Kids and Sports

MWB
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Kids and Sports

Postby MWB » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:11 am

Didn’t really know where to put this, so started a new thread. Good stuff in here about specializing in a sport is bad news.

https://apple.news/AvoRQjIB2R26n_7uAEbMf0g
Their conclusion: Those who were highly specialized in one sport (at the exclusion of other sports) and played it year-round were at a significantly higher risk for serious overuse injuries, such as bone and cartilage injuries and ligament injuries. How much higher of a risk? About 125%.

dodint
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Kids and Sports

Postby dodint » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:14 am

The PDT has some kid discussion going at the moment...

shmenguin
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Kids and Sports

Postby shmenguin » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:35 am

my son is 4 and did soccer this year. i can't think of a more useless way to spend a saturday. you have 2-3 kids out of 20 who know what they're doing because of their freakish DNA and everyone else just digs in the dirt or plays tag. my daughter is 6 and it's similar.

as someone who was an athlete growing up, and saw how little impact it ended up having on my life, i really don't know how to approach this. i could force my kids to go to the park everyday and teach them how to kick harder than the other kids, or i could just let them be kids and do what they want...but then again, you gotta teach lessons about confidence and perseverance, even if sports seem to be a net negative right now.

folks...parenting is complicated

robbiestoupe
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Kids and Sports

Postby robbiestoupe » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:41 am

ho boy, a lot to unpack in that one shmengy

MWB
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Kids and Sports

Postby MWB » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:47 am

I don’t think you’ll see much tangible evidence of growth through sports at that age. I do think tons of social skills, and things like confidence and perseverance, as you mentioned, are learned. Do you not feel like you got those things out of your sports? I feel I definitely did.

mikey
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Postby mikey » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:01 am

Re: the OP. I always tell parents to get their kids playing other sports in the summer...if they're a goalie, I particularly recommend baseball...otherwise, I think soccer is a really good idea...do something else, hone different skills and different muscles...get coordinated...and you prevent burn out a bit too...

I didn't click the link, but hopefully this isn't new news...I'm hoping that's been around for years and years...

shmenguin
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Kids and Sports

Postby shmenguin » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:04 am

my wife is an amazing social director. and i don't think sports necessarily bring out the best in kids, socially, as they get older. so i'm not sure what the value is there. for me, it actually did the opposite. i didn't really get along with most of my teammates and they were a source of stress for me.

as far as confidence and life skills go, i suspect i developed those through sports largely because there were several teams i was on where i was the best player. if i was sort of a middling soccer player, i'm not sure what the takeaway would be.

but regardless, i know the research shows that sports are a good thing. and the fitness element is undeniable.

skullman80
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Kids and Sports

Postby skullman80 » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:15 am

My niece started playing softball this year. She is 7. If nothing else It got her out of her shell and made her become more social. She was probably the 1st or 2nd best player on a really bad team(she made the all-stars), but I still think it was a net positive. It will be interesting to see once she progresses and she may not be the best player or the games actually matter how she reacts.

I will say though...the parents already *woof*... no reason to be screaming at the umps for a coach pitch softball game. It's not that serious folks.

MWB
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Kids and Sports

Postby MWB » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:22 am

Re: the OP. I always tell parents to get their kids playing other sports in the summer...if they're a goalie, I particularly recommend baseball...otherwise, I think soccer is a really good idea...do something else, hone different skills and different muscles...get coordinated...and you prevent burn out a bit too...

I didn't click the link, but hopefully this isn't new news...I'm hoping that's been around for years and years...
The main focus of the article is basketball, and injuries that are occurring at a more frequent rate due to overuse.

Definitely agree about multiple sports. I tried to get my own girls to play a variety. One just focused on volleyball; the other is basketball, but has now started a little tennis. I tell the kids I coach to play a variety as well. As you said, many benefits. I read something else recently, I forget where, that talked about how playing another sport will help with the main sport in terms of how you see and react to things in addition to the physical upside.

MWB
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Postby MWB » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:27 am

To add a little more to this... I coach middle school girls basketball in a school of 1300 kids. I have to beg girls to try out. I haven’t had more the 15 come out for tryouts. The main reason given is that they just want to focus on x sport. At the high school, same issue. That team went to the state championship game last season, and only 12 girls came to any summer stuff this year. They won’t even have enough for a junior varsity. I begged my rising 8th graders to play, but only 1 will. The others are focused on volleyball or track. It’s frustrating.

MrKennethTKangaroo
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Kids and Sports

Postby MrKennethTKangaroo » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:37 am

i don't have kids, but I don't understand why parents seem to think their kids' athletic destiny will be determined before they turn 10

eddy
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Kids and Sports

Postby eddy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:44 am

taekwondo and dance have pretty much replaced my kids interest in other sports and I couldn't be happier. Not only do I get to participate with them (I got to be in a dance recital with my daughter and it was incredible), but they still have the competitive side to them and they can grow individually without having a bunch of idiot kids holding them back.

mikey
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Postby mikey » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:49 am

i don't have kids, but I don't understand why parents seem to think their kids' athletic destiny will be determined before they turn 10
I believe there is some science to the physical/muscular development actually at that young age that really puts you on a super-ish highway to success...that said, these parents likely don't know that...

meow
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Postby meow » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:13 pm

mini-meow plays/did play soccer, hockey, karate, and t ball and he’s not yet six. We have three rules that we talk about before each and every practice/game. 1. Have fun. 2. Listen to your coach. 3. Try your hardest at all times.

Pre-teen athletics are not about getting on some track to be a super star. They are character builders. Building a good teammate. Building a little person that puts the team ahead of themselves. Building a tiny human that hopefully realizes he isn’t the center of the universe. Building someone that has self confidence. Building a hard worker. Building someone that can win and lose

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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:16 pm

I don't care whether my daughter is all-around athletic and likes to exercise, or actually specializes and excels in an individual sport. I just want her to be active and healthy.

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Kids and Sports

Postby MalkinIsMyHomeboy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:31 pm

Thought this was going to be about parents who get into fights at t-ball games

shmenguin
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Postby shmenguin » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:34 pm

mini-meow plays/did play soccer, hockey, karate, and t ball and he’s not yet six. We have three rules that we talk about before each and every practice/game. 1. Have fun. 2. Listen to your coach. 3. Try your hardest at all times.

Pre-teen athletics are not about getting on some track to be a super star. They are character builders. Building a good teammate. Building a little person that puts the team ahead of themselves. Building a tiny human that hopefully realizes he isn’t the center of the universe. Building someone that has self confidence. Building a hard worker. Building someone that can win and lose
I think the town I live in is a bit problematic, then. We’re a small town whose high school wins state championships across all sports pretty regularly. We have these well-resourced athletic parents hiring trainers for elementary school kids and we even have a lot of parents holding their kids back a year for the purpose of athletics. We’re talkin April birthdays. So there isn’t much of a team vibe in these early days. You have a few super stars and a bunch of spectators.

This is a great town, but this is a stain. On the other hand, we have extremely well behaved parents because everyone’s afraid to embarrass their brand.

CBear3
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Kids and Sports

Postby CBear3 » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:46 pm

There's also something to be said for learning strategies, rules, and thinking on your feet through youth athletics.

MWB
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Postby MWB » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:10 pm

mini-meow plays/did play soccer, hockey, karate, and t ball and he’s not yet six. We have three rules that we talk about before each and every practice/game. 1. Have fun. 2. Listen to your coach. 3. Try your hardest at all times.

Pre-teen athletics are not about getting on some track to be a super star. They are character builders. Building a good teammate. Building a little person that puts the team ahead of themselves. Building a tiny human that hopefully realizes he isn’t the center of the universe. Building someone that has self confidence. Building a hard worker. Building someone that can win and lose
I think the town I live in is a bit problematic, then. We’re a small town whose high school wins state championships across all sports pretty regularly. We have these well-resourced athletic parents hiring trainers for elementary school kids and we even have a lot of parents holding their kids back a year for the purpose of athletics. We’re talkin April birthdays. So there isn’t much of a team vibe in these early days. You have a few super stars and a bunch of spectators.

This is a great town, but this is a stain. On the other hand, we have extremely well behaved parents because everyone’s afraid to embarrass their brand.
Yeah, that’s pretty crazy. I’ve seen isolated cases of parents holding kids back here, but it’s big widespread.

Nuge
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Kids and Sports

Postby Nuge » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:26 pm

I coach 7th,8th,and 9th grade football at our school. I’m very upfront with parents and players that it’s a transition from youth football to varsity football. I’ve had very few problems with parents over the years. I make sure every kid gets to play and try to go easy with the schedule (no weekends). There’s no reason to have kids training for the combine in middle school. I also encourage kids to play as many different sports as they can. Unfortunately there are a lot of other coaches in our school that feel differently and try to get kids to specialize as early as possible.

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Kids and Sports

Postby willeyeam » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:36 pm

one sport specialization and smart phones are the 2 worst things to happen to kids imo

NAN
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Postby NAN » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:37 pm

My one daughter started soccer at 4, and had similar results to shmeguins kid. Wouldn't leave my side, just stood out there, etc. She started to break out a bit at 5, and really took off at 6. Now at 9, she is on the U10 travel squad and doing really well.

Meanwhile, my other daughter started off great at 4, was that kid that was advanced, and now at 7, hates the sport and wants to focus on dance/gymnastics.

Moral of the story, every kid is different and have different reactions, grow at different rates, and have different interests.

We always told our kids, we aren't going to force them to do anything: sports, music, art, dance, etc, as long as they do something to keep active. It's their choice.

NAN
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Postby NAN » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:38 pm

one sport specialization and smart phones are the 2 worst things to happen to kids imo
I've been lucky. My kids haven't asked for a phone yet. I know the day will come, but they dont' seem interested yet.

eddy
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Kids and Sports

Postby eddy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:41 pm

Source of the post We always told our kids, we aren't going to force them to do anything: sports, music, art, dance, etc, as long as they do something to keep active. It's their choice.
:thumb:

shmenguin
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Kids and Sports

Postby shmenguin » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:50 pm

one sport specialization and smart phones are the 2 worst things to happen to kids imo
my 17 year old nephew stayed with us recently. i legit couldn't believe this stupid thing they do where they put every mundane thing in their life on Snapchat or whatever. I have no idea why they think anyone cares.

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