How to Focus on The Fun in Youth Sports
A sports mom wrote:
“My son is 8 years old and has been playing hockey since he was 4. He has been on the “travel” team for two years now… He loves to play but has absolutely no drive to win. I do not know how to change his mentality to understand that sports are not just for enjoyment but are also to be won, especially team sports.”
The parents of 8-year-old kids should not focus on perform well or winning, as this sports parent does.
Above all, they need to ensure their kids are having fun and keep coming back.
Parents need to understand that more than half of all sports kids drop out by the age of 13 because they’re not having fun anymore.
Instead of pressuring kids to be top performers, sports parents’ goal should be to keep them in sports for the long run–and learning life skills.
That means focusing on why the kids are participating.
Generally, at this age, your athletes play to be with friends, learn some skills, be part of a group, and have a good time.
Later, when sports kids are age 14-16, it’s okay to focus more on peak performance. But again, only focusing on having a great game or winning sucks the enjoyment out of sports for most kids.
Athletes feel the pressure from parents when you talk about scoring goals, playing their best, and not making mistakes–weather this is stated or now.
Instead of concentrating on playing great all the time when you have younger kids, be sure to focus learning and growing skills.
Encourage kids to be good communicators, great team players and to think about how they can boost their defensive skills, for example.
When they are in the flow, they are having fun and enjoying the moment. This means you want them to focus on one play, shot or routine at a time, not worry about how you think they are performing.
The more “in the moment” kids are, the more likely they feel “flow” and enjoy sports–which leads to staying in athletics for the long term.
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- Why Sports Must be Fun for Young Athletes
- Helping Young Athletes Have More Fun
- Should Parents Only Focus on Fun in Youth Sports?
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The Composed Sports Kid
“The Composed Sports Kid” audio and workbook digital download program for young athletes and their parents or coach helps kids cope with frustration and anger in sports. Help your sports kids learn how to manage expectations and let go of mistakes so they can keep their head in the game.
The Composed Sports Kid system is really two programs in one–one program to train parents and coaches how to help their kids practice composure, and one program that teaches young athletes–ages 6 to 13–how to improve composure, let go of mistakes quickly, have more self-acceptance, and thus enjoy sports more!