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Sports that ALL children should play

One of the most frequently asked questions is which sports I believe offer the best developmental capacity for young athletes.

This is a trick question for several reasons…

First of all, ANY sports activity led by a quality coach is wonderful for children.

That being said, the real crux and effectiveness of that statement rests largely on the ‘quality-based coach’ comment.

It’s only when poorly educated and overzealous parents and coaches (ie adults) get too involved in youth sports that the experience can turn sour. Parents often push too hard and seek success at a young age; Coaches often have a limited understanding of developmental science and routinely ‘coach’ children with ‘sport-specific’ (I hate that phrase) exercises that are too narrow in scope (not to mention many youth sports coaches don’t know how to TEACH specific aspects of movement or speed, and yet get upset when their athletes don’t perform a given exercise to a high enough level).

One of the most prominent and problematic realities from the comments above is that there don’t seem to be many (none?) outlets for kids to play anymore. Every youth sporting activity is a life and death struggle that MUST end in victory…heaven forbid we teach sound developmental skills in a fun and energetic way to promote the developmental integrity of our youth, which by the way should include stability (for example, highlighting emotional skills gained in a given season rather than increased “wins” and trophies) and mental stimulation (in the form of engaging life lessons that instill a lifelong love of the activity physical instead of earning at all -cost mentality that can overwhelm children with various complexes for years).

With that being said, I encourage parents to eliminate the desire to see their 8-year-old win the weekend tournament; I encourage coaches to take off their ‘Lombardi’ hats when entering a practice or game situation; I also encourage strength and conditioning coaches to remove the urge to “test” young athletes from a biomotor perspective and only look to increase a child’s ability from a performance perspective.

In fact…

My message is simple…

Practice sports according to the season.

Find coaches and programs that emphasize skill acquisition over victory.

Find coaches who do the same: work to instill skills in children rather than create performance markers.

So here are my top four sports that all kids should play (in no particular order):

1) soccer

In most of North America, children lack foot dexterity and soccer is a wonderful natural enhancer of both foot dexterity and foot-eye coordination. Don’t pigeonhole this skill as only necessary for soccer, either. Remember, the crux of developing a ’rounded’ athlete is to absorb them in as many athletic stimuli as possible at a young age. Increased foot dexterity will, over time, round out the general ability of young people and allow them to progress in their “chosen” sport more efficiently.

Also, while many North Americans find soccer ‘boring’ (although I’ll need an explanation on how soccer is boring, but baseball and golf are America’s pastimes), it’s a wonderfully athletic and tactical sport. Sudden bursts of explosive power, change of direction, looking two plays ahead, playing a “force” based defense where the defender uses their body/skills to change what the offensive player wanted to do – these are fantastic athletic lessons that can be archived. in the nervous system and used at a later time in any sporting activity.

2) swim

Unloaded shoulder and hip mobility adds great flexibility to a young athlete’s frame. With so many injuries occurring due to restrictions and strain in children (yes…I wholeheartedly believe that many of the youth sports injuries we see annually around the world could be prevented with a simple and basic increase in both strength systemic and mobility) Hip and shoulder mobility initiatives are crucial.

Furthermore, kinesthetic differentiation is a physical skill that many children lack (this refers to the knowledge of how much force is necessary to produce a desired result). My opinion on this matter is simple: everything we tend to do with children, both in sport and in training, is based on maximum effort. In our rush to search for those ‘performance markers’, we overlook the notion that submaximal efforts are good for development and build certain physical qualities not seen in high strength based results. Swimming is the essence of building kinesthetic differentiation: kids simply won’t last long in a pool if they put as much force into each stroke as possible.

3) Martial Arts

Almost all martial arts I’m familiar with rely on skill acquisition as the primary marker. Not only is it mentally and emotionally good for a child, but it infers the teaching of patience and ‘enjoying the journey’ rather than ‘seeking the destination’.

While a lot of martial arts practices in North America have been watered down (8 year olds getting black belts – if you knew anything about traditional martial arts you know how ridiculous that is), most of the organizations you work with I am familiar they teach a wonderful style. the development of patient skills and discipline.

Athletically speaking, dynamic flexibility, systemic end-range strength, mobility, spatial awareness – the physical ability built through martial arts is impressive and can be applied to any sport.

4) Gymnastics

Again, the physical elements that can be built through gymnastics are amazing: spatial awareness, flexibility, relative strength, dynamic and static balance, and the list goes on.

If for no other reason, the ability to know where you are in space and take a fall “right” is a necessary skill for any sport.

So… there’s my list.

Don’t get me wrong, the list is nothing without a quality coach at the helm of each of these respective sports. Martial arts instructors, for example, are often archaic in their knowledge of warm-up design, as are gymnastics trainers in their flexibility-enhancing practices. With that being said, there are good trainers out there and I urge you as a parent to find them. I also encourage coaches to seek joint venture partnerships with quality coaches and increase a child’s development with training habits based on skill acquisition and solid strength.

Play soccer in the fall.

Swimming in the summer.

Participate in martial arts during the winter.

Take gymnastics in the spring.

Mix in some developmental training and play other sports recreationally for interest and development (basketball and baseball, for example).

By the age of 13 or 14, you will have a solid athlete with limited injuries who understands sports tactics and is strong, mobile and flexible…

Not a bad place to be!

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