I have been playing volleyball for 25 years with very little time off and still have the same passion and love for the game from when I started. I keep thinking about this idea of being burnt out and am trying to figure out why kids just lose the interest or need to move on.

I think one of the main reason kids get burnt out is that they have failed one way or another in the sport whether it’s a loss, not getting better as fast as they would have liked or lost playing time on their team.

It’s important as coaches and parents to make sure you motivate, teach and mentor your kids so they know how to come back from a defeat and to have someone push them through the tough times while supporting them along the way.

It’s even more valuable to the kids to make practices fun and challenging at the same time so the kids minds are engaged. Parents done need to know a lot about sports but they do need to be in tune with their kids and their feelings.

We don’t want to lose kids to the sport because they feel threatened or vulnerable to failure, we should lose them because they don’t love the game anymore or found another sport they are better at.