The Benefit of Sport

Dear Parents,

 My son is five and a few months ago, while playing soccer after school, he was told by his soccer coach to “either keep up with the team, or go and sit with the babies…”

 My poor darling was obviously very upset and it took a lot of coaxing to get him to go back to soccer. Secretly, I was horrified and ready to have words with the guy. Who does he think he is talking to a five year old that way? Isn’t sport supposed to be fun at their age?

 I had a chat to my father (an old Wynberg Boy) about it – who laughed! My son is going into Grade 1 next year at SACs and as my father pointed out, he’s going to have to toughen up if he wants to survive at big school.

 That got me thinking. On the one hand we need to encourage our kids to play sport, and at that age it is supposed to be a fun, positive experience. On the other hand team work is part of that experience and my dad is right, I don’t want my child to be bullied or laughed at when he gets to the more competitive arena of an all boys school next year. Perhaps it is better if he ‘toughens up’ now?

 As a parent you sometimes have to resist the urge to protect your child too much, yet still keep a watchful eye. It’s a fine line.

 Yours in Informed Parenting,

Biba Pearce

Editor – www.parentinghub.co.za

The Benefits of Sport for Kids

 There is no doubt that participating in sport is essential for growing children.  It encourages general health and fitness, develops the muscular skeletal system (builds muscles and creates strong bones), maximises the flow of oxygen around the body, helps kids to feel great (all those endorphins) and even allows them to experience team work and develop a sense of belonging.

Research has shown that children that participate in sport have power and performance advantages over their peers. They are generally fitter and get sick less often than kids who do not participate in any sporting activities.

Reasons to get your child involved in sport:

• To feel successful – regular exercise and sport improves self-image, self-esteem and self-confidence.
• To be able to play and share an enjoyable activity with friends and family members – the need to interact with friends and family socially and to spend time away from the daily challenges of life is met in this way.
• To experience a variety of physical activities – variety is the spice of life and this is the time to expose your child to as wide a variety of physically challenging exercises and sporting events. Specialising in one activity should be left for much later in life.
• To feel challenged (especially during the 8-12 year period) – keeping youngsters challenged to progress and not just perform, to set realistic goals and to help them achieve these goals is a valuable lesson in living a successful life at any age. However, parents and coaches must beware of “pushing” gifted children too much.
• To be part of a team – being part of a team makes a child feel socially accepted and opens up a wide variety of positive learning experiences – such as sharing and not just hogging the limelight; being responsible and not letting the team down by practicing hard and doing their best; and taking successes and the failures in their stride.
• To have fun and not necessarily compete – having fun is a healthy and positive way of letting off steam and getting rid of excess energy, stress and tension. However, adults should place more emphasis on participation rather than performance.
• To be allowed to progress at his own pace – the greatest gift a parent or coach can give a child is to encourage him to progress at his own pace. Children who are praised for their effort and hard work (not just their ability) and who are taught that “effort” is the key to success will keep on trying even after failure and will feel challenged to take on progressively more difficult tasks
• To be able to choose what exercise or sport they wish to participate in – being able to make choices gives a child a sense of control over her life. Parents can help by encouraging children to take part in as many different activities and new learning experiences as are practically possible. However, don’t manipulate, let them make the choice!

 Schools offer a wide range of sporting activities for growing children but reasons for joining in are very different in pre-schoolers compared to high school learners. Ask an 8 year old why he’s doing ball skills at school and he’ll answer, “Because it’s fun”. 

 It’s important for parents (and teachers) to realise that they should encourage children to participate in sport and allow them to enjoy themselves. It’s not about winning, it’s about having fun.

 A child’s first experience with sport should be a positive one.  If a child’s first sporting experience is a negative one, they’ll grow up reluctant to participate and view their poor sporting performance as a form of failure.

 On the other hand participating in a fun, team sport with lots of positive encouragement and feedback will be tremendously rewarding for kids as well has having a positive influence on their mental and physical wellbeing.