Year round sports for kids??

[TarraLee]

I'm a competitive cheer coach, so most of the kids I coach are year-rounders, as young as 7. I understand kids being well-rounded, and most of my kids are in something else as well (dance, basketball, soccer, moto-cross (no kidding, a cheerleader who rides a dirt bike too! )), although I'm not sure that their parents have a life besides driving their kids to practices, etc.

One thing about not doing year-round is your skills may fall behind those who are getting the extra practice and playing time. And sure, being year-round at 7 doesn't mean they'll be phenomenal athletes at 17, there are some sports you can start later and still do well at. Things like ice hockey or tumbling are harder to start later because of the gross motor/ coordination/ balance/ flexibility involved.

Also, some kids may totally rule out sports like hockey or tumbling if they don't start until an older age because they are embarassed. How do you think it feels to the kid who wants to play hocket, but he's 12 and can't skate? Or the girl who wants to be on her junior high cheer team but has never done a toe touch or a back-handspring? Very important to start those activities young, if possible.

Just a plug for tumbling, if you never want to cheer or be a gymnast, tumbling is still great for motor coordination, balance, flexibility and conditioning of little ones. I firmly believe that little boys who tumble develop agility and flexibility that helps keep them safe in soccer, basketball and football, as well as good body control. Plus, tumbling can start as little as 2 because there's no "game" they have to learn, a coach guides them through each activity/exercise.

Just my 2 cents. Do what your kids love, and help them meet their goals and enjoy the teamwork, friendships and life lessons of sports. When they don't enjoy it anymore, its too much.

 

[horseshowmom]

Just my 2 cents. Do what your kids love, and help them meet their goals and enjoy the teamwork, friendships and life lessons of sports. When they don't enjoy it anymore, its too much.

I agree with this completely. There's nothing wrong with doing a sport year-round as long as that's what the kid wants to do. But, no parent should push a child into any sport. Honestly, if it hadn't been for her commitment to horseshowing, I don't think my DD would have been year-round in any other sport. She just didn't have the interest level.

 

[Aneille]

My DD (4) will most likely skate or play hockey year round this year.

She loves to skate and in my town the rec. or youth leagues for other sports don't start until K. We could get her involved in private places though.

She will not be in K until she's 6 due to her b-day. She needed something to do.

So she is in learn to skate programs, ISI skate programs, hockey skills and beginner leagues throughout this year. I don't have any illusions that she will get a scholarship or even continue to enjoy it so much. Her first beginner league will start in July.

It was intentional on my part though that she skate all year this year. She will be one of the youngest in her instructional hockey league this comming September. If she does continue these will be her peers for the next years to come.There will be other girls but not that many, and we are not hockey people. She is the oldest so she hasn't been exposed to hockey for years through older siblings.

This is her thing, and although she is extremely confident little girl, I wanted to make sure she stayed that way. So I wanted her to have some idea of what was going on the day she joined her youth league in September. It isn't that I want her to be the best on the team (she wont be) but I didn't want her to start off with a huge disadvantage either. Other kids her age will have skated more than her and since she loves it, I really enjoy watching her skate.

She also does gymnastics all year except for the summer. She started when she was 3. Again, no illusions there. Just something for us to do.

When she is in K we will give her other options as far as sports. But until then I guess we are focusing on skating.

I wanted to add that she has tried other sports. She did a short summer program of tot soccer but it was far from us. She also did 8 weeks of swimming lessons this winter which she really enjoyed and we will do again this summer once gymnastics is over. She also played the violin for a year but will not take up again until next year sometime. It is expensive and she wasn't enjoying it as much as I thought she would.

 

[paigevz]

Naw, don't worry about falling behind. Sports take practice, skills, and understanding the concepts involved, that's true, but often it's developmental differences that have the kids being better than others..........you can take an average kid and practice him daily and probably make him an above average player...........but if he doesn't practice daily, only seasonally, he'll still be an average player.........he won't get terrible or anything. I see it in school.........the kids who are just developmentally ahead physically do well in the playground games no matter what they are, even when they have never been in organized sports...........some of the kids in organized sports do well and some do not........no matter how often they play the sport.

It just comes down to do you want your kid to be a star? That's when you practice and coach them exclusively in one sport for hours and hours year round.........I wouldn't think it would be good for the child to have all of what they see as their "worth" to you wrapped up in a sport........unless of course your child only likes that one sport and is choosing to spend all their free time doing it (that's a different story).

My son used to play only Spring baseball.........and had summer swimming lessons. He then added Fall football to the mix. This year he has dropped off the baseball, no longer having an interest in it. He's now expressed an interest in martial arts, so that may be our new year-round sport. He had asked to play basketball, but it overlapped the baseball/football and I told him we'd only do one at a time........each season seems to take more and more time as he gets older.....one reason he didn't want to do baseball this Spring I think, as football was 3 hour practices 4 times a week plus weekend games with about an hour of practice beforehand. That's a bit excessive, I think, and he loves football, but did get tired of the stringent schedule.

Anyway, my advice is to let him choose what he'd like to do, and then just do it seasonally.........kids change their interests so much, and you don't want to limit his options or burn him out completely. The goal should be to search for a lifelong sport he can enjoy. Just my opinion, of course.