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FITNESS FOR LIFE
Play time, ask they like it
DR. RAJIV.M.
| Encourage children to play, even if they make their own rules |
Bend the rules Young children just want to have fun
Children and adults have very different ideas about sports: kids focus on fun, while parents fixate on health benefits and the dream of a career in sports. Parents who seek to encourage sporting activities in their children are often frustrated when the child shows little interest or, in the parent’s eyes, aptitude for a particular sport. You buy your five-year-old a cricket bat and he uses it to spank his toys rather than hit a ball, or your budding Maradona frequently screams joyfully after hitting an own goal. All this can be crushing for an ambitious parent.
The fault lies not with the parent’s ambition but with his/her understanding of what a child can do and when he can do it. The commonest mistake is to introduce a sport in a child’s life when he is too young for it. Children below 6 years are physically and temperamentally suited for unstructured sports: jumping, running, climbing, falling, kicking, screaming… just walk into the play area of a kindergarten for proof. They do not like rules — except the ones they make on the spur of the moment. Parents can help by encouraging the skills required for a particular game — hand-eye-coordination, explosive speed, etc — without necessarily bringing the game or its rulebook into the picture. If your child wants to play Ping-Pong against a wall with a single stump, let him do it. He is learning a skill is essential for batting in cricket. That’s how Donald Bradman did it.
Children who are seven and older are ready for rules — but not necessarily every law in the book. The intricacies of the off-side rule in football and the lbw in cricket should not be inflicted on any child before the age of 10 or 11. Gentleness, patience and wisdom in enforcing rules will help foster interest in the sport. As they grow older, children learn to appreciate how rules enhance the enjoyment quotient of a game: witness how many kids love playing the umpire. Martial arts and contact sports are appropriate for the 8+ group.
Parental encouragement and supervision is important throughout childhood and beyond. At some point, the needs of a child with genuine talent for a game will outstrip the parent’s amateur coaching skills. Hiring a professional coach at this point is perhaps the most important boost parents can give to their child’s prospects.
(For feedback, write to him at sviatoslavrichter77@gmail.com)
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