As part of the Talking about Sports program, Antonija Mandić welcomed Luka Škrinjarić of Mentalni Trening, Nenad Popović, chairman of the Umag-based sports and recreational organization called Olympic Association, and Dragan Ljuboja, owner of the Dragon Kickboxing Club, also from Umag.
“Mental training is something that we do with all our athletes, their parents and coaches – everyone who is involved in sports. Mental training helps them to be better, unlock all their potential and learn to help themselves in critical times,” said Škrinjarić, adding that the biggest traps for parents of young athletes sometimes came from their best intentions or even ignorance about how to make their intentions a reality.
Apart from taking the children to their training sessions and providing financial support, the parents’ role lies in motivating the children to start doing sports much earlier in their lives. According to Popović, parents are their children’s role models and the children gladly imitate their behavior, and these days, doing sports is probably more important than ever.
“The main reasons why parents bring their children to our association are health and the need for exercise. Studies have shown that 60-70 percent of children are obese, and that goas for Croatia as well,” warned Popović.
Children can start training when they are as early as three years old, and it is best to leave them alone when they are training as that teaches them independence and how to stand up for themselves, Ljuboja believes.
“For children ages 3-7, we disguise training sessions as games so that they aren’t even aware they are training. Once they turn 7, training sessions become a more serious affair as at that age the children can follow a program,” explained Ljuboja.
All those who wish to stay fit and active during the tournament in Umag can join Nenad Popović and the Olympic Association on their morning runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting at 7AM.
