Let me start by stating I am not a doctor or physical therapist. The following information results from my experience as an athlete, coach and parent along with professional development training. When in doubt, I send my athletes and children to professionals who can diagnose and treat them properly. I follow their directions for preventing injuries and caring for the injuries that occur despite our best efforts.
Practice or perform?
Watching the summer Olympics, we saw Simone Biles power through her floor routine with calf pain and Noah Lyles cross the finish line while challenged with Covid. Both performances were incredible examples of strength and perseverance. They are Olympic athletes, after all. However, pushing through an illness or injury may not always be in a younger or less developed athlete’s best interest. Unless your child is competing in a high-level event, or they are merely annoyed by mild symptoms, give them time to recover from illness and injury.
I competed in my first competition with the stomach flu. I injured both knees and my back during my competitive years, each requiring much physical therapy and missing months of training. I hit my head a couple times on the ice and returned to practice after resting for a few minutes. The lesson was to rarely complain and often endure the discomfort. As a parent and coach, it became most important to place my concern on the wellbeing of my children and athletes and less urgent to push them to train when they were not feeling their best.
Fortunately, the focus in most sports has shifted from training and pushing through the days when athletes are not feeling well to minding their wellbeing.
Too Sick for Sports?
We all come down with colds and seasonal sniffles we can work through. There are even days when we feel well enough to work out and practice, but we’d rather be laying on the couch. As parents, you can use your best judgement when deciding to have your child train or rest.
Elite athletes may be able to train intensely or compete at a high level when they are not feeling 100 percent. For my children and athletes, I found the following to help decide if they would participate in their sport.
If a virus is brewing:
* Do not send your child out for practice when they are sick, especially when they have a fever
* A sick child will have lower energy and risk injury if they are weak while training
* There is a chance of getting teammates, coaches, and peers sick
* A lack of focus due to being tired or lethargic causes them to make more mistakes. Mistakes may lead to injuries. At the least, they will be less productive and will leave the practice frustrated.
Head Injuries
If your child hit their head:
* Take every head hit seriously
* Take them out of play
* Have your child checked if impact was hard or they are showing concussion symptoms. The CDC HEADS UP site has helpful information. Their advice is “Contact your healthcare provider as soon as you can if you think you have a concussion.”
* Follow protocol for returning to play when your doctor indicates it is safe. If your child has a concussion, there is no benefit to returning to sport until they have medical clearance.
Bumps and Bruises
Contact sports naturally have greater injury risks, yet athletes experience minor to significant injuries in all sports.
* If they are still moving and feeling fine, light injuries may well be part of the game (every sport provides bruises and achy muscles.)
* Listen to your child. If they are complaining more than usual, crying, or favoring the area with the injury, they may be trying to work through greater pain.
You can give your child proper nutrition, encourage they get enough sleep, and ask their pediatrician to clear them to participate in sports. Take advantage of health screening available to you. Our local high school offered heart health screenings for all their students. We had peace of mind knowing our boys had healthy screenings before participating in the demands of high school sports.
As a parent, most of these decisions are based on common sense. There are situations when you don’t want to overprotect your athletes if they are truly able to continue training. Yet, you want to be careful not to push them too hard if their bodies need rest to heal.
When you are not sure what move to make, reach out to your child’s trainers, doctor or physical therapist for guidance.
Ultimately, trust your judgement. You know your child better than anyone. Let them know they can tell you and their coaches when they are not feeling well or when they feel pain. Preventing injuries is a team effort.