yad members ONLY - EDUCATION ZONE
Dear Sport Parent. As a leader in Athlete Development, we seek to first educate athletes and their families so our community can make informed choices. Please see the resources we have cultivated below as E-book downloads, summarizing the most cutting edge relevant research in youth sport and athletic development.
THE PARENT HANDBOOK
The Parent Handbook is designed to help parents navigate the complex world of youth sport by providing research-informed guidance on coaching, training load, and nutrition. It outlines what good coaching looks like—emphasizing holistic development, safety, character, and positive motivation—while also highlighting harmful coaching behaviors to avoid. The handbook offers practical recommendations for managing sport volume, recognizing signs of overtraining, and supporting long-term athlete development over early specialization. It also provides clear, context-driven nutrition guidelines for fueling adolescent athletes, including energy needs, macronutrient targets, hydration, and meal timing. Overall, the goal is to educate and empower parents to make informed decisions that prioritize their child’s well-being, growth, and enjoyment in sport.
load monitoring guide.
Load Monitoring: A Guide for Athletes and Parents introduces athletes and parents to the concept of load monitoring as a way to balance training stress with recovery in youth sport. It explains how tracking training volume and intensity can help reduce injury risk, prevent burnout, and support long-term athletic development. The guide emphasizes the importance of understanding total load across all activities—including practices, games, strength training, and school sport—rather than viewing sessions in isolation. It encourages proactive communication between athletes, parents, and coaches to ensure appropriate progression and adequate rest. Ultimately, the goal is to promote sustainable performance by managing stress intelligently rather than simply training harder.
Athlete wellbeing guide.
This guide presents the YAD Youth Athlete Wellbeing Model, built around the goal: “Develop well, perform well.” It outlines four key pillars of youth wellbeing—Safety & Belonging, Development & Competence, Load & Recovery, and Identity & Life Skills—emphasizing that wellbeing is adult-managed and foundational to sustainable performance. The guide integrates Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) stages, highlighting age-specific priorities and red flags from early play-based stages through college-prep years. It provides parents with practical tools, including a biannual Wellbeing Health Check (six scored themes such as culture, load, injury management, and fairness) and a simple weekly three-question athlete check-in to monitor energy, stress, and soreness. Overall, the guide encourages proactive load adjustment, clear communication, and balanced identity development to prevent burnout, anxiety, and fragile athlete mindsets.