Nancy Justis

Everyone knows – or at least everyone should know – competitive sports help teach life lessons and skills. How many …

Here are some tips that may seem obvious but it never hurts to remind parents of these suggestions. Good luck to your son or daughter in their quest for future success.

For decades, youth sports programs, coaches and parents pushed the idea of specialization for participants, thinking focusing on one sport would increase chances of collegiate recruitment and future professional opportunities. Here’s why a multi-sport athlete has more opportunities.

Justis column: Change your story by practicing positive talk with yourself

Justis column: IHSAA and IGHSAU are monitoring the popularity of the sport and letting in grow ‘organically’ at this time

Justis column: Coaches play a big role in helping young athletes learn from setbacks, helping mold better adults, too

Justis column: Verbalize to players that the game is an opportunity to show resilience

Justis column: Hope is recent trends will enhance activity among all young athletes

Although it’s hard to put numbers on, participation and interest among young girls is increasing

In a study administered through the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Survey of Children’s Health shows 53.8 percent of youth ages 6 through 17 played sports in 2022, the first year considered post-pandemic.

What happens when a coach who is parent of a player on your child’s youth sports team seems to be favoring their own child over other players? Here are some tips for approaching the situation.

The bench doesn’t have to be seen as a demotion or punishment – if the coach explains the purpose of the move and the players understand the role they can play from afar.

We’ve all seen and experienced it — kids playing more than one sport in a single season. The practice is controversial, to say the least.

An unfortunate episode happened at the Metro Youth Football Association Championship Under the Lights 7-on-7 Tournament held in Cedar Rapids. One father began running after the coach when the father and his son were told they were too old to play in the tournament.

Today’s youth are joining club and/or travel teams at earlier ages. Kids are playing more than one sport in a season, or at least in a year. Many are overscheduled. Consequently, there has been a drop in enrollment in rec sports.