The Fort Worth Youth Soccer Association began to notice a disturbing trend where parents were giving their kids hits of energy drinks like Amp, Jolt, Red Bull, and Monster. The problem is, unlike sports drinks which serve to replenish the body, energy drinks can deplete it and are mainly caffeine carriers. So the league banned them. Watch the report here. Tried to embed it, but wouldn’t work.
We haven’t seen this trend on our fields yet, but it wouldn’t shock me. I had a player bring glucose gel or something to a match one time and that got her a stern talking to about not needing artificial stimulants. Hard work, plenty of fluids, and eating right. It was a minor thing, but scary because of the thinking behind it.
What do you think? Smart idea by the soccer league, or too meddlesome?
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March 6th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I think it is a great idea because I am not sure that parents get the difference between energy drink and sports drink, not that sports beverages are any better for our kids, but they at least don’t run them into the ground.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
It’s a better idea to give a kid a Coke at a soccer game than an energy drink. Not that either one is good. My daughter prefers Propel because it has enough flavor to make it easy to drink, but not enough calories to give her cramps when she’s playing. I expect that she, like her brother, will eventually transition to just drinking water.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I deal with ony little kids these days (U7) so this hasn’t been an issue. At first I thought too much Big Brother but after watching the video and thinking about it, I agree with the folks in FW; there is no place for so-called energy potions in youth soccer. Frankly, I prefer water to gatorade as well for kids.
March 7th, 2009 at 7:14 am
I tend to be in Jenn’s camp with sports drinks. I find the players will drink MORE Gatorade than they will water, because of the taste. All I want is them to be hydrated, and if it takes some sugar in the water to do it – it’s worth it. I’ve had way too many kids get dehydrated because they weren’t drinking BEFORE matches and practices. I’ve found they’ll drink a whole Gatorade before a match, but much harder to get them to drink the same amount of water before one.
But energy drinks? That’s nuts. We haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure it’ll start to happen.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Mike, my problem with Gatorade and the like is that the younger kids chug it and then get waterlogged–“Coach, my tummy hurts!” On the flip side, my kids are pretty good at asking to take water breaks, though I have to say no when it’s in the middle of a game!
March 10th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Tim, you could have them try the Propel powder packets – one packet is intended to be used with 16 oz of water and isn’t nearly as “heavy” as Gatorade. As my kids have gotten older, they’ve started using more water with the packets. My 11 year old daughter uses one packet with 32 oz of water and my 16 year-old son will sometimes put only half a packet in 32 oz of water. For games, though, they are both strictly water drinkers.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Tim, I agree that can be a problem. My daughter can’t handle it and drinks only water. My son preferred Gatorade, but recently took a liking to Propel. But they learn quickly about how much to drink and I constantly tell my players to drink BEFORE practice – that’s the important time. As for smaller kids, I always tell my parents to get them the small bottles, so even if they chug it – it wasn’t enough to upset their stomachs.
Jenn, I like that idea and hadn’t seen Propel packets – will need to look for that. My son likes Propel. Neat idea.
January 10th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
gatorade and these drinks have certain calories and carbs that water doesn’t have. it is actually better that you drink sports drinks or juice during games because they have certain vitamins and nutrients that you can’t get with water.