How You Can Make Youth Sports More Appealing
The landscape of youth sports gives you several pros and cons. One of the major cons is that children might begin to resent going to the field, park, or court because it’s no longer fun. Learning how you can make youth sports more appealing keeps them striving for success.
Play the Game Together
“Hey dad, wanna have a catch?” is a quote from Field of Dreams that any parent can relate to, especially if your kid is beginning to show interest in sports. Your child will become more fascinated with sports when you form that bond early on in life. Also, it doesn’t necessarily even need to be an activity like playing catch. Things like teaching them to ride a bike or shooting a basketball will motivate them to keep going.
Make Things Fun & Exciting
Your child will pick up on your mood based on the activities that you do. For example, if you feel uninterested and disengage from them, they may feel like it’s a chore for you to be there. The more fun you will have, the more fun they will have. One great idea to make things fun is to imagine that you are your favorite ballplayer and create a custom uniform of your child’s name on their favorite team, which will make them feel special.
Show Positivity
Wanting your child to succeed is something every parent wants, but it may cause more harm than good. Exhibiting a positive attitude will make youth feel at ease if they don’t live up to expectations. It can be hard to dust themself off when you tell them all the things they did wrong rather than encouraging them.
Keep Options Open
Being laser-focused on one sport might be a way to have a child master a specific sport, but it will quickly diminish their interest level in that sport over time. Generally, children have a short attention span, so they like to do various activities to keep themselves entertained. Let them try all the sports that strike their interest and don’t micromanage them.
Knowing how to make youth sports more appealing, you’ll have a better understanding of the actions you need to take to insure your child keeps playing. Remember, failure and disappointment are going to happen, so keep things light and stay happy, so your kids know that everything is going to be okay.
