Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Young children can start training for athletic competition at
a very young age as far as their bodies are concerned, but they
should not start before they want to accept the regimented
lifestyle required for athletic competition. In 1967, I started
competitive long distance running for young children and was the
first national chairman of the age group committee of the
Amateur Athletic Union and The Road Runners Club of America.
Children came from all over the United States and Canada to
compete in age group cross country and track running. Many
were coached by experienced runners and trained with the same
types of workouts used by older, more experienced runners.
These children rarely suffered from injuries and when they were
injured, they recovered faster than older runners do.
Young children are not at increased risk for injuries when
they run races or lift weights. Doctors expressed concern that the
growth centers in their bones would be more likely to break, but
this rarely happens. However, many of the better runners quit.
In one study from Southern California, 90 percent of female
runners under age nine stopped running before they reached
high school. It's all right for young children to start training in a
sport, provided that they want to do it, that they take plenty of
days off from training, and that their coaches and parents allow
them to be children.
May 1, 2006