Free Educational Resources
The Free Educational Resources is an electronic tool kit designed to provide youth sports stakeholders with information, products and services for the best and most current resources and to assist our "Child Development through Youth Sports"approach. Most of these resources are free and a few involve fees – please choose carefully and select those that best serve your organization.
Youth Coaching/Athlete/Parenting Programs
- Responsible Sports
www.responsiblesports.com
Liberty Mutual’s Responsible Sports website supports volunteer youth sport coaches and parents who help our children succeed both on and off the field. This free website was developed with the Positive Coaching Alliance and has a remarkable array of tools, including coaching and sport parent education, season evaluation, coaching awards, community grants, media library and much more.
Safety/Injury Prevention/Emergency Care
- Minnesota Department of Health -- Asthma Training for Coaches Online Course
www.health.state.mn.us/asthma/documents/training.pdf
This site offers tips on what coaches, athletic directors, PE staff and athletic trainers need to know about
asthma and their players. - Center for Disease Control -- Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports
www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/youth.html
To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed the Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports initiative to offer information about concussions to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports. The Heads Up initiative provides important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion. - Mayo Clinic -- Dehydration and Youth Sports: Curb the Risk
www.mayoclinic.com/health/dehydration/SM00037
The Mayo Clinic staff explain that children don't adapt as well as adults do to exercise in hot, humid weather. They produce more heat, sweat less and may be less likely to drink enough fluids during exercise — all of which increase the risk of dehydration. Understand how heat-related problems happen and know how to prevent them. - America College of Sports Medicine Reach Website
http://orthosurg.ucsf.edu/sports/reach/index.php?/ctlr_article/search
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently launched their ACSM REACH website to help parents, coaches, health care providers, educators and others find credible, expert-reviewed information on youth sport and health. - Sports Safety
www.sportssafety.org
The website promotes the importance of injury prevention and safety on all levels of youth sports through education and research. The NCSS focuses on decreasing the number and/or severity of injuries through developing and teaching sports safetycourses and collecting, analyzing and researching injury data.
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
- Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-serving organizations : Getting Started on Policies and Procedures http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/PreventingChildSexualAbuse-a.pdf
Sports Parenting
- Responsible Sports
www.responsiblesports.com
Liberty Mutual’s Responsible Sports website supports volunteer youth sport coaches and parents who help our children succeed both on and off the field. This free website was developed with the Positive Coaching Alliance and has a remarkable array of tools, including coaching and sport parent education, season evaluation, coaching awards, community grants, media library and much more. - Moms Team
www.momsteam.com
This website provides “youth sports parenting information for sports moms.” - Youth Sports
www.youth-sports.com
Website offers helpful information, advice and instructional products that will help you the parents, coaches and children, involved in youth sports.
Sportsmanship/Character Education/Inspiration
- Sports Alliance of Minnesota (SAM)
www.sportsalliancemn.org
The Sports Alliance of Minnesota (SAM) believes that parents, coaches, players, administrators, game officials and spectators are all responsible for developing good sportsmanship in youth sports. The creation of a positive sports environment begins with active participation of all stakeholders -- who need to work in unison to build a positive sports environment. - Sports Feel Good Stories
www.sportsfeelgoodstories.com
Sports feel good stories are offered to entertain and inspire, with the hope that readers share some of these stories with others.
Opportunities include:- Coaches sharing with players. Smart professional and volunteer coaches alike are always on the lookout for ways to motivate their teams. What better way to emphasize the importance of sportsmanship than by sharing the Sara Tucholsky softball story?
- Business leaders sharing with their teams. Managers of people are frequently put in a position of trying to inspire a large group of people. PowerPoint presentations and numeric goals will take you so far, but sometimes a well-told story will do more to capture people’s attention and hearts.
- Teachers sharing with students. Make your message come alive with a powerful story. A well-told story that is heard by the audience at the right time can have a lasting impact.
- Parents sharing with sons and daughters. One of the great things that sports provide is the opportunity to learn some life lessons like the value of hard work, the importance of taking some risks, and the power and magic of teamwork. This collection of stories provides some great life lessons.
- Friends sharing with friends. Everyone loves to discover a great story.
Steroid, Alcohol, Drug & Tobacco Prevention Programs
- Mayo Clinic -- Performance-enhancing Drugs and Teen Athletes
www.mayoclinic.com/health/performance-enhancing-drugs/SM00045
Performance-enhanching drugs can be tempting to teen athletes. Understand the warning signs and what you can do. - Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov/tobacco
The website provides alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention information, including a Tobacco-Free Sports page. - Partnership for a Drug-Free America
www.drugfree.org
The website has information for parents and teens about alcohol and drug use. - Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation
www.tobaccofreeparks.org
Minnesota's statewide program promoting tobacco-free sports. The website provides model policies, tip sheets, and other materials. - National Spit Tobacco Education Program
www.nstep.org
This site provides information about the dangers of spit tobacco use, with particular references to sports. - Minnesota Institute of Public Health
www.miph.org
The website contains links to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs' prevention materials and information.
Nutrition
- Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa
The Centers for Disease Control site contains a wide variety of information on nutrition and healthy eating. - U.S. Department of Agriculture
www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard/default.htm
The "Eat Smart, Play Hard" program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages youth to eat healthy and exercise.
Youth Exercise & Fitness
- Mayo Clinic -- Children and Sports: Choices for all Ages
www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/SM00057
Childrens' sports promote fitness and prevent obesity, but one size doesn't fit all. Help your child find the right sport and venue — youth sports association, school, recreation center or backyard. - Kids Sports Network
www.ksnusa.org
This website promotes non-school sports and fitness for children between the ages of 3 and 19 through the education of coaches, parents and administrators; special events activities; public awareness and regular networking with youth sports organizations and agencies. - Mayo Clinic -- When Can a Child Begin Strength Training?
www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/HQ01010/NSECTIONGROUP=2
When can a child begin strength training? During childhood, kids improve their body awareness, control and balance through active play. As early as age 8, however, strength training can become a valuable part of an overall fitness plan — as long as the child is mature enough to follow directions and practice proper technique and form. - Minnesota Department of Health
www.health.state.mn.us/physicalactivity
This site offers information and materials to promote physical activity. - National Center on Physical Activity and Disability
www.ncpad.org
This site provides information on participating in sports with a disability. - PE4LIFE
www.pe4life.org
PE4Life seeks to raise awareness about the physical inactivity levels of America's youth and the state of physical education across the nation. - President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
www.fitness.gov
This website is the health, physical activity, fitness and sports information website of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.