Hydration

Dehydration in junior athletes can seem to come on suddenly. One minute your athletes are running around as usual the next they are complaining of cramps, becoming emotional and stressed or they have lost all their energy and may suffer a headache or general fatigue.

It is important to educate junior athletes about hydration and the part that water plays. Dehydration begins long before the body feels thirsty. In athletes dehydration is in part due to water loss from perspiration through exercise or lack of consumption of fluids and the loss of electrolytes, also known as trace elements. The intake of fluids, primarily water, before and after a game are just as important as during the game.

Water loading is a widely practiced method of keeping athletes, particularly junior athletes, hydrated during sport and warm weather training sessions. It involves drinking at least 600mls of water over a period of hours prior to a game or training. I recommend that players begin sipping their way through a 600ml bottle of water over several hours prior to their game. Players should also take regular sips during game intervals. I also recommend that they drink at least another 600mls of water over the course of an hour after play.

Another widely talked about method of hydration is sports drinks. These drinks can be helpful to reduce dehydration but I would not recommend consumption of the full strength drinks for junior athletes.  Look for a drink that you can mix up yourself, probably about half strength. Also read the label and look for key ingredients such as magnesium and calcium that reduce cramping in athletes. I offer my athletes approximately 30 mls of sports drink containing magnesium at half strength at half time. This provides my juniors with a small amount of glucose, some water and magnesium. Most importantly my junior athletes remain well hydrated and are able to perform at their best without being plagued by dehydration.

It is important to note that not all athletes can tolerate sugar and especially not as much sugar as is contained in some sports drinks. Water loading prior to performance is paramount for these individuals. There is, however, an alternative to sports drinks for hydration that works extremely well; that is, pure coconut water (the no added sugar variety). This is usually found in the fridge at the supermarket or you can buy fresh young coconuts and cut and pour your own. This can be consumed before, during and after a game for maximum effect.

It is imperative that we constantly remind junior athletes to hydrate and water load particularly in warm weather and prior to carnivals and tournaments. Many juniors carry a mobile phone, so encourage them to put a reminder with an alarm in their phone for the morning of play.

Once the hydration is taken care of the focus can shift back to performance and results.


Coach Lee