Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
Facebook Youtube Instagram Linkedin Pinterest
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Linkedin Pinterest

Is Your Student Athlete Overscheduled this Summer?

Parents

Amanda Stanec headshot.Is your athlete juggling a summer job, training camps, off-season competitions, summer classes, volunteer hours, and maybe some down time with friends? It’s easy for young athletes to end up over-extended in the summer, and while a packed schedule isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not every athlete is equipped to handle such a heavy load.

Here, TrueSport Expert Amanda Stanec, PhD, the founder and owner of MOVE + LIVE + LEARN, is talking about how to help young athletes actually enjoy their leisure time so that when school rolls around, they’re refreshed and recharged, not on the edge of burnout.

 

Every athlete is different

If you have more than one child, you likely already know this: What works well for one student athlete may not work for another. “Every student athlete is a unique person,” says Stanec. “An athlete might truly thrive with a lot of structure that requires balancing a job, workouts, practices, and their service commitments, while another may really, really need time to recharge with a much more open schedule. As parents, it’s important that we ask our athletes what makes them feel as though they’re able to thrive and what type of environment they need.” She suggests experimenting: Have one week where your athlete is tightly scheduled with activities, followed by a week with minimal commitments. At the end, assess how each felt, and help your athlete find a good balance.

 

There are a lot of benefits to working a job

Teen girl working at a store.While athletes are highly individual, it’s hard to ignore the fact that working a summer job can be extremely beneficial for young people. Maybe your athlete only works 10 hours each week, but having a structured job not only lets them earn spending money—teaching them valuable financial lessons from a young age—it also gives them a sense of discipline and humility that they simply might not get from school. “A talented athlete who’s also naturally a great student may not deal with a lot of challenges in their early years,” Stanec says. Working a summer job may provide more challenge, and especially for an athlete from a small school, it gives them a chance to be exposed to a wider landscape of humanity.

 

No time for a job? Check the schedule again

“If a student-athlete doesn’t have time for a summer job because of their sport commitment as a high school student, I question their efficiency in what they’re doing in sport. I would fear burnout or overuse injury,” says Stanec.

Your athlete may not have time for a 30-hour per week commitment, but fitting in a 10-hour per week summer job? That should be possible. Otherwise, your athlete may be too tightly scheduled with sport and in need of more rest. If the team truly has so many practices or commitments that it’s impossible to hold a summer job, consider having a discussion with the coach. While some athletes may not have a choice about getting a summer job, no athletic program should be so intense that it eliminates the possibility.

 

Reconsider devices

Teen boy on phone with headphones.Don’t romanticize an open schedule: You may have fond memories of long summer days spent riding your bike with friends and playing at the pool, but it’s different now, Stanec says. Thanks to smartphones and social media, many kids spend leisure time scrolling on their phones, which can be extremely detrimental to their mental health. “Help your athlete find relaxing activities that aren’t just sitting with a device in their hands,” she says. If you’re trying to set device boundaries for the first time, Stanec suggests having an honest conversation with your athlete about how they feel after an hour of scrolling. Often, she says, when an athlete actually reflects on how social media makes them feel, it’s easier for them to disconnect. (She also notes that kids do model their parents, so check your own scrolling habits as well!)

 

Create an environment for creative and relaxing leisure time

Create an environment that allows for easy, fun leisure. That might mean making sure there are bikes in the garage that are the right size for your athletes, or having different outdoor games set up, or creating an artist studio in the basement for a budding painter or potter. Whenever possible, set boundaries around screen time. This can get tricky if your athlete is an avid YouTuber who’s making creative videos, but you can try getting an inexpensive digital video camera and turning off the Wi-Fi in the house during certain hours to minimize TikTok and Instagram scrolling.

Lastly, don’t turn leisure time into something that’s just as rigid as a summer job: If your athlete needs a nap, wants to read for an afternoon, or wants to hang out with friends watching a movie, that’s perfectly fine.

 

Look for warning signs

Young teen in hoodie sad on bed.Some young athletes will allow themselves to become over scheduled and overwhelmed in the pursuit of scholastic, sport, and social perfection, which can be incredibly damaging, says Stanec. Your athlete might be capable of having a job, a training program, a summer class at the community college, a secondary sport camp, and volunteer hours—or they might be on the verge of burnout. Look for warning signs like increased anxiety, trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, or anything outside of normal behavior patterns for your athlete. Also make sure to regularly check in with them to ensure they’re still feeling comfortable with their tight schedules. Some athletes will head into a packed summer feeling great about their decision, only to feel exhausted after a few weeks. Often, they won’t want to quit or cut back on hours themselves, or will feel uncomfortable having that conversation with a coach or boss. You can help them navigate those tough discussions.

__________________________

Takeaway

There is no formula for the right balance of busyness and activities for kids—it’s highly individual for every child. Ongoing discussions will help ensure the right balance for your athlete, and along the way, you can help them find summer activities that feel rewarding, enriching, and fun.

Related Content

Loading...
1 2 … 29

Join Us

Subscribe
Shop TrueSport
Host TrueSport

TrueSport logo without icon in white.

© 2025 TrueSport | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Sitemap

Goal-Setting Lesson Video Transcript

Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.

By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.

Body Image Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.

I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.

A Good Sport Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.

I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.

I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.

What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be? Video Transcript

Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.

You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.

I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?

THE SIMPLE TRUTH: DECODING THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.

At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.

When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.

Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.