Keeping a swimmer in the sport

I was asked about this the other week, as their swimmer is younger and they saw some of the senior swimmers lose their focus and some, their desire. 

It's a hard question to answer as a coach. There are reasons for each individual, but I just read an article that laid out an idea that occurs in youth sports now a days; and I think I can make connection to the question that I was asked.

Young swimmers love to succeed as they see how much joy it brings to the adults in their lives (parents, coaches, friends, and relatives). These people tend to show their support by becoming active in their development. This happens in all youth sports. In adolescence these kids begin to look for autonomy. They want something that is theirs and theirs alone. This puts activities like youth sports at risk because of the activeness in development from the earlier years on the adults part. It's hard to be highly active I their growth, and then step back and allow them to take the reins of their direction in a sport. 

So, we have the athlete now that doesn't enjoy the sport because they have that parent who wants to coach them, or put their two cents in to their training and development. This can also be a coach who tries hard to push them, and doesn't wait for them to make the decision that they want to be good. Here the sport becomes the coaches and not the athletes. The athlete must choose they want to be good, and then the coach can make a bigger difference. As a coach we say things sometimes to envoke this desire, but it is still the athletes decision.

We must allow the sport to belong to the athlete. Yes, some are still going to stray, but those will be reasons not because of parent or coach. 

It is also hard because to be an athlete you must live in the counter culture. That's why there aren't a whole lot of great athletes. To be an athlete that highest level is not easy nor normal. This is the other reason why some drop out. More on the counter culture in a future post.