What Are The Long-Term Effects Of Young Athletes

Sport is as old as the ages. For years people of all ages have devoted their time and hard work, put their body through pain forcing blood, sweat and tears, all to further their abilities and succeed in a sport they are passionate about. As time goes on, there appears to be an increasing number of children who start to specialise in a sport at an early age, train year-round, and compete at an elite level. In today’s society, there is a rising number of very talented, but very young competitors. These athletes earn a huge sense of achievement and accomplishment, but in addition, face the physical, psychological, and emotional demands from intense training and competition.

This report will be discussing the concern of young athletes being put

through extensive training before their bodies are fully developed. This somewhat contentious issue is both social and scientific. Social, due to the varying opinions of the community, and scientific, due to the physical effects on the athletes.

This report will concentrate on high-level training for young
developing and elite athletes. ‘Young athletes’ being children from three to sixteen years old who extensively participate in a sporting field and other forms of physical exercise. The optimal age for elite level training varies across sports and the development of athletic talent is a long-term process. An athlete progresses to the highest level of their ability based on a specific well-designed plan that allows for long-term improvements. Scientific research concluded that in the majority of cases it takes around 10 years and 10,000 hours of training for a talented athlete to reach elite levels (Peter Twist, Janice Hutton, 2013).

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Why are young athletes being put through extensive sport training before their bodies are fully developed?

Over recent years, coaches and development officers analysis from all over the sporting world have been studying and applying new and extensive training programs to implement on their young athletes to benefit their future sporting careers and give them the best chance in becoming successful. The ever-increasing requirement for success creates a constant pressure for athletes to train longer, harder, more intelligently, and now at an earlier age. Conducting this training early in an athlete’s life gives more time for an individual to develop into a stronger, faster and all round better athlete in their field.

The well-known saying ‘practice makes perfect’ could not be more correct in this case it. It’s obvious that the more you train and at an intense level, your skills and athletic performance will escalate. Starting appropriate training on athletes as young as possible gives them more of a chance to succeed as they have longer to achieve the skills required to master their chosen sport, whist having an advantage over other athletes. Australian Diamond Renae Hallinan (2014 ) stated in an interview that she would never have become as successful an athlete if she hadn’t trained intensely from a young age. “It helped me stay ahead of the game and competition. The more basic skills and footwork that happens at a young age, the easier it is when you’re older as the basics become second nature. They are also harder to learn when older”.

In many sports, women’s gymnastics in particular, training from an early age is critical in order for the athletes to be successful, as once they reach their early twenties their professional careers will be finishing (Gymnastics SA, 1013)

Young people often get involved in early training due
to the influence of their peers. Parents are the biggest influence in a child’s life. Often parents want to push their children into sports and physical activities from an early age in order for them to be as healthy as possible in their growing years. Studies have revealed lifelong social, physical, and mental benefits of exercising from a young age and include obvious health benefits and can improve children’s psychological and social well being (Tomorrow Youth Organisation, 2011). More often than not, parents with a passion and background in sport pressure their kids into joining a sporting club in order for them to follow their footsteps, or even live the sporting life they wanted through their children.

Ultimately, it’s athletes themselves who decide to go through this training. They are individuals and can choose to become athletes purely because they have a passion for a particular sport or have a competitive nature. Many children want to be successful and become professionals in a sport they love, so they put themselves into training and continue to strive to be the best for their own reward.

What are the long-term effects from extensive training at a young age?

Training so often at a high-level forces young athletes to put themselves through a lot of pressure that affects their developing body and mind. What these individuals do when they are developing shapes the person they will come to be. In the long-term these effects can lead to both advantages and problems in their later lives. (Istvan Balyi, Ann Hamilton, 2008)

POSITIVE

Athletes that start training extensively from a young age develop strong body and bones that will prepare their body for good health as well as the rigors of elite and professional sport as they develop. As these athletes grow up they will have a large skillset that will benefit them throughout all aspects of their lives, physically and mentally. They develop goal setting, motivation, determination, commitment, resilience, and social skills, and earn a strong sense of discipline from growing up as an athlete. Young athletes also develop great lifestyle habits in terms of being active, making good nutrition choices and maintaining a stable social life, which all lead to a longer and more sustained lifespan. Studies also show that when children begin to exercise at an early age, they tend to academically perform better, have fewer behavioral and disciplinary problems, and can pay attention in class longer than their peers. (Tomorrow Youth Organisation, 2011). Then eventually, they can become successful and professional athletes, even earning

a living from playing their sport, which is ultimately what every athlete strives for.

NEGATIVE

Extensive training on young athletes can lead to high risks of injuries and other psychological problems. There are also risks of issues arising later in life that are a result of extensive training from a young age. Sam Offord (2014), a former elite male gymnast now physiotherapist, explained in an interview, “If training time or loads in general are too high too early in a sportspersons career, there can be negative effects on growth, social wellbeing and also an increased risk of overuse injuries”. The somewhat cut throat environment that surrounds a young athlete can do severely impact a developing child’s brain and body.

This training affects main areas of injury in the physical, mental, and social lives of young athletes.

Physical
Effects
- Abnormal posture
- Stretch marks
- Aches, pains and tightness from muscular problems and old injures
- Injuries eliminating chances of competing, possibly forever
- Serious and life altering injuries, possibly death
- Certain fractures can result in growth arrest or bone deformities.
- Bone density decrease
- Tissue breakdown
- Detrimental effects on the joints and their supporting structures such as ligaments, tendons and the joint lining and capsules themselves.
- Overuse injuries including tendinitis, apophysitis and stress fractures.
- Repetitive stress injuries such as Sever disease, medical epicondylitis, injures to developing joint surfaces and damage to the immature spine.
- Underweight due to malnourishment
- Overweight due to not being able to exercise as a result of injury.
- Athletic girls tend to experience menstruation at a later age, which can cause diminished bone mass from the associated decrease in estrogen secretion, augmenting the risk for stress fractures and the potential for osteoporosis in adulthood.
(American Academy of pediatrics, 2013)

Mental
Effects
- Brain damage from injuries
- Anger issues
- Over competitiveness
- Lack of education and knowledge
- Mental fatigue
- Anxiety and stress
- Depression and not knowing what to do if failure or injury prevents them.
- Tough on their kids, in some cases abusive
- Living the sporting life they wanted for through others
- Self esteem issues (interrelating to physical effects), female athletes bodies grow different and can produce small breasts or overly muscly bodies that is seen “unattractive”
- Lose the passion, even give up, from too much early on or to much pressure

Social
Effects

- Miss celebrations and important moments in other peoples lives
- Separation from social groups and losing friends
- Lack of romantic relationships
- Not being able to afford to do things due to extensive costs

- Hallinan said, “I couldn’t get a job, I missed many social occasions with family and friends and I even had to complete Year 12 over two years as I was so busy and doing so much travel for netball” (2014)

Training an athlete extensively when they aren’t fully developed it can come with serious risks.

This is why the training programs have to be thought out and studied before implemented on a young person, then monitored and well balanced between these three categories.

Ultimately though, with risk comes great reward. In most cases, athletes would say that if they could go back and choose to go through this process again, they couldn’t stay away. The passion athletes have for the sport and being successful in something they love more than anything outweighs the risks and what they’ve sacrificed to get to where they want to be.

How can the risks of injuries and other problems be reduced?

Treatment and reducing risks of injuries and other psychological problems are vital in keeping an athlete healthy and physically and mentally able to continue performing at their best. For the safety of young athletes, it is crucial that the training schedule and workload is managed and monitored by coaching staff and the athletes themselves to reduce incidence of injuries now and in the

future.
It’s all about preparedness. Research supports that those who participate in a variety of sports and specialise only after reaching the age of puberty tend to have fewer problems and injures (Academy of pediatrics, 2013). However, studies have also shown that those athletes won’t be as successful as the ones who have trained longer at a high-level (Peter Twist, Janice Hutton, 2013).

First and foremost physically, putting them through their
paces. They are trained to face the same things they would
encounter during competition. By preparing the athletes
bodies for what they need to keep developing and become
as successful as possible, they are physically able to
consistently perform at a high level.

Then comes the mental aspect, preparing the athletes mind with the skills and tools they need in order to thrive and be at the top of their game. Again having a social aspect to counter balance the competitive mindset is another great action as it takes the athletes mind off the competition making them relaxed and less stressed.

It is very important athletes themselves take care of their body before and after training, stretching to reduce the risk of injuries and release lactic acid in their body. Staying nourished and ensuring they get plenty of sleep is extremely important in order to remain healthy and consistently perform at their best.
In the growing years, proper hydration and nutrition is critical for optimal sports performance and for both good health and reducing risks. For child athletes, an adequate diet is crucial as nutritional needs are increased by both training and the growth process. Balance, moderation and a variety of food choices needs to be promoted. The body’s requirement for iron is greater during the growing years than any other time in life. Sufficient iron sources are important to an athlete as it provides adequate oxygen transport, muscle aerobic metabolism, and reasoning functions. Normal bone growth, and prevention and healing of stress fractures, also depend on sufficient dietary calcium
(American Academy of pediatrics, 2013).

South Australian physiotherapist Sam Offord’s says his role involves helping sportspeople “monitor their training and competition loads and keeps them training and competing as much as possible in the event of injuries or soreness” Having a physiotherapist like Offord can be very beneficial in reducing the risks of injures, especially for young athletes as they are more fragile and need to be looked after carefully. “Physiotherapists like myself assess and treat injuries associated with sport. There are some preventative exercises we can prescribe for people in certain sports and these aim to reduce the risk of various injuries. A very important component is educating sports people and sporting groups on how to monitor and manage training loads so that overuse injuries do not occur”, Offord discusses (2014)

The conditions of young athletes involved in
extensive training need to be monitored regularly.
Attention should be focused on serial measurements
of the body composition, weight, and stature,
cardiovascular findings, sexual maturation and
evidence of emotional stress (American Academy of
pediatrics, 2013).

Conclusion

The necessary commitment and intensity of training raises issues about the sensibility and safety of high-level participation for any young person.

Indeed there are risks if the balance is wrong in the lifestyle of young athletes. They require adequate time in school to ensure their education and learning doesn’t suffer. There needs to be enough time to develop social skills in interacting with other children and adolescents. There also needs to be enough rest so that their bodies develop and grow properly so that there are no long- term health problems from over training. So finding and substantiating this balance can achieve ultimate success and prosperous living for a young athlete as they continue to develop.

The loads that young athletes are put through are necessary to achieve success at the highest level. It is always a fine line between doing enough and not doing too much. If the load is gradually progressed and any pain or injuries are assessed and monitored early then there is no reason why the extensive training should not be safe for young athletes now and in future life.