Taking Kids’ Sports Skills to Life
We all talk about the importance of transferring the skills kids learn in sports to other areas of their lives. But how exactly can we expedite that process?
Megan Bartlett, chief program officer for Up2Us—who oversees the training of coaches in sports-based youth development—gave us some great ideas in an interview.
At Up2Us, coaches conduct what’s called “How Did You Do That?” interviews with kids, she says. The idea is to get them talking about how they managed to learn a skill they couldn’t do previously.
“This focuses on the process of learning and underlines the positive relationships we want coaches to focus on,” she says.
“When good coaches sees kids do something new for the first time, they will get excited and celebrate it. But a great coach will say, ‘I remember when you couldn’t do that,’” and ask the kids how they did it.
Kids may say that they practiced hard, asked for help, or visualized acing the skill, she says.
Kids as young as 6 or 7 may have a hard time articulating what they did, she notes. It’s okay to say something like, “It looks like you worked with Mom and Dad,” and ask the child if that’s what happened.
Focusing on the process of learning helps kids understand how they learn, she says. That’s a critical skill they can translate to other areas of their lives!
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- When Sports Teaches Life Skills – According to Abby Wambach
- How Participating in Sports Gives Kids an Edge in Life
- How to Resolve Conflicts in Youth Sports
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