“I don’t know what happened? She was a really good swimmer and now she just refuses to go anywhere near the pool……”. Ahhh if only coaches could get paid by this comment alone, the bad coaches would be millionaires. Ok so that’s a little harsh, However, trying to keep kids interested in swimming as they get older can be quite the challenge. Especially if the child is not competing well.
What’s the solution?
So here’s the simple answer for you. If you want to have 16, 17, 18-year-old swimmers staying in the squad then work on your 11, 12, and 13-year-olds. Easy right? Let’s look at your average 16-year-old girl, hormones raging, the body still changing, homework and school work get harder, you are trying to be popular at school, and boys….. Omg, I’m in love with Harry Styles or (insert name of boy band singer here). You get the idea, and the boys aren’t much different.
The Environment
Look at the swimming environment and what you’re asking teenagers to do. You’re expecting them to train twice a day for two hours or more. Plus a gym session in some cases. You are also expecting them to watch what they eat, get up to train at 5:00 am or 6:00 am 6 mornings a week, staring at blackline for hours on end, compete at a high level on weekends. Plus on top of the other things, I mentioned before the challenges of growing up. So imagine you are doing it on your own. Or there are only 2 other kids close to your age to train with. There are other factors that can include things like: they don’t like the coach, boredom, other sports activities and I could go on.
So where to start?
Well sorry to say if you have 2 or 3 teenagers in the squad currently then it’s going to be near impossible. The trick is to get hold of the kids when they are younger and form clusters of kids. For example, you have 12 girls in one lane and 17 boys in the other. You split the kids into age groups, so all the 9-10 years old are together the 11 and 12’s plus, and so on. Ok so then you split the girls and boys up too. So that you have small groups (clusters) of girls together all about the same age and boys about the same age. From here you have your core kids that can form a training friendship. Now what will happen, if you’re lucky, is that these clusters will interact in similar ways to a small network. Each will connect through association. For example, brothers and sisters are in different groups but the two groups have a social connection due to the siblings.
Making the connection
If you can form these groups at an early age then you will find that culture will develop. On top of this, it will help to keep the kids interested. Plus the kids will stick together through their swimming life. Plus they will start to motivate and push each other. This also helps when they go to carnivals and camps. Because more than likely that one or two of their friends will be going also. Again once the kids start going to carnivals and camps and if you encourage them to be friendly but competitive then they will make more friends. Except, these new friends, won’t be seen as much, as their other friends. That will push your kids even harder to succeed because they only see new friends every now and then. Once this culture is formed then you will find that they will keep swimming longer because they have a good group of friends swimming too.
The hard part
If you only have about 3 teenagers in your squad with big age gaps then it is very hard to keep them motivated. One way you could try would be to treat them more like an adult with set goals. Sit them down and plan out the next 6 to 9 months in the way of time progression and carnivals to attend. The teenager may want to compete in a carnival or get into a squad that has qualifying times. So sit down with them and develop a plan of attack to get to the goal. Outline what you as the parent and/or coach are going to do to help them get there, basically your responsibilities. Then you do the same for the swimmer and outline their responsibilities in the plan, be sure to include what will happen if certain responsibilities are not met.
Now type it up and print off 2 copies, you sign them both and so does the swimmer/teenagers. Presto you now have yourself a swimming contract. This will give the swimmer a sense of commitment and they will also know that they are not doing this on their own. They now know that the parent and/or coach as part of their “team” and is working behind the scenes to help them. You could also include bonuses into the plan if they go beyond their responsibilities. This is just one method to help keep the older kids motivated. The older they get the more creative you will have to be. A simple movie night will not cut it.
Other events
On the topic of movie nights and extra things. Try to organize non-swimming activities. If you’re lucky enough to have a squad of about 30 kids or more. Then go and speak to the local cinema. You might be able to arrange for a private screening of a movie and a package deal. Another example of what you could do is go somewhere different. As an example not far from where I live we have an indoor trampoline park. So you could plan a trip to the trampoline centre for the kids to go and have some fun.
Getaway
Team trips away are also a great thing to try and organize, you don’t have to go far only about one and a half hours to two hours away but call it a training camp. So for example in summer find a caravan park near a beach or lake. If there is a pool nearby even better. Everyone leaves on the Friday after school and meets at the accommodation that night, If you have time have a team dinner or even better the next morning have a morning session at the pool and then a team breakfast. After you have your breakfast get your coach or a guest coach (a coach who lives nearby) to do a lecture on something specific such as Dives and turns.
This will give the kids another perspective on the skill. Plus the guest coach could give a different perspective on the skill. On top of this hearing the same things, their coach has told them a thousand times before gets boring. However, a guest coach could make all the difference. Then it’s back to the pool to practice the skill that the guest coach is teaching. Everyone stops for a team lunch and then the afternoon is free time. Then this is followed by team dinner at somewhere nice (well nicer than McDonald’s). The next morning have the team breakfast first and followed by a training session (should finish about 11 am) and then everyone packs up and heads home so that they can do homework.
Help them to bond as a team
All this sort of thing helps the kids to bond outside the pool and then they go to school raving about what a fun time they have had at the movies or their weekend away. This now has the possibility to create a knock-on effect and other kids at their school will hopefully want to join the club/team too.
So the main thing I would like to emphasize is for the parents, coach, and the club committee to get creative. The kids are putting in their hard work and training as best they can, and guess what parents “You’re part of the team too”. So pull your weight and help make swimming fun for your kids.
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