Load Management for Junior Athletes: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Last time we broke down the three injuries that derail most junior careers. Here's the thing they nearly all share: one common cause. Today we're solving it.

Think about your kid's week. They've got a school coach, a club coach, maybe a rep coach, an SSP coach, and a private skills coach on top.
Here's the problem — none of them talk to each other.
Nobody is adding it all up.
You, the parent, are the only person in that whole system who sees the full picture.
And most parents don't actually know what they're looking at.
That's what this is about. Because when it comes to load, you are the manager. The scheduling, the overseeing, the final call on what's too much — that lands with you. So let's give you the framework: how to manage load, spot the red flags early, and have the conversations that protect your kid's long-term career.

First, what is "load"? Simple: volume and intensity — how much, and how hard. We look at it two ways. Acute is one week. Chronic is the rolling four-to-twelve-week picture. Compare the two and you get the acute-to-chronic workload ratio.
Without getting too science-y: the sweet spot sits around 0.8 to 1.3. Once you push past 1.5, you're in the danger zone — a sharp spike in load, and that's where injury risk climbs. These numbers aren't gospel, but they flag when something's jumped: a carnival weekend, taking on a second sport, cramming extra training over the summer holidays. You just want to know where they stand — especially when sports overlap, which they do for almost every junior athlete.

For cricket, know the Cricket Australia bowling guidelines. For Under-15s and Under-17s it's the 1-3-5 rule: one day off between bowling sessions (no back-to-back days), a maximum of three bowling sessions a week, and five overs max in a spell. For Under-19s it's 2-4-6: no more than two days bowling in a row, four days max per week, six overs per spell. A kid bowling across school, club and rep in the same week sails straight past this without anyone noticing.

For running sports like footy, the elite level tracks high-speed metres, accelerations and decelerations with GPS. You don't have GPS. So use the simple version: rate the session out of 10 for how hard it was, and multiply by the minutes. That's your load number for the session. Log it, week to week.
Honestly, that weekly log is my number one strategy — easier than the ratio, and it gives you a snapshot to hold against last week so you can spot a spike fast. I use it with my cricketers and local athletes constantly, especially the kids taking on too much.

Then have the conversations. Sit down with the coaches and let them see the whole load, not just their slice of it. And understand this — there's no harm in pulling a session if it keeps your kid fit and healthy. Say they've trained every day and there's an extra skills session Friday night before a Saturday game. Have the chat. If it's not essential, a rest will have them performing better than another fatigued session ever would. Constant back-to-back days just build fatigue and burnout, and nobody plays their best like that.

This is where a strength and conditioning coach earns their spot. We help you build that understanding and keep the load optimal for your athlete — so the decisions you're making as the manager are the right ones. Having someone in your corner goes a long way.

If you're reading this and it's hitting home, reach out — we can definitely help. And check out Episode 50 of the podcast, where we go deeper on all of it.