Should my kid lift?

The Year 9 Bomber played the whole of the Year 10's NatWest cup tie yesterday. They came away with a very handy 43-0 win that puts them into the last eight of the 75 teams that started in their London & SE region.

This is call good, and probably doing wonders for him socially and psychologically. As I noted yesterday however three games in four days is a lot, and he wants to start going to the gym as well.

Here are a couple of articles I picked up to help me make sure everything stays on the straight and narrow.

Should my kid lift? Part 1: The science says yes

Should my kid lift? Part 2: Principles for developing fitness in children for sport and life

Advice for fourteen and fifteen year olds is "progress to more advanced resistance exercise programs, add sport-specific components, emphasize exercise techniques, increase volume," but the money quote is:

Notes: Any kind of CNs training should NOT come close to leaving a child exhausted, beat up or excessively tired and drained. If this is a regular occurrence, check in. Especially if your kid also plays a sport.