Recruiting, coaching, and the platform.

A kid who was the best player on the team in April can look lost by September — clumsy, slow, missing shots they never missed. Often nothing is wrong except four inches. Here's what the adolescent growth spurt does to coordination, why it's temporary, the injuries it makes more likely, and how parents and coaches should respond.

Girls in soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball tear ACLs at a much higher rate than boys playing the same sports. The risk is real, well-documented, and partly preventable with a kind of training most youth teams never do. Here's what the research says, what a prevention program looks like, and the questions to ask your club.