IS YOUR CHILD OVERTRAINING? WHAT EVERY PARENT NEEDS TO KNOW
It’s the middle of the season for many youth sports right now—football, soccer, netball, athletics, and many other sports are all in full swing. For some young athletes, this time of year is when things start to click. Performance lifts, confidence builds, and goals feel within reach. But for others, this is where the cracks begin to show. Fatigue sets in, injuries creep up, and enjoyment fades.
Having spent 17 years working with youth athletes, I know all too well that this stage of the season is often make or break—not just for performance, but for long-term health and well-being.
Overtraining is one of the biggest risks I see working with young athletes. It can sneak up quietly, disguised as commitment or determination, and if not managed can have detrimental and long-lasting consequences.
What Is Overtraining?
Overtraining occurs when the body is exposed to more physical stress than it can recover from. It’s not just about fatigue—overtraining can lead to serious injuries, emotional burnout, and even cause a young athlete to walk away from sport entirely. It’s often the result of an accumulation of loads that can sometimes be overlooked—or even worse, seen as a badge of honour by players and parents alike. Being involved in multiple programs, teams, and training sessions is often perceived as a sign of being elite, hardworking, or highly committed. However, this mindset can be misleading and dangerous, pushing young bodies beyond their limits through the combined demands of school sports, club commitments, representative sides, gym sessions, and extra skills training.
A general rule I often share with parents is that a child should not train and compete for more hours per week than their age. So, a 14-year-old shouldn’t be training and competing more than a combined total of 14 hours per week across all activities. This guideline is supported by leading bodies such as the Australia Institute of Sport, Sports Medicine Australia (1), and The American Academy of Pediatrics (2), which warns against early sport specialization and excessively high training volumes.
High-Risk Sports
Some sports place young athletes at greater risk of overtraining due to their year-round demands or repetitive nature. These sports can include, but are not limited to:
Swimming
Gymnastics
Tennis
Soccer
Basketball
Distance running
Sports like these often involve high training volumes from an early age and are also the most likely to require additional training outside of regular sessions—such as private coaching, gym work, or representative programs.
Common Injuries from Overtraining
When the body doesn’t get time to rest and adapt, injuries follow. Some of the most common overuse injuries seen in adolescent age groups include:
Osgood-Schlatter Disease (knee pain in growing athletes)
Sever’s Disease (heel pain)
Stress fractures
Tendinopathies (like jumper’s knee or Achilles issues)
Lower back pain, particularly in gymnasts or footballers
Growth plate injuries, which can impact development
Research shows that overuse injuries can account for nearly 50% of all sports injuries in middle and high school athletes (3). And unfortunately, many of these injuries are entirely preventable.
Warning Signs Your Child May Be Overtraining
As a parent, it can be tough to spot when your child is at risk, especially if they love what they do.
Here are some key signs to watch for:
Constant fatigue or trouble sleeping
Mood swings or increased irritability
Declining performance despite training hard
Recurrent niggles or ongoing pain
Reluctance to train or play
Loss of appetite or sudden weight loss
Illnesses that linger longer than normal
The Risk of Early Sport Specialisation
Early specialisation refers to when a child focuses on one sport year-round from a young age. Research shows that early specialisation is associated with higher rates of overuse injuries, psychological burnout, and even reduced athletic longevity (4,5). While it’s tempting to pursue elite pathways early, the evidence suggests that most successful athletes actually specialise later and benefit from a more diverse athletic background in their younger years. Delaying specialisation can improve motor skill development, enhance motivation, and reduce injury risk—making sport more enjoyable and sustainable over time.
Balance is the key. It’s important to schedule periods of rest, limit back-to-back seasons, and be realistic about how many commitments a child can juggle – especially in addition to school work or study. At least having 2-3 months off per year from organised sport is recommended for youth athletes (6). Sometimes, saying “no” is the best long-term decision for your child’s health and enjoyment of sport.
What Parents Can Do
Parents play a critical role. I’ve seen incredibly talented kids burn out not because they didn’t love their sport—but because they felt pressure to do it all. Supporting your child means being willing to listen, observe, and even hold them back when necessary. Protecting their longevity is far more important than winning this weekend.
Here are a few strategies to help:
Stick to the “age = hours per week” rule
Schedule at least one full rest day each week
Monitor mood, sleep, and signs of fatigue
Encourage variety, but not overload
Make sure there are off-seasons and lighter periods
Talk with coaches to understand the total training load
Final thoughts
Youth sport should build healthy, resilient, happy humans. When the focus is only on performance or “keeping up,” we risk creating athletes who break down physically and emotionally. Here are my key takeaways for parents and young athletes:
For Parents:
More training isn’t always better—follow the age = training hours rule.
Be aware of cumulative load from all sources—school, club, rep, gym.
Support rest and recovery, even if it means saying no to opportunities.
For Young Athletes:
Speak up if you’re feeling tired, sore, or losing motivation.
Understand that rest is part of training—not a sign of weakness.
Trust that looking after your body now sets you up for a longer, healthier sporting career.
If you ever have questions or concerns about your child’s training load, injury risk, or recovery, don’t hesitate to reach out. Prevention truly is better than cure.
Yours in health,
Carol Robins
Exercise Physiologist
& ESSA Accredited Sports Scientist of the Year
References:
Australian Institute of Sport. (2022). Sport Specialisation in Young Athletes Position Statement. AIS PDF
Brenner, J. S. (2007). Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in child and adolescent athletes. Pediatrics, 119(6), 1242–1245. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17545398/
DiFiori, J. P., Benjamin, H. J., Brenner, J., Gregory, A., Jayanthi, N., Landry, G. L., & Luke, A. (2014). Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: A position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 24(1), 3–20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24463910/
Brenner, J.S., 2016. Sports specialization and intensive training in young athletes. Pediatrics, 138(3), e20162148. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2148
Jayanthi, N.A., Pinkham, C., Dugas, L., Patrick, B. and LaBella, C., 2015.
Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 5(3), pp.251–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738112464626
Brenner, J.S., LaBotz, M., and the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2024.
Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in young athletes. Pediatrics, 153(2), e2023063776. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-063776