Should a parent begin to sports specify his/ or her child before 12-13, if the child is showing great abilty and willingness?
This is the question I asked, via a forum for Youth track over a year ago.To date there has been over 60 responses and I wanted to share a few of the responses with you. Please feel free to continue the discussion and leave a comment or question.
****************
K. Elenor from Cypus wrote :
”Hi, Perhaps you would like an alternative opinion. I started with swimming when I was 7, or should I say that my parents started me with swimming when I was 7. I had a heart problem and was a not very healthy child plus overweight. For a year in the swimming team my hear rate improved, no need to mention that my body shape got slimmer too.
My husband is a cycling champion of the Little States of Europe Olympic Games for 1997 (Malta). He started with cycling when he was 12. He says it was too late to make it to the Tour of France. Of course, I am not saying that you should rase Olympic Champions but 4 or 5 years old is a good age to start a child with a sport. It will also teach him/her to some discipline, self control and time planning/programming apart from the benefits from the exersize.
I have a 3 year old daughter who comes with me to the gym. She watches from the childs room while I do yoga and thai chi classes. She repeats the moves and she finds them funny. She takes it as a game and I can see she really enjoys herself. My husband takes her with him when he goes to the tennins court and she collects the balls for him. (My husband now is 40 and has replaced cycling with tennis). They always come grinning from left to the right ear. It is good bonding experience. Perhaps, sport is a good idea to help raising a happy child too.”
My husband is a cycling champion of the Little States of Europe Olympic Games for 1997 (Malta). He started with cycling when he was 12. He says it was too late to make it to the Tour of France. Of course, I am not saying that you should rase Olympic Champions but 4 or 5 years old is a good age to start a child with a sport. It will also teach him/her to some discipline, self control and time planning/programming apart from the benefits from the exersize.
I have a 3 year old daughter who comes with me to the gym. She watches from the childs room while I do yoga and thai chi classes. She repeats the moves and she finds them funny. She takes it as a game and I can see she really enjoys herself. My husband takes her with him when he goes to the tennins court and she collects the balls for him. (My husband now is 40 and has replaced cycling with tennis). They always come grinning from left to the right ear. It is good bonding experience. Perhaps, sport is a good idea to help raising a happy child too.”
Regards,
Ele
**************
J.Sterner wrote”
“Specializing” a child in a sport at a young age can be very harmful if the parents aren’t careful”.
****************
Clyde Hedlund wrote:
”In fact, kids are missing out being kids, because grownups have taken over. There are just too many organized activities for kids that are managed and controled by grownups. Kids no longer have the opportunity to organize, control, manage and direct their own activities like I did as a kid. Gone are the days when a bunch of kids of different ages and abilities could get together to pick and choose their own team for the day and what to play. Without grownups, kids on their own organized, negotiated, selected well balanced teams, and had a lot of fun. Otherwise, no one would play. So the responsibility was on the kids to develop an acceptable system that worked for everyone’s benefit. It was simply amazing how balanced teams became. Of course, maybe one team had more players than the other, but no kid was left out. We played a variety of sports and made up our own rules and guidelines to fit the terrain. Unfortunately, the interpersonal skills developed during these activities have all been discouraged or lost today due to organize grownup interference”.
******************
S. Shultze wrote:
“The work of children is play”. Children should be encouraged to pick up any and all sports that interest them. They should be allowed ample opportunities to play, including in groups organized into teams. They do not need adult intervention, only the attention and counsel (when requested) of their elders. Competition, which is a natural prerequisite for growth as an athlete, must be balanced with a strong emphasis on cooperation. The development of social skills is far more important for the child than that of physical prowess. As abilities become apparent and when children are ready, they will decide where to devote the majority of their effort. If the parent intervenes in these choices, what is the child learning about how their own judgment is valued? So of course my answer is no.
“The work of children is play”. Children should be encouraged to pick up any and all sports that interest them. They should be allowed ample opportunities to play, including in groups organized into teams. They do not need adult intervention, only the attention and counsel (when requested) of their elders. Competition, which is a natural prerequisite for growth as an athlete, must be balanced with a strong emphasis on cooperation. The development of social skills is far more important for the child than that of physical prowess. As abilities become apparent and when children are ready, they will decide where to devote the majority of their effort. If the parent intervenes in these choices, what is the child learning about how their own judgment is valued? So of course my answer is no”.
********************
As I have said before, I think a lot depends on the sport.I believe there is more grace in some sports than others. There is no real documentation that supports in any sport that starting very early actually helps or gives advantage.I hear many more stories of children dropping out if sports by 13-14 because of the early push of parents with no variety of activity.
Developmentally a child can only benefit from multiple sporting activities to help with a sport they may come to want to compete in ,in the future. TrackMom
Util Next Time
Sports specification before 12/13 would depend on the sport, your goal, and the athletes ability. A true stud athlete can sport specify at anytime! Some sports like baseball, golf, gymnastics, swimming demand earlier specification if you want the child to excel in the sport later. Sports like football, basketball and even track and field are good for late starters provided that the athlete has exceptional athletic ability. The early starters in any sport would probably have an advantage over someone, (with the same athleticism),who started after age 12. The early starter would have a psychological edge if nothing else. The question posed could easily be answered by reading the bios of exceptional athletes in different sports to see when they concentrated on their sport.
I think first and formost you must now your athlete.Second you are correct in researching other athletes and performances.
I have read many and the verdict is inconclusive some didn’t start until highschool ,Allyson Felix some started very early, Andre Agassi .As you have mentioned the sport does play a part in when a child starts.
Track is a great sport for delayed specializatioin with good results,tennis probably wouldn’t be. The parent is wise to really know and observe his athlete and continue to ask questions about the sport(s) they participate in. Fun still is King for children and play.
A young body can only benefit from mutiple sports utilizing the total body as part of future comprehensive delevlopment. An athlete specializing by definiton means that the athlete only trains in that sport. “Only “is very exclusive for most ,not all athletes.
Many children have a favored more intense sport but particpate in others. I see many track childre that play other sports and perfom atv ery high levels.This is a good thing in my opinion until highschool when a track athlete will look to specialize or at least complement sports participation(football,track)
Thanks for weighing in.
TrackMom
Having fun should definitely be the goal. Our son did Hershey’s last year and it was a whole lot of fun and very inspirational. We may get a better answer to the question of specialization for youth track and field athletes by the 2012 and 2016 olympics when the young athletes now in the aau/usatf pipeline come of age. By the 2012 or 2016 olympics we should see the first group of US athletes that started track/field when they were very young kids. I don’t think that today’s highly competitive aau/usatf track/field was available for most of the current olympians before they were 12 years old.
Good point about the the new crop of Elite athletes being the 2012 and 2016 contenders.it is a sort of Athlete Identification where every coach and parent is doing there own brand of development and AAU/USATF highlights the hard work of all of these people.Even though these athletes will be of age they would not have necessarliy specialized before highschool.
Time will tell