Many young athletes are seeing their Fall season coming to an end, yet for some they are enjoying post-season play.

One of the most important things for a young athlete to do is to enroll in a sports performance program.

You see, these days, strength and conditioning is not just for the elite single sport athlete that has an off-season to prepare for their future. It’s must be a fundamental aspect of all young athletes year round schedule. With the absence of uncoached backyard and neighborhood play, child athletes are at a disadvantage physically, mentally and socially.

In generations past, athleticism, strength, power, coordination and speed were mostly developed from infancy through 6 years old via play. Beyond 6 years of age all those skill became refined and allowed children to engage in organized sport with the tools needed to stay safe and have a relative level of success.

Now that Fall sports are winding down this is the perfect time to begin. In fact, at Athletes Acceleration, this is one of our busiest times of the year. More and more parents are understanding that sports practices alone do not supply our kids what they need…in many cases to no fault of their own.

Youth sports were never designed for that.

That said, if you live on Massachusetts South Shore, we have the program your child athlete needs to succeed now and the future.

Complete Athletic Foundations “CAF” (Ages 6 – 8)

The purpose of this phase of training is to introduce child athletes to a wide spectrum on non-specific exercise stimulus that aids in the natural development of coordination habits. This gives them a foundation of athleticism and strength to help them succeed in any sport.

Athletes Acceleration Coaches utilize the principle of ‘Outcome-Based Coaching’, which allows young children to learn the physical skills of exercise through an experimental and self-discovery based means.

The emphasis here is:

• Movement Exploration and Discovery
• Object Manipulation
• Coordination
• Game Play
• Cooperation/Behavior Shaping

Complete Athletic Development “CAD” (Ages 9 – 11)

Not unlike the ‘Foundations’ phase of the Athletes Acceleration Model, Our Development model is based on young athletes establishing ‘athletic intelligence’ through a carefully planned programming structure that allows them to learn and comprehend both simple and complex motor skills via explorative play.

Unlike ‘Foundations’ however, CAD also includes an educational portion within which Athletes Acceleration Coaches breakdown and instruct participants on specific aspects of exercise execution. This means we teach them WHY they are doing what they are doing. This helps tremendously as it gives them ownership over their fitness as well as buy in and effort.

This transitional phase allows young athletes to bridge the gap from a play model of fitness to a more directed approach where they understand the benefits and how that relates to their sport(s).

The emphasis here is:

• Muscle Tissue Quality
• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Muscle Activation
• Dynamic Warm-up
• Coordination
• Systemic Strength
• Game Play
• Behavior Shaping/Leadership Development

Complete Athletic Transformation “CAT” (Ages 12-13)

During this major transformative time for young athletes this phase will successful bridge the gap between our CAD classes and the Complete Athletic Performance (Ages 14+) phase. This critical age of development for young athletes is marked by so many changes to their body, mind, social circles, and academics. With the National average of roughly 75% of all young athletes dropping out of youth sports by age 13 our CAT program is designed to help them learn how to train for their sports while keeping perspective on fun and the love for the game.

Young athletes in this phase will continue to learn the merits of hard work while maintaining a high level of enjoyment during training.

The emphasis here is:

• Muscle Tissue Quality
• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Dynamic Warm-up
• Skill Acquisition (Coordination, bar skills, speed and agility)
• Strength and Conditioning
• Character Shaping/Leadership Development

Complete Athletic Performance “CAP” (Ages 14+)

The CAF phase is where more concerted training application takes place. Whether the goal is sporting excellence, fitness, wellness or obesity prevention, this portion of the Athletes Acceleration Developmental Model is based on solid execution and fundamental training habits so that each participant can maximize their respective goals.

Emphasis here is:

• Muscle Tissue Quality
• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Dynamic Warm-up
• Skill Acquisition (Coordination, bar skills, speed and agility)
• Strength and Conditioning
• Character Shaping/Leadership Development