Some of the most important lessons in life are learned through sports. With that said, it is essential that your children choose a sport that will suit them. When they start to become interested in a sport, parents usually find it hard not to make their children feel that they are being pressured. Here are a few helpful tips to know what sport is best for your child.
- Know your child's activity level. Is your child constantly running about and complaining of boredom? Or does he like spending his free time doing calmer sport? Knowing these things can help you decide which sport you can recommend your kids to join in. If your child likes running or anything that requires lots of energy you can consider basketball, football, or hockey. However, if they are calmer and don't like to spend too much energy, they can try swimming or golf.
- Consider how physical your child can get. US News suggested that although every sport needs a wide variety of player, your first concern as a parent is your child. If you have a tall kid with broader built, they can make a good football player. But if your kid is shorter, they can become great runners.
- Make sure you know the coaches. According to activityhero.com, no matter how much children love the sport, if they can't deal with the coach, the passion is useless. You need to make sure that your child's coach knows the game well, and is approachable. You also have to make sure you observe the children in team if they are happily playing the sport they love.
- Think about how much it's going to cost. It is important to know what sport your child is getting into and how much everything can cost you so that you can prepare yourself and commit to the sport.
- Introduce your child to a variety of sports. Before you let your child decide, try to let them watch different kinds of sports on TV. This will narrow down their interest in a few sports and from there, observe which sport you think will fit perfectly for them.
- Is your child a team player or is he better off playing the sport alone? You need to be able to address what kind of player your child is. Some children perform better on a team that when they do a sport individually. If you think that your child is more comfortable in competing one-on-one, you can recommend tennis or taekwondo.
- Which sports does your child like to watch? If your child can watch a sport from start to finish without attempting to change the channel then that particular sport may be very interesting for him. Try to watch as many sports as you can with your kid and try to observe which one catches his attention. You can then ask him how interested he is and if they can see themselves playing that sport.
- Sportsmanship. One of the setbacks in dealing with losses in a team is sometimes other players blame it on someone which makes the loss more difficult to accept. But in some cases, especially in individual sports, losses are dealt with by the same player that played the game himself. Some kids may find is easier to deal with their losses on their own knowing they messed up than being told that the team lost because of him.
