Is your son or daughter bored with the usual summer sports? With 70% of kids quitting youth sports by the time they are 13 it’s definitely up to us parents to find new ways to keep our kids active.  If soccer and baseball just aren’t cutting it anymore here are a few new summer sports and activities to test.

It’s summertime! That means we’re all spending more time outdoors and between swim lessons in the morning and a baseball game in the afternoon a busy youth athlete is going to need to eat the right kind of food so they don’t fall asleep in the outfield! Here are a few summer sports nutrition tips and ideas to keep your youth athlete feeling full and energized.

SportsSignup is a proud sponsor of the Freihofer's Junior 3K Run. This 1.86-mile road race (for 9-13 year old boys and girls) is scheduled for Saturday June 1, 2013 at the Empire State Plaza in Downtown Albany at 11:15 a.m. There is still plenty of time left to register your youth runner (and Mom can sign up for the Women’s 5k until May 31) and get a few runs under their belt before the gun goes off! But different age groups have to run a little differently, so here are few pieces of advice for youth runners and their parents.

Childhood obesity is a scary reality in this country, with approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years being obese. Obviously we as parents and coaches need to help our kids make the right kind of decisions when it comes to food and to encourage a more active lifestyle. But on the opposite end of the spectrum we have those “super youth athletes” that play sports all year round and are at risk of being over-trained, especially if they only do one sport, which can lead to burnout and overuse injuries. But does it have to be all or nothing when it comes to youth sports? Can’t we help our kids find a happy middle ground between not enough activity and too much?

Let be honest for a moment sports moms and dads—when we were kids running was just how we got from point A to point B the quickest. We didn’t do it to get (or stay) in shape, we just ran because that’s what we did. And it was awesome! Think about how many playground games are running based—tag, capture the flag, sharks and minnows, ghost in the graveyard, kick the can, and dozens (if not hundreds) of variations of these games and more. For a while running wasn’t thought of exercise or as punishment (some coaches love to threaten their teams with extra laps!); we just ran because we could, because we were kids, and because our own parents kicked us out the house when we had too much energy and time on our hands.

Eight foods cause 90% of food allergies: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish and as many as 8% of children (6 million kids) in the US suffer from at least one food allergy. And while relatively minor symptoms live hives or a scratchy throat have taught many parents to keep their kids away from shellfish or peanuts,  nearly 40% of children with food allergies have suffered from a severe reaction and sadly some of those reactions can be fatal. There is a reason some schools and daycare centers are completely banning peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—even just the smell of peanuts can cause a child’s throat to swell up if their allergy is severe enough.

If you hadn’t noticed we’re on a bit of a running kick these last few weeks. Maybe it’s because we want to believe that Spring is in the air (even if early March brought snowstorms to many corners of the US) and that means that we’re unshackled from our treadmills and running outside is actually pleasant again. Or maybe it’s because everyone here at SportsSignup is fired up for the Freihofer's Junior 3K Run (register your youth runner today!). Whatever may be in the water we’re in a running frame of mind.

Hey sports parents—think back to when your child was 3 or 4 years old. Sometimes you could hardly get them to sit still for more than a few minutes, right? How many times did you have to tell them to slow down, wait up and stop running so far ahead? Little kids are natural born runners! But as our kids got older and started getting involved in other activities like baseball, football and so forth running stopped being something you just did on the playground (think how many schoolyard games involve racing around) and almost turned into a method of punishment. Running was what the coach made them do during practice and sprint and speed drills are usually no one’s favorite.

This is a guest post by Kira Jones.

Obviously we at SportsSignup are a little partial to youth sports when it comes to getting kids up, outside and moving around. The CDC says children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day and we feel like a youth soccer or lacrosse game is a great way to disguise exercise as fun! But there are plenty of other fun activities outside of youth sports that are not only a great way to keep your kids moving, but get the whole family involved! And with the New Year just around the corner why not make a family resolution to get more active in 2013.