Holding youth sports camps is one of the most fun and exciting parts of participating in sports for young kids
. These camps are traditionally where the children will learn to take the basic skills they learn during the season and build on them and perfect them, as these camps are usually much longer than an average practice. Most children who participate in this type of sports camp are a bit older and have already been playing their sport of choice for a few years. While these camps can be very beneficial for getting your team in shape and helping them learn new skills, there are some serious safety concerns to address as well.
The most important safety concern for holding youth sports camps should be keeping players from overheating. The reason overheating is so common during camps is because they are held in the last part of summer when temperatures are at an all-time high. Since the children who are participating in the camp will be exerting themselves physically in the heat, it is easy for the children to get heat stroke. One of the ways you can prevent this is by scheduling a lot of breaks into the camp activities for the day. Keep a close eye on the children and learn to recognize the symptoms of heat stroke so that you will be able to tell if a kid on the team might be starting to get ill.
Another way you can help improve the safety of youth sports camps is to make sure kids stay adequately hydrated during practice. Make sure that at every break kids get water and sports drinks to replenish the bodily fluids they are losing through heavy sweating. The reason sports drinks are so highly recommended is because they also replenish electrolytes that are lost through sweat. Make sure that while kids have these drinks, that they drink them slowly to avoid getting sick from drinking too much.
One thing that many individuals hosting youth sports camps neglect is stretching and warm ups. It is important to make sure that you spend half an hour at the beginning and at the end of your time doing stretches to warm up and cool down the muscles of the body. This helps to prevent injury while also helping kids to reduce the amount of muscle soreness that they might otherwise experience without adequately stretching their muscles.