Does your kid suck?
Are you concerned that your kid sucks at their sport or activity? Do you feel that the other kids are way better, and your child is getting left behind?
Through years of being a soccer coach, I have often heard parents express worry that their kid isn’t keeping up. I’ve often heard the same anxiety when they see other kids who are better at playing the piano, or drawing, or dancing, or singing, or doing math. I’m sure you’ve heard the same.
So many parents constantly worry about how their kid “measures up”. Most of the time, the concern is overblown.
When I look at this question with parents, we often find that the issue has little to do with the child, and everything to do with the parent’s preoccupation that their child is “keeping up” with the peer group.
It’s not hard to address these fears. If you’re worried that your child may be falling behind in their sport or activity, consider these points.
1. Whose emotions are these?
Firstly, do you know for certain that your child is falling behind? Do you get the feeling that your child feels badly about not being the most skilled in their peer group? If not, then you may be projecting.
When parents watch their child practicing an activity, it often makes them recall a bad experience that they had as a child, or it stimulates current fears and anxieties about being inadequate. As parents, we need to step back and consider our child’s experience from a neutral perspective. A lot of kids don’t mind being the slowest runner or the least proficient ball dribbler or the least recognized mezzo soprano. Really. They don’t. It’s not the end of the world for them.
This book excerpt from retired Stanford dean Julie Lythcott-Haims talks about the fear element in parents. She describes how it gives rise to helicopter parenting, and how helicopter parenting slowly incapacitates our children. When we overprotect our children, we prevent them from learning how to stand on their own and how to take charge of their life.
2. Your child is feeling bad. This is an opportunity for you to provide some wise parenting
If you discover that your child truly feels inadequate about their abilities in a particular activity or sport, be a wise parent. Talk with your child about their feelings and discuss possible solutions.
When children lag in skill development, the activity often becomes less fun for them. Does your child want to get better in the activity? Or do they simply want to cut their losses, quit, and take up another activity instead? Sometimes it’s okay to quit.
If your child wants to get better, then discuss ways to get better. Sometimes the activity is poorly run or badly coached, so you need to find a new quality program.
Other times it means that your child simply needs to practice more, or practice with more diligence and intentionality. Kids are capable of learning all sorts of stuff if they try, but you need to cultivate a growth mindset in your child so they actually make the effort.
3. But the other kids are making fun of your child
If the other kids in the activity are making fun of your child, that’s a problem. In the immortal words of Jimi Hendrix, “that ain’t too cool”.
Is there a coach or a teacher or an instructor overseeing your child’s activity? Find a quiet moment outside the activity time to talk with the coach-teacher-instructor about the culture of the group.
If they have any skills as a leader, they should be able to set a better tone among the kids. And if they demonstrate that they are not able to do this, then they either suck as coaches and teachers, or they don’t actually care enough to create a good environment for all of the kids.
This is basically what happened on my eldest daughter’s basketball team years ago. We took her out of the program.
4. Wouldn’t it be better if every child and every person on earth could be exactly the same with the same degree of talent or lack of talent as everyone else around them, so everyone could feel at ease with themselves knowing that they are not any better or worse than anyone else?
Would the world be a better place without Albert Einstein, Amadeus Mozart, Maria Callas, Michael Jordan, Marie Curie, Meryl Streep, Pablo Picasso, Miles Davis, and Wayne Gretzky?
Genius is a beautiful thing. When we witness genius, we catch a glimpse of the potential of humanity. Framed the right way, it can inspire us to strive to be better.
Does it matter that some of us may never achieve that measure of brilliance in our respective fields? We can teach our kids to appreciate genius as part of the rich diversity of human experience. Sure, it might humble us to realize that we don’t possess the same genius—but a little humility can be a good life skill.
5. Remember to examine beliefs
If you worry that your kid is getting left behind, take time to examine the situation. Is there a real issue present? Or are you simply projecting your own fears? Deal with what’s real. And be confident that there are solutions available.
In reality, your kid doesn’t suck. They might need to develop some skills, or find better coaching, or discover an activity that they like more, but they don’t suck.
I meant invisible
My son is almost 9 and playing in a passing flag football league. His team has not won a single game but all of the players are pretty good. My son has a very positive attitude and he is an ok player. He makes plays but he also misses plays. He has caught some passes and even scored a touchdown but he has also dropped a handful of passes. In the last game, the QB didn’t throw one pass to him and it was really obvious considering this is a passing league. He kept a positive attitude the whole game and he made a lot of plays on defense and when we left he told me he was upset because he didn’t get one pass. He was the snapper the whole game so he didn’t get the opportunity to go deep. He said he kept communicating that he was open and still nothing. He said the coach told the QB to throw it to him and nothing. He said he felt invincible. No player on the team is perfect obviously and I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t want him to have poor self esteem or to not want to play anymore. I fear if he actually gets thrown the ball, he will drop it because the QB is in his head now. I did sign him up for a flag academy this summer. I told him to keep practicing and prove he can catch. What is the right response here?
Hi Stephanie,
I think your response to keep practicing is the best one. I was going to tell you to mention it to the coach, but you’ve already done that, so hopefully they are monitoring it. The best advice is to just keep practicing and getting better to the point where no one can deny his ability. It’s also worth considering whether the QB is simply passing to his best friends! That kind of thing happens all the time on sports teams, so it might have less to do with your son’d ability to catch than it does with his friendship with the QB. But tell him to keep practicing, and maybe you can help him with a little bit of catching at home as well. Try playing indoors with a sock ball each evening for 10 minutes — it’s fun and steadily improves hand-eye coordination! See the bottom of this page: activeforlife.com/conte…-games.pdf
Hi,
My son will be 10 in November and desperately wants to be on the travel team (it’s been 2 years since he tried out and hasn’t made it) but plays town rec. He is not a strong player and still can’t kick a ball straight or make a goal. He likes to play defense and can pass a ball, but that’s about it. Should he still play the game or try something new? Should he have the basics down by now? Any hope when he reaches puberty? He really loves the sport, but it’s a struggle.
Hi,
If your son really loves the sport, that’s the only thing that’s important — there’s no shame in playing rec soccer. However, if he is really desperate to try to play on the travel team, then he could look at joining a soccer academy of some kind to get extra skills practice. Either that or watch Youtube videos of soccer skills and practice at home. Age 10 is not too late to learn the necessary skills and get good at them — he just needs to spend lots of time with a ball, practicing skills every day, and hopefully getting some good coaching along the way. I would start by asking at your soccer club if there is any additional coaching available, such as an academy. If there is nothing, then try looking online for local private academies in your area.
Hi Jim
I have a sweet 8 years old son, his father and me see that he is not gifted at all in football and sucks in it, he doesn’tget the game, nor is he fast, nor can he strike a strong shot, but he loves it, we are from egypt where it is very popular especially among boys and me…
On the other side he loves football, and is always excited about his trainings and always bragging about what progress he did and so on(though we see no progress whatsoever) and even when i try ro emgage him in another sport he doesn’tmind and gets excited but doesn’t want to leave the football, he is ready to play anything along football, and there is no time to practice a lot of sports..
It is really expensive where we live around 1000USD per term, but we are willing to pay if it is something good for him, shall we continue to support him in football, or shall we try to direct his passion somewhere else.
Hi Amina,
If your 8 year old son loves football that much, I would definitely continue to encourage him to play. There are very good reasons to do so. First, at age 8 especially, the most important thing is fun and enjoyment — he is enjoying his sport, so you are wise to continue to support and encourage him in his activity of choice. Second, it is entirely possible that as he grows, his coordination and other necessary physical capacities and skills will develop to the point that he becomes a truly good if not great player. This happens remarkably often as children grow and develop. Imagine how thrilling and satisfying that will be for him if that happens! It hardly matters either way, however — as long as he is having fun now — same with whether or not he is “performing” well at age 8 — the important thing is his joy and enthusiasm to continue. If his enjoyment disappears in coming months or years, then he might consider leaving football behind. In the meantime, it is also great if he does two or three additional sports or activities through the year, depending on the season, such as basketball in winter, football in summer, racquet sports in spring, cycling for fun year-round, etc. And just one further point for clarification: I used the word “sucks” in the title of this article ironically — it’s actually a very negative expression, and I don’t encourage you to use it in describing your son (or anyone else for that matter! Haha.) I like your son’s enthusiasm — he sounds like the kind of kid that I most like to coach!
Feeling this hard. My son is 11 and just not good at sports. He’s a tall kid at 11 he’s 5 foot 3 and just very gangly. He’s in basketball and his team is really good. He wants to play so bad but my mom ( who is a jerk) made a comment that he’s not good, to me in private and he didn’t hear. It brought up my worst fears that others become agitated with him being bad too. He’s the 2nd of of 5 kids surrounded by siblings who are naturally good at school and sports whereas he’s had a lot of challenges with being dyslexic and just socially awkward. Am I doing the right thing by him having him play? He’s just in a catholic parish team which anyone can join and it’s no tryouts. But I feel horrible if my own mom thinks he’s bad does everyone else feel the same? Am I failing him? Idk what to do.
Hi Allie,
It sounds like your son is facing difficult challenges, and those need to be respected by everyone involved, including your mother. If he loves playing basketball, and he doesn’t feel bothered by being a weaker player on the team, I would simply support him and encourage him to continue playing. If his feelings change in the future, then he could consider doing another sport or physical activity, and I would draw your attention to the story “It’s okay to quit” linked under point #2 above. These are delicate situations to navigate. If one day he starts to question playing basketball, then remind him that there are other things he can do (and may want to do). Be sure to tell him that there is no shame in “not being good” at basketball either. As Cat Stevens sang, “There’s a million ways to be,” and that means 999,999 of them are not basketball. I am deeply sorry to hear about the response of your mother. Your son needs support and compassion, not judgement. You are not failing him – these things simply take time and a delicate hand. I wish you the very best.
Hi! I am not a parent, but I am a kid. I am 12 years old, almost 13 now. I am horrible at sports! Every single kid is better then me. Even a 1 year old would be better than me. I try, but my classmates and even the teachers bully me and tease me a lot. This has really damaged my interest in sports and also my self esteem. I have always been this terrible, it’s not sudden. What shall I? I hardly move in this quarantine and have also put on some weight.
Sports aren’t everything. Try something different like hiking, jogging, biking, rowing a boat, roller skating, snowboarding, dancing, etc. The trick is to find something you LIKE doing. Start small and work your way up. Don’t compare yourself to others. Instead, compare yourself now to yourself in a year. I’ve seen YouTube videos of people learning new things. Imagine you film yourself learning to ride a unicycle. You film day one, and The first day of every month for a year. That is the best way to track progress.
Hi,
My son is nearly 8. We live in the UK and he plays football (soccer) he’s not very good at it. He tries his best but he’s scared of the ball and holds back and let’s the ‘good plays’ take the ball in matches. He doesn’t have any passion and I think he just goes because his friends do (they are starting to be mean saying he’s a rubbish player) if he stops I feel like his friends will leave him out as he won’t be part of their team.. and when he gets older he will be even worse at any sport and made fun of even more. Should I make him stop?! He doesn’t want to do any other sport he goes boxing training but there is absolutely no way that would progress into anything as he’s so scared. It doesn’t help his Dad used to box and is really ‘tough’ and my little boy is just not. I don’t know what to do for the best?! I just want him to fit in. Not be the best.. just not stand out as the worst. Thanks
Hi Annie,
This is a very tough situation that you and your son are facing. I say that as someone who has coached children and youth in football (soccer) for 20 years in Canada, but also understands something of the culture around football in England. In Canada, most kids have ready access to dozens if not hundreds of sports, while I think the choices tend to be much more limited in England. Hence if you don’t play football (soccer), you aren’t an athlete. There’s also the prominent class divide around the sport in England that is essentially non-existent in Canada. So what you are really up against is culture – both in the narrow sporting sense, and in the broader societal sense. These are powerful forces, so let’s be clear among ourselves: There is much more to sport than simply football and boxing (and certainly more to life). It is also unhealthy for any child or teen to feel compelled to participate in any sport where he feels scared or ashamed: this is a surefire way to turn the child away from physical activity and sport entirely, and a very likely way to damage their sense of identity and self-esteem for the long term. There is plenty of research that shows this. So what to do? My advice is to start by having an earnest conversation with your husband so you can both be on the same page as regards your son’s well-being, and then talk together with your son about different options for physical activity, and what he wants. If you want to look at the research in your conversation with your husband, you might start by simply reading the introduction to this 2014 study on youth dropout from sports: www.researchgate.net/publi…_and_youth
The reality is that it might never be possible for your son to “fit in” with his football peers. However, his self-identity shouldn’t be dictated by this. I strongly suggest investigating other options for physical activity and sport in your region, and reassure him that it is perfectly okay to NOT box or play football. I sincerely wish a happy resolution to this situation for your son.
Thank you so much for getting back to me. You are right there is so much more to life than being good a sport (I need to remind myself that when he’s an adult it won’t matter he wasn’t the best at football). I just worry and want him to fit in with his peers. I think it’s me who cares much more than he does.
Also your 100% right in England football is everything, I just need my son to be ok with not being part of it. He is playing in an under 8’s team this season and we have decided that this will be the last one.
We explained it’s becoming more competitive (and therefore he will not be picked to play.. also he would not be able to keep up) he’s sad but I think he understands. He wants to continue with his boxing training (but again up until he has to spar and then he will stop)
I want him to continue with sport but it’s really limited in the UK like you say there is not huge options and there is not a lot in the area we live in. I’m hoping we will find something else?!
Thank you again
Annie xx
Hi my daughter is eleven and horrible at sports. She is fine playing with her father and brothers but with anyone else she freezes and can’t throw or catch. She majorly zones out and stands to the side. Her self esteem has dramatically gone down due to bullying and she now refuses to take part in anything physical I want her to be happy and have fun. The only thing she loved was tai-kwon-do which we left and she does not want to go back because “we were gone for to long” What should I do?
Hi Iris,
For starters, I would just keep playing with her and have fun doing it. There’s nothing weird or “wrong” with families playing together. From there, invite other friends of hers who are not critical and not bullying. Just build on the fun. From there, your daughter will develop skills, and with skills, confidence. From there, she might or might not decide that she wants to be join more sports with her peers. But every situation is different, depending on her school and your community. Of my three kids, the absolute best school and sports experience was had by my youngest daughter. She went to a small elementary school where they had a PE specialist teacher who involved ALL kids and created a culture of mutual acceptance, support, and non-bullying. It’s a sad fact, but some schools and sports clubs have a terrible negative culture that turns kids off sports and activity. You might want to talk more with your daughter about her previous experiences at school, in sport clubs, etc. to get an accurate sense of precisely where her feelings are coming from. I’m very sorry to hear that she is going through this. I have seen it far too often, and it breaks my heart.
Hi! Thank you for this article and the insightful feedback you have left for others. Like most of the parents on this page, I was looking for insight on how to console my son regarding his inability to play sports. My son is 12 and has a very athletic father (who lives 2 hours away) and very athletic little sister who gets picked up for soccer select teams every season. My son tried soccer from age 8-10 and ended up quitting the team his 3rd year because he appeared to have no interest in playing when he was on the field. Now at 12 he has decided to play baseball. Unfortunately, he lacks athletic ability. He can’t catch the ball, can’t throw the ball, it’s scared if the ball but he wants to be good so bad. I’ve practiced with him and he does better when it’s just me and him but tends to kind of forget everything we practiced when he gets on the field. I don’t know what to do, nor do I know what to tell him when he’s on the verge of tears because he says he sucks and no one wants to pass him the ball. I don’t want him to give up .. mind you I just paid $320 in gear and signups .. but I also don’t want to subject him to constant humiliation and have his self confidence deteriorate every practice and game.
How can I help him gain confidence and do better? Or should we just quit altogether?
Hi Brenda,
I apologize for not replying to you sooner. Somehow I missed seeing your comment above until now, and I can only guess it is due, in part, to the crisis we have all faced in the past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Having said that, I suspect that your son has very likely been out of sports for most of the past 14 months anyways, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Assuming he is still interested in playing baseball and getting better at the game, I would simply suggest that he continues to practice at home whenever possible — either by playing catch with you or a friend, or by playing by himself using his glove and a tennis ball, throwing the ball at a large brick or concrete wall and catching the rebounds. Playing against the wall will especially improve his reflexes and quickness, and it will also allow him to control the pace and tempo of his practice, while also allowing him to practice his throwing. If his interest in baseball has waned, I would also encourage him to try other sports and physical activities as well. For instance, he might discover that he has a passion and a talent for a racquet sport such as tennis or badminton, or hip hop dance, or road cycling, or skateboarding. However, if he is clearly drawn to team sports, keep encouraging him, and find strategies for him to practice as much as possible at home.
Need a little insight,
My son has been playing sports since he was 5 years old. He is very athletic, and is very gifted when it comes to sports. His love has always been football. He’s been a starter on offense and defense since he started playing. Very aggressive, and would run “sideline to sideline “ either while running the ball(RB), or to get a tackle (LB). Would do everything he could to to help the team win.
My son is now about to turn 12 and things have changed he no longer hustle on defense and have been seen just letting opponents run by. His running on offense is still good, but it’s not inspired like when he was younger. He says he still likes football, but his play says he’s not that into it anymore. I ask him why isn’t he tackling anyone, he states he doesn’t know. I ask him if he’s hurting, or intimidated. He says no, and that he is not sure why he’s not going hard. Football is a rough sport, I’m afraid his lack of effort is going to get him or one of his teammates hurt.
Any ideas on what you think is going on? Is this normal?
Rob
Hi Rob,
It’s entirely normal for kids’ feelings and motivations around sport to change over time, and it’s especially common when they reach middle school age and start heading into puberty. Whether or not your son is gifted as an athlete may have little or no bearing on his motivation for playing his sport. Sometimes kids simply tire of a sport — it becomes less interesting for them for any number of reasons, and maybe there are other interests and factors that are taking greater precedence in their lives. It’s also common for them to keep their reasons to themselves as they enter adolescence and start to seek a little more independence and privacy from their parents. My instinct would be to ask if he is really and truly having fun in the sport anymore, and let him know that you are completely accepting of his answer if he says “no” or “not too much.” In my experience as a coach, when kids’ effort drops off, most often it’s because they have lost interest (or some interest) in the sport, and to some degree they are just “going through the motions” in continuing to play because they don’t know what else to do. For this reason, I would also ask him if there is another sport or activity that he might rather be doing (skateboarding? baseball? golf? rockclimbing? hiphop? distance running? etc.). He might not know the answer right away — he might not have even thought about it yet — but opening the door to the possibility might get him thinking and re-engage him in activity through another sport.
Thanks for a great article! I am trying to read up on things that may help me with my 12 year old and this really hit home. Every school year he has been involved in some type of sport. Years of rec soccer and baseball/t ball. We ended up leaving rec because the coaches were parent coaches who had no coaching ability and weren’t great with the kids. This is our second season on a travelling team. My son struggled last year, we chalked it up to playing with kids who have had years of serious coaching and said it would take time to catch up. This season has been terrible. He looks so unhappy while on the field, has no confidence, and his team mates are starting to make comments. He hates being aggressive and looks scared when the ball comes his way. When we try to talk to him about how he feels he gets very defensive. When asked if he’s enjoying playing he says he is, but I feel he says that because he thinks it will shut us up. I’m afraid we focus on it too much so we try not to bring it up. But I don’t know what to do to help him gain confidence and enjoy himself. Is there some type of extra one on one training we can get him so he’s more confident and aggressive? I’ve suggested other sports and just get shrugged off. Please help me help my son. It kills me seeing him feel so bad about himself.
Hi Amber,
I’m not clear if you are talking about your son playing soccer or baseball in this particular instance? It makes a bit of difference when it comes to being “aggressive” in his play. But first let’s talk about confidence — this comes from having a certain level of mastery of skills and feeling competent. If you live in a city larger than perhaps 200,000 people, you can probably find some kind of soccer or baseball academy for personal coaching, and assuming the coaches are good coaches, your son’s skills may improve a lot. However, keep in mind that age 12 is a very difficult time to be introducing fine motor skills (e.g. dribbling in soccer) due to the challenges of the growth spurt and different rates of growth in bones, muscles and ligaments, etc. Skill training can help, but it will be extra challenging during the growth spurt. As for being aggressive, this is very personal and should be respected in the individual — some people simply aren’t “aggressive,” and that is perfectly okay — don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. And there are many different degrees of being “aggressive” or not aggressive. If your son really and truly dislikes physical contact (e.g. thinking about soccer here), then maybe it’s not the sport for him. I still play men’s soccer, I am not “aggressive” per se, but I am comfortable getting run into or tackled hard. Some people are not comfortable with this — such as my son — and that’s why he went to tennis and still plays tennis to this day, despite having been a very good soccer player in his early teens. My advice is don’t try to make your son “more aggressive” — that would be going against his character — but look at finding ways to develop his skills, and thereby his confidence, and see where that takes him. Eventually he may decide / recognize that he really doesn’t like soccer (or baseball), so be prepared for that. He might be staying in the sport right now simply because he wants to be with his friends, but when it comes to actually playing the game, his heart is not entirely into it. If that’s the case, he will need to come to terms with that. Down the road, there might come an opportunity to introduce him to a sport or activity more to his liking — such as a racquet sport, or rock climbing, or cycling, or martial arts, or any number of different things — so keep that in mind. I empathize completely with you and your son. Hang in there — I know these situations are challenging, both as the parent and as the child.
P.S. Amber — if your son decides that he doesn’t really want to continue in the sport, help him to understand that there is no “shame” in “quitting” the sport — it does not make him a “failure.” These are the kinds of thoughts that tend to weigh heavily on the mind of a 12 year old. Instead, encourage him to explore other sports and activities that might interest him, and help him to understand that each of us will excel at different things, and enjoy different things, and it is neither good nor bad. In essence, this is a potentially profound existentialist awakening — because this is the substance of life — none of us are going to love every activity or master everything we put our hand to, and that doesn’t make us failures. We might feel like failures, though, because “everyone else is enjoying X activity — but I have no affinity for X activity — so what’s wrong with me?!?” Help him to understand that there is nothing “wrong” with him. This is extremely important.
Thank you so much! He has decided to finish out the soccer season but has expressed interest in joining a local track team, in his words, “in hopes of running faster”. I no longer ask if he wants to quit soccer, but I passively suggest he think of some ideas of non competitive activities such as climbing or karate. I reminded him that when I grew up I wasn’t even given the option to play a sport and that surprised him and I think it made him think a little differently. I’ve always told him there’s no shame in quitting and trying another sport and I tell him this is the only way he will find an activity he enjoys. He seems to feel better about the issue, knowing he can move on to all kinds of activities he’s never thought of.
Thank you so much for your feedback, it’s definitely nice to hear from others that this is something many parents and children have experienced.
Help! My daughter enjoys playing soccer, but she is rarely “engaged” in the game. We started her early, at the age of 5, and stopped her at 8 because the game was becoming more competitive and she wasn’t. Following her shadow and chasing butterflies was her thing. Now at age 12, she decided she wanted to play soccer again. She’s playing and having fun, but she is no better than she was at 8. She’s physically awkward (partly due to scoliosis), she mostly walks during games and rarely runs, is afraid of the ball and the other team, she’s not aggressive in any way shape or form, doesn’t touch the ball unless it lands at her feet and has not progressed in ball skills at all. She’s enjoying herself for whatever reason, but it’s so hard to watch because she is levels below the skills and work rate of her teammates. What do we do? She thinks she does fine, but she really isn’t. She’s always had some struggles with large and fine motor skills, so she’s never going to be the superstar, which is fine, we just want her to at least TRY, pay attention, play with some aggression, work hard and play the best she can; but, if this IS her best, should be really be playing? Please let me know your thoughts.
Hi Jacqui,
If your daughter is enjoying herself, then there’s really nothing wrong and you don’t need to do anything. I’m going to assume that this is a recreational team, as opposed to a competitive or “selects” team, so the coach and the team are probably fine with her level of engagement as well. If she’s having fun and enjoying herself, there’s no problem. The question around her skills and commitment may arise if the team moves into a more competitive stream, especially in the coming teen years. Your daughter is standing at the threshold when teams might start to demand more engagement and greater skills. If that happens with her team, then the appropriate thing would be for the coach to talk with her about the team expectations and make suggestions for improving skills, training harder, etc. That is to say, if her level of engagement becomes a problem, the coach should talk with her, and you only need to listen and be prepared to support the coach’s directions and advice for your daughter. If you are concerned that the conversation needs to happen now, then you might want to approach the coach and express that concern, and then follow what the coach says.
My daughter loves soccer. She has been playing since the age of 4. She has always played on a league that everyone plays equally. This fall she is on a more competitive league. This league only requires a short amount of time to play. She missed practices at the beginning of the season because of camp and vacation. She sits the bench the entire time unless the coach has to put her in. I don’t know what I should do. She loves it but isn’t aggressive in her play resulting in less play time. I’m worried she’ll never advance in her skills if she can’t play. Maybe this league was a bad idea. I don’t know what to do.
Hi Samantha,
Wow. I am breathless. I don’t want to believe that this is still happening anywhere in Canada, but I guess there are a lot of coaches who still don’t understand the importance of game time in player development. Not to mention the fact that kids sign up to play soccer so they can … play. Unless your daughter is playing on the Canadian Olympic team or perhaps a university varsity team, she should be getting at least 50% game time (this is assuming she attends practices regularly — and summer vacation and camp are perfectly acceptable reasons to miss early season practices). I suspect you need to look at switching to a different league if that’s possible. Can you please tell me: How old is your daughter? And what league is this?
he has also tried rock climbing and quit that too
my son often stands off to the side when his friends play football he has given up on all sports he has tried and my daughter plays soccer and is afraid to go after the ball i have to keep my kids active but they just want to quit every sport they try. It breaks my to my son just stand to the side when his friends play sports
Hi John,
It sounds like there might be two separate issues happening with your son and daughter. With your daughter, it might be a simple case that she doesn’t like soccer, and it’s time for her to try something else. With your son, it sounds a little more complicated. Have you sat down with him and asked him to talk about what he likes and dislikes about the different sports and activities he has tried, and what he might want to do instead? Maybe he needs to talk a bit and “figure it out”. Another idea: Maybe he is simply averse to organized sports, and perhaps he would prefer to do something with you as a family activity, such as cycling or hiking? These are just some thoughts — if you have a talk with him, I would be interested to know what he says.
Best of luck,
Jim
Old thread, and just stumbled across this great piece.
Over the past 5 years, my son has tried soccer, flag football, baseball, swimming, floor hockey, cross country, track and field, flag rugby and crossfit-kids. He’s 9 now, and to this point has yet to find something active that he actually wants to get good at (or let me rephrase – something he shows any inclination to *practice* with a goal of getting even the slightest bit better). No passion for anything active, and actively opposes encouragement to practice from coaches or us. He’s consistently been the worst on any team or group he’s been involved with, though he thinks he’s “fine”, and the reason kids don’t pass to him is that “they are jerks”…though when pressed he acknowledges they don’t pass because they think he’s not good. My husband and I are not athletes but both competed in various sports throughout our childhoods and young adult lives and both still compete occasionally in addition to maintaining regular fitness schedules. We try to be the models for our kids, but worry that our son is on the path to illness and obesity sitting in front of video games and youtube videos, which are the only thing he loves to do, though we forbid them entirely during the school week – I’m tempted to toss all of it in the bin.
Our household rule is that everyone plays some kind of sport every season of the year. He’s picked every one of the above, but still shows no drive or grit for any of them. I’m at a loss. He’s now at a point of being too old to try new sports because every other kid will have started at least 3-4 years ago – I have checked with local programs in lacrosse and basketball (2 other things he’s intermittently expressed an interest in) and was told there’s no such thing as 9-yr-old-beginners level.
Have you ever come across a kid who never finds anything active to love and grow with? When is the time for professional advice?
If we start with “first principles” in the case of your son, it seems clear that he has not found anything that is “fun” to him. For kids, and even for most adults, physical activity absolutely needs to be fun. (No one willfully chooses to do something in their spare time that is not fun — unless they have certain physical fitness targets that are especially important to them, and that’s almost never the case with kids.) When I look at the list of things he has tried, I am inclined to say: Maybe it’s time to go way outside the box. For example, maybe try a rock climbing program? There are many indoor climbing walls everywhere now, and classes / sessions on evenings and weekends for kids. Or maybe a martial arts program such as karate or taekwondo? Or possibly a variant of cycling, such as mountain biking or road racing? Or maybe even a hip hop dance class? (Does your son have any interest in hip hop music and culture? Sometimes that can be a draw.) Or possibly a racquet sport such as badminton or tennis? I think you are wise to “require” him to do something — the key is to continue to allow him to choose what it is. He may need some help imagining what his options are, and that’s where you can help him to think “outside the box” and look at non-traditional sports and activities. Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!
Great article because I believe you hit it spot on!!! My question is what if your children doesn’t stick with anything or doesn’t want to participate in any skills development and does the bare minimum in comparison to their peers?
Hi Niki,
Great question! If your child doesn’t want to stick with a particular activity, or they show no interest in practicing, and you’re confident that it’s a good program with good instruction and a good group of kids, then it’s 99% certain that your child simply hasn’t found the right activity yet. It’s time to try something else, and I recommend trying as many different things as possible until your child finds their passion. In my experience, every kid will have a passion — the problem is that most kids never get to sample more than 3 or 4 physical activities or sports in their childhood — out of possibly 100 activities and sports that are available in their community (e.g. dance, martial arts, team sports, individual sports, hiking, climbing, archery, swimming, etc.). I think parents need to be prepared to think outside the box in this regard. Here’s a good article on our site that talks about this idea: activeforlife.com/ask-t…nto-sport/
Good luck!
Wow, sounds EXPENSIVE!
Yet, could be true.
However, I think the idea of improvement with experience is also valuable, and could lead kids to decide where to invest effort as they get older.
Thanks for the input!
dotyman
My question is difficult.
My daughter is physically gifted. She is strong, coordinated and quick. She can do any sports she chooses. She has done well at gymnastics, swimming, track and judo…
At PRACTICE.
It’s been five years at judo (dropped the others after a few years).
She has not done well in competitions (except for when she first started).
What am I doing wrong?
dotyman
What makes you think there’s anything wrong? If your daughter is having fun, let her have fun.