Although my child isn't old enough yet to participate in youth sports activities, we do plan on having her do some sports-related activities when she gets older. My brothers and I were in youth sports (summer and school leagues) and so was my husband, and we understand the positive role that youth sports can play in kids' lives.
Sports aren't for everyone. However, I think that kids should have an opportunity to try out some sports when they're younger - they'll never know if they don't get to try it whether or not they're good at physical activities. But it's important to make sports a positive experience, and here are some things to consider and tips to make your child's experience positive.
- The coach should have a positive attitude. Constructive criticism is fine, but it needs to be age-appropriate and balanced with compliments.
- For younger kids, everyone should have a roughly equal chance to play. For more competitive kids/leagues, it's ok if this is somewhat ability-based, but everyone needs to be playing on young kids' teams.
- Name-calling and foul language should not be tolerated by coaches, parents, or players.
- Teamwork and effort should be emphasized more than talent and winning.
- Coaches need to make sure that all kids are playing safely with proper equipment.
- Parents need to be positive and encouraging, acknowledging struggles/losses but balancing it with good points.
- Parents should try to strike a balance between letting their kids be assertive in minor conflicts and stepping in when necessary to correct a situation.
For more tips on making youth sports a positive experience, check out ResponsibleSports.com, a website created by Liberty Mutual (sort of an offshoot of the Responsibility Project website).
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