So Your Kid Wants To Play Sport

Too many young people are walking away from sport too early. One of the factors inspiring them to call it quits is overcompetitiveness. Bond Rugby veteran Dan Boardman reckons the selfishness that emerges when players, coaches and parents forget the joy that comes with team effort and focus on personal success and/or winning might shoulder much of the blame. Here, while reflecting on the years of...

One of the lines you'll often hear directed at junior sportspeople by coaches and parents is this: “You’re getting in your own head…” It can mean many things in many instances of course … that a player is worrying about mistakes, or frustrated at their performance or flustered by a bigger, stronger or more advanced opponent. What it insinuates, though, is that the poor kid’s brain is some kind...

'It wasn't like that in my day.' 'Kids these days are set up to fail - they're taught to be soft.' 'They're more worried about hurt feelings than they are rewarding kids for being good at something!' If you haven't heard this kind of banter at a kids' sports day, we suspect you weren't listening... But is there a reason schools and clubs around the country are so big on handing out participation p...

When Jackson Silvester-Lee arrived in Australia in 2017, he'd recently been picked in the Canada West rugby squad and things were looking up. After years of struggling for attention from selectors, he'd finally been seen - he was finally on the radar. Studying at Bond University would be the [perfect next step - he'd play for the Bull Sharks and earn a degree in Exercise and Sport Science at the s...

Jo Fargus has always been an achiever. Her swimming talent was identified early. By the age of 12 she was spending 20 hours a week in the pool and another 15 hours weekly in the gym, on the track, or enduring physical therapy to hone her talent. Her hard work paid off. She swam for University of Bath and University of Southern California (where she earned a Bachelor of Communication degree). She r...

CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE DISCUSSES MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE. Bond University Head of Football Andy Lovell played 164 games at two AFL clubs. He's also coached at the Gold Coast Suns, Geelong, St Kilda and the West Coast Eagles. During his time at the Eagles, a young Adam Selwood fell under his wing. News of Adam's sudden death, just months after Adam's twin brother Troy took his own life, hi...

In previous episodes of So your kid wants to play sport... we’ve looked at strength training for developing sportspeople and injury prevention. We've also taken an in-depth look at nutrition for younger athletes. This time around we talk about teaching them. After a stellar netball career, a pair of battle-weary knees nudged Bec Stower towards life as a coach. She's led Bond University’s State Lea...

In Part 2 of a series on nutrition for young athletes, Matt Webber speaks to Bond alumnus and dietician, Matt Hart, about fuelling before, during and after training and competition.

You wouldn't drive to Perth on half a tank of unleaded. Why then do so many of give human fuel such short shrift? Do we take nutrition seriously enough? For young people, nutrition can be a minefield. Social media and discerning online fact from fiction, aspirationalism, the power of influencers, peer pressure, and self esteem are but a few issues that can make life tough. Disordered eating affect...

These days, more than ever, young athletes are encouraged to supplement their participation in sport with strength programs. usually, these programs will involve lifting weights or undertaking resistance-based exercises. But do they need it as much as they, their coaches or their parents think they do? What happens to young bodies under the stress of strength training? How much is too much? And wh...

This Bond University podcast delves into issues relevant to younger athletes - youth mindset, injury management, training and playing load, weights and resistance training, diet, and rest and recovery, among other things. In this debut episode, broadcaster Matt Webber speaks with Bond University Doctor of Physiotherapy and Founder of the Gold Coast Knee Group about why so many young athletes ruptu...