Just as a coach should find a team role in which a young player can succeed, you must locate the youth sports program that best suits your child’s age, interests, and level of play. Only by providing your child with a progression of playing opportunities that match these factors, will you provide him or her with the best sports experience.
For the youngest children playing organized sports for the first time (ages five through eight), the emphasis is primarily on fun and basic skill instruction. Fun at this level is running around with a minimum of structure and rules. Within a couple of years, your child can more fully participate in the adult version of the game and begin to learn additional individual skills and team concepts. Competition is also introduced at this level. Youth sports programs that are developmental in nature and participation-based are essential to children in both of these age groups. You should make sure that your child’s youth sports leagues emphasize these principles.
As your child ages and his or her skills develop, you may see your child excel in one or more sports. You will then face the decision of placing your child in a more advanced, competitive league. Possibly your child will have the chance to play with older children. An opportunity for your child to begin specializing in a sport may also appear. In these decisions, carefully weigh the pros and cons. For a child that truly enjoys their sport and exhibits a competitive nature, playing at higher levels with better players will usually improve their level of play. But advance your child too quickly and you risk your child’s confidence and enjoyment of the experience.
Specializing too early presents the risks of injury, burnout, and loss of crossover benefits from other sports. Several studies (most recently a 2011 study conducted by Loyola University Medical Center) have found a higher incident of injury associated with early specialization. For children who have not yet reached puberty, specialization in a single sport is also risky because physical maturation (changes in body type) may limit their ability to succeed in that sport. A young girl who grows to be six feet tall is unlikely to find success as a gymnast.
Try to balance your child’s development against these risks and select youth sports programs that you feel best match your child’s particular personality and ability. The right youth sports program should challenge your child, but also enable them to enjoy the entire experience.
Should your child participate in select travel teams, you should still look for a program that provides good instruction. A league that is comprised mostly of competitive games, but little practice time, will not provide the opportunities for a coach to teach and develop his or her players.
Also remember that competitive, talented athletes often still enjoy leagues which emphasize participation. These leagues can provide a chance to play with friends in a more relaxed environment. They also offer better athletes the opportunity to develop and exercise leadership skills. As a parent interested in your child’s happiness, you could do a lot worse than placing your child in a participation-based instructional league.
And finally, provide your child with opportunities to play pickup games with other kids. This unstructured, self-directed form of play complements organized sports and affords your child with other essential benefits. [See The Role of Organized Sports in Your Child's Life for an in-depth discussion of the importance of self-directed sports play.]
Copyright 2009-2012 Jeffrey S. Rhoads; All Rights Reserved
1 comments:
There are some very valuable points in this post. For the first time players, I agree that it is important to emphasize the fun rather than the structure. Particularly for this first experience, choosing a sport where the child will be an active participant, regardless of his or her level of ability, and making it an enjoyable experience can set the stage for future team and individual sport success.
The temperament of the leaders/coaches has a bearing on whether the child ultimately enjoys the first team sport experience and wants to continue it, or whether he or she loses interest.
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