getting tossed out. But while you may not have enough left over from dinner for a full meal for the family, you can repurpose those leftovers to feed hungry athletes. Don’t be afraid to use leftovers creatively for lunch the next day. For example, extra chicken can easily be made into a sandwich, burrito, wrap, or rice bowl.

3. Get Creative

When you are at the grocery store, sticking to your list and buying the bulk options are great ways to save money. But also keep an eye out for deals, and don’t be afraid to make some creative substitutions.

4. Have the Right Cooking Gear

Ziesmer often talks about slow-cookers and pressure cookers as great ways to speed up meal prep and make things like dried beans a more realistic option for busy people. If you don’t have a slow-cooker yet, check your local thrift store if a new one is out of your budget. And of course, if you have the time and space, you can get creative with growing your own herbs and vegetables at home to save money.

5. Be Smart About Sport Snacks

There are hundreds of bars, gels, gummies, and drink mixes now marketed to athletes, but in most situations, young athletes don’t need these powders and potions to perform at their best. There are plenty of easy options for homemade sports drinks and simple pre-game snacks that aren’t ultra-processed and pricey. Most of the time, a bottle of water with a pinch of sea salt and a banana or a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich will be the perfect snack.

Here are some budget friendly meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast: Nutrient-Packed Overnight Oats

Compared to buying boxes of cereal or granola, buying bulk bags of oatmeal is a huge cost savings. On a per-serving basis, cereal often costs three or more times as much as oatmeal. Oatmeal is also the more nutrient-dense, fiber-rich choice. It’s also less processed and can be topped with nutritious foods like fruit, nuts, and seeds.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup rolled oats (depending on how hungry your athlete tends to be)
• Nuts and seeds: Crushed walnuts, chopped pecans, chia seeds, or peanut butter are all great options.
• Fruit: Berries (fresh or frozen), raisins, dried cranberries, or seasonal fruit like apples or bananas
• Sweetener: Honey or maple syrup, cinnamon

Prep: Combine all ingredients in a jar or bowl and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk or water (double the amount of oatmeal used). Leave in the refrigerator overnight, then enjoy it cold or warm up in the microwave in the morning.

Lunch: Simple Vegetarian Rice Bowl

Vegetarians have long touted the benefits of rice and beans, since the combination of the two provides all of the essential amino acids and protein that a growing athlete needs. And they are incredibly budget-friendly! While dried beans require more prep time than canned, they do provide a major cost-savings. A secondhand slow cooker or pressure cooker can help reduce time in the kitchen prepping dried beans. And rather than buying single-serve or quick-cook rice, opt for the largest bag that you’re able to fit in your kitchen cupboards. Bulk rice is one of the most inexpensive carbohydrates available, and it’s also one of the most versatile and easy to use carbohydrates.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1 bell pepper (If not in season, check the frozen aisle: Often you can find bags of chopped peppers and onions combined!)
• 1/2 onion
• 1 cup spinach
• Chili powder
• Toppings: Tomato, avocado, shredded cheese, hot sauce, salsa

Prep: Use a rice cooker to cook your rice, or follow directions on the bag (ideally, meal prep several servings of rice at once, rather than single servings). Sauté peppers, onions, and spinach with sprinkle of chili powder until softened, then add pre-cooked black beans to the pan. Build your bowl by topping rice with vegetable mix, followed by toppings.

Dinner: Simple Chicken for Today + Beyond

If you can’t find good seasonal options—which can be hard in the winter months in many areas—opt for frozen vegetables, says Ziesmer. These are often less expensive than fresh vegetables, and because they’re flash frozen immediately after harvesting, they actually retain more nutrients than some of the fresh options that have traveled a long distance to make it onto the shelves at your grocery store. And when it comes to deciding what’s for dinner, keep it simple: Avoid recipes that force you to buy a dozen ingredients that you’ll only use for one dish, or that feature pricier cuts of meat. For most young athletes, finding a few favorite meals that are easy and inexpensive to prepare beats attempting to create a new dish every night of the month.

Ingredients:

• Chicken thighs (boneless, skinless) – often less pricey than chicken breasts. Buy in bulk for meal prepping
• Seasonal roast-friendly vegetables that your athletes like, such as asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, celery
• Roast root vegetables: Beets, sweet potatoes, white or yellow potatoes, yellow onion
• Olive oil
• Spices: Pepper, garlic powder, salt (or an ‘everyday seasoning’ blend)

Prep:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop vegetables and root vegetables into roughly 1×1 inch cubes
• Line two pans with foil for easier cleanup, then drizzle olive oil on each
• Put all vegetables and root vegetables in a big bowl and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and your choice of seasoning. These vegetables also are great as leftovers for rice bowls, stews, salad toppers, and side dishes throughout the week, so, when possible, make extra.
• Bake the vegetables in the oven for 1 hour (or until they’re easily pierced with a fork)
• On one pan, lay out chicken and sprinkle with your preferred seasoning. This is a great time to cook a big batch of chicken to be used in soups, wraps, sandwiches, salads, and rice bowls throughout the week.
• Bake chicken for roughly 55 minutes

____________________________

Takeaway

Feeding a young, hungry athlete can cost a fortune, but it doesn’t have to. With some advance planning, meal prep, and smart bulk buying, you can slash your grocery budget while still ensuring that your athlete is getting all the nutrients that they need to stay in the game.

Given that concussion treatment today is very different than it was several years ago, Michele LaBotz, TrueSport Expert and sports medicine physician, is explaining the latest information on concussion protocols. Remember, it’s important to speak to your athlete’s doctor and athletic trainer to create the best recovery protocol for each individual athlete, but having this updated information allows you to ask the right questions and best advocate for your athlete.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, 1.8 million sports-related concussions happen annually in youth under age 18 annually. This number can be devastating, especially since many athletes who sustain concussions struggle to return to play, particularly in high-impact sports. But concussions are an unfortunately common part of many sports, and all too often, are unavoidable. So, how can an athlete best recover?

One fundamental change during recovery has been the move away from prolonged periods of rest and time away from school. This may be a surprise, especially for coaches or parents of older athletes who have long been told that athletes with concussions need to be kept in dark rooms, forced to rest, and stay away from screens and exercise. “The pendulum has been swinging the past number of years in terms of concussion treatment,” says LaBotz. “The things we believe now are quite different from what we were telling people a couple of years ago.”

Now, LaBotz says, there’s a lot of good evidence that getting kids back into physical activity early—after a day or two of taking it easy (unless other injuries require more rest)—can be helpful for recovery. This doesn’t mean showing up at practice and doing sprints, though. Instead, athletes should start with low intensity physical activity like walking or spinning on a stationary bike.

“As long as they’re able to participate in physical activity without a significant increase in symptoms and without undue risk of another head injury, they can continue,” says LaBotz. “Those prolonged periods of inactivity are not good for the athlete, on any level.”

LaBotz believes part of the reason this return to activity aids recovery is the element of isolation that can happen when an athlete is forced to rest, skipping school and practice. “We know that when these kids are socially isolated after concussion, that appears to lead to prolongation of symptoms,” she says. “The days of keeping kids out of school, or away from social activities with friends, for weeks at a time are over.”

Even screen time recommendations have changed. While screens often aren’t optimal for those suffering from acute concussion symptoms, LaBotz notes that because many young people engage in social interactions via the computer versus in real life, keeping them away from all screens may do more harm than good.

“The Academy of Pediatrics still recommends a maximum of two hours of non-academic screen time per day,” she says. “But as long as kids are not having a significant increase in symptoms, maintaining those social connections with friends via screens is very reasonable.” LaBotz notes that for those who do experience symptoms with screen use, reducing screen brightness and/or increasing font size may help. “Even playing with different background colors can make a difference,” she says.

Furthermore, going to major events like prom or graduation can be safe for athletes dealing with concussions, says LaBotz. “I tell parents that if there is an important social or family activity, it’s fine for them to participate, as long as the activity does not involve risk for additional head injury” she notes.  However, LaBotz does add that it’s important to have a plan in place if the athlete feels concussion symptoms start to increase. “They have to have an ‘exit strategy’ where they can retreat to a quiet place or be able to leave and go home if symptoms become much worse” she says.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, concussion recovery typically takes between two and four weeks for young athletes. Concussion recovery is not linear, and  symptoms may come and go during this recovery time, says LaBotz. It’s normal for symptoms to seem to go away, then come back, particularly with strenuous mental or physical effort. “I often reassure patients and families that a slight increase in symptoms with light exercise or schoolwork is okay, and the athlete can continue,” she says. “But, if there’s a big increase in symptoms, then that is a signal that the athlete is doing too much and needs to back down.”

When it comes to concussion recovery, there is no substitute for the passage of time. But there are some symptoms, such as issues with balance, vision, or neck pain that often benefit from dedicated treatment and rehabilitation, particularly if they are not improving with time, adds LaBotz. Working with a physical therapist or athletic trainer to address these issues often helps to reduce concussion symptoms and shorten recovery periods.

The last outdated piece of concussion advice is the concept that the third concussion needs to be your last concussion. “There’s no magic number for concussions,” says LaBotz. “It used to be that after three, you were out of the sport. Now, recommendations are much more individualized and the decision-making process takes multiple factors into account, and not just the number of concussions.”

One problem with sustaining multiple concussions is that it seems to increase the likelihood of recurrence. “In some athletes, we see that after a concussion, the threshold for getting another concussion appears to go down,” LaBotz says. “I’ve seen athletes who have had a couple of concussions, and they come to see me with symptoms of a new concussion but don’t remember sustaining a hit. In these cases, it may take less of a hit to sustain a concussion for them now. And again, in those cases, considering a switch to a non-contact sport may be advisable.”

Although many concussion treatment recommendations will continue to evolve, it is important to remember that the following criteria for return to contact sport after concussion has NOT changed:

• Athletes must be symptom-free at rest and remain symptom-free during several days of a progressive “return to play” protocol
• Athletes must be back to their pre-injury level of school performance and cognitive function
• Athletes must be cleared by a health care professional before return to sport

More research is still needed in the concussion arena, and one area of interest for LaBotz is regarding the potential effects of subconcussive head impacts. These happen when smaller impacts to the head are sustained (like heading a soccer ball or hitting your head after a tackle in football). At the time of the impact, there’s no pain or symptomatic aftereffects. But those hits accumulate over time, she says. “Really, the less force that goes across the brain, the better,” she adds.

___________________________

Takeaway

Concussion protocols have changed in recent years. Athletes should return to easy, light movement within a day or two of sustaining a concussion to improve recovery outcomes and they shouldn’t be kept in social isolation. Work with athletic trainers and medical professionals to create an optimal return to play plan for your athlete, and remember, athletes must be cleared by a health care provider to return to play after sustaining a concussion.