The Important Role of Unstructured Play for Adolescent Athletes

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If one were to visit a city park today, compared to thirty years ago, they may not find many similarities. At least not as many similarities as differences. Children exploring their imaginations and allowing themselves to play freely has become a thing of the past. Instead, children may be located in a spot where the parents pay a registration fee in order for their children to participate or sitting in their homes not allowed to leave, or maybe a few playing at the local city park. In today’s age, there are so many extrinsically motivating factors that catch the eyes of parents who think it puts their children at an advantage in an ever so competitive environment. This motivates parents to get their children involved, if they have the financial resources, in all the activities they can to make their child the “best.” This begs the question, is it really the best thing for them?

CWU_HPE_750x182px v2The Numbers
According to Sabo et al. (2008), in 2008, 69% of girls and 75% of boys aged 6-9 reported participating in an organized sport over the course of one year. Recent reports indicate that 67% of boys and 47% of girls are on a team by age six (Meredith, 2018). This may seem to be a high percentage, but one has to wonder what the percentages would look like if parents/society were not so forceful in getting kids involved with youth sports too young. The most recent information indicates that the average length of years in participation of children ages 3-18 is less than three years and that 80% of young athletes have quit sports after age fifteen (The Aspen Institute, 2017).

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Sports Vision for Basketball

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“In reality, it all starts with vision.” – Kareem Rush, NBA shooting guard

Sports Vision Training: 2-Part Article Series


Regardless of the age or skill level of the players at hand, there’s one constant that cannot be ignored: success in basketball comes down to simply making shots. The National Basketball League (NBA) has long been called the “make or miss league,” an adage that reflects on a number of different aspects of pro ball, but strikes home when it comes to shooting. Good shooting comes in many different forms: watch an NBA game and you will see a variety of shooting forms and techniques. While there is an underlying set of concrete fundamentals that all shooters must have, how they implement them can vary. Often overlooked by players and coaches alike, vision plays a substantial role in a shooter’s ability to put the ball in the basket.

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“Athletes are always looking for anything that can give them a competitive edge. When asked when they perform at their best, all say that ‘the game slows down.’ In reality, it all starts with vision,” says NBA shooting guard Kareem Rush.

Introduction to Sports Vision Training

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Sports Vision Training: 2-Part Article Series


We’ve all been there: articles on this, journals on that, a recommended blog post from a colleague sitting in your inbox. It’s a lot to take in, but important to ensure we’re broadening our horizons and learning new things helps improve the coaching, training, and education we impart to the athletes with whom we work. The problems are the gaps in those resources. There have been amazing strides made in certain aspects of athletics, particularly with respect to performance. Advancements in biomechanics, nutrition, sport psychology —all incredibly important— have been common of late, but they tend to leave out a significant contributor to performance: vision.

Binovi_Logo_RGB_SM@4xOur vision accounts for as much as 80% —some argue even more— of the sensory input our brains process during our day-to-day lives. But how many drills, exercises, or activities are specifically targeting an athlete’s vision? And how many are having any significant impact on the mental processes going on behind the scenes? Most only really consider their vision when something changes with it: players see things less clearly, experience double-vision or blurriness, or notice something just isn’t quite as it should be.

The Latest in Vision Performance Training

(2-Part Article Series) Sports Vision Training

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Built on decades of research and technological innovation, Binovi is a neuro-visual performance testing and training platform combining dedicated hardware and software, expert knowledge, and data insights to test, analyze, track, and report on visual and cognitive performance. We’ve worked with vision care, occupational therapy, and sports vision specialists to develop the tools used in child development, rehabilitation, athletic training, and more. Using Binovi, these specialists are able to identify issues with key vision skills, assign personalized plans to help remedy those issues, and improve overall performance.

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Welcome to Sport Coach America

PHE America is excited to announce the release of a new affiliate site, Sport Coach America. Sport Coach America collaborates with coaches, coach developers, and scholars to provide content that offers insight on current best practices in coaching today. Site content includes articles written by coaches, sport administrators, and sport scholars.

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With the release of Sport Coach America, PHE America will start to increase content in physical and health education from practitioners and scholars in the field.  All previously published material on coaching will remain on PHE America and visitors to www.pheamerica.org will be able to link to Sport Coach America.

How Am I Doing? Using Self-Evaluation to Improve Coaching Practice

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(2 Minute Read)


The profession of sport coaching not only requires the initial development of core coaching responsibilities (SHAPE America, 2019), but also engagement in lifelong learning to continue to develop coaching competencies over time (Gilbert, 2016). While there are varying approaches to coach learning (Cushion et al., 2010), coaches’ evaluation of their current practice can provide insight into what and how to improve. This article identifies three evaluative processes that may help coaches identify their coaching strengths and areas to target for further growth and development.

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Outdoor Education Resists Coronavirus: This is How Creative Physical and Health Education Can Be

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As our sports teams were looking forward to traveling across Europe, ready to compete with international schools in Lisbon, Berlin, Valencia, and Paris, the first spring lockdown changed our lives. Virtual sport skill sessions and fitness challenges became the norm and placed athletes in front of screens rather than spending time on the courts, the fields, or in nature. As we started a new school year school in August, we were very fortunate to be able to return to campus. We were full of hope to start the fall season and jumped into practicing and playing games with local athletic teams from Zurich and Basel. Even though our community could not be there to cheer from the sidelines, they watched the live streams from home, a new highlight for school life. But, again, with a second wave of the virus hitting Switzerland in November, we were forced to suspend competitions.

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At that time, the International School of Zug and Luzern (ISZL) Athletic department together with the Middle School Physical and Health Education team was exploring new options for our students to enhance the regular school day. The focus shifted to recreational sports which would increase the time in the fresh air, where masks could be taken off when participants were socially distanced. We were amazed by the quick support we received when connecting with local clubs and authorities to investigate the outdoor education options in our region. The first couple of weeks, students played disc golf, Speedminton, archery, pitch, and putt-putt golf, no matter whether rain, shine, or snow. Our local resources became the new “gym.”