Sutton's right - let the kids play. They'll play with joy and imagination which is it's own worthwhile result. Feeling the beauty of the game is something that won't happen in over structured practice sessions at early ages
It's my view that we have sucked the life, the elation and joy out of kids sports. I've been a passive side-line observer myself the last few years, as my son has worked his way through and I have coupled that with my own experience a generation ago.
What is astonishing is that in Canada, we have this absolute frenzy of organized kids sports that starts up for middle and upper middle class kids( that right there is saying something), at around ages 6 - 7. They progress though house-league and rep/club programs in various sports. What is startling is the attrition rates along the way, to the point that when you reach the late teen years the two end products are:
1. If you talk to high performance national team level coaches in many sports they tell you that one of the problems is very small talent pools to pick from
2. Statistical evidence that by-and-large most teenagers by this age, have almost zero physical activity in their days/weeks.
So what was that frenzy of activity at an earlier age for? We got really nothing out of it!
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
It's my view that we have sucked the life, the elation and joy out of kids sports. I've been a passive side-line observer myself the last few years, as my son has worked his way through and I have coupled that with my own experience a generation ago.
What is astonishing is that in Canada, we have this absolute frenzy of organized kids sports that starts up for middle and upper middle class kids( that right there is saying something), at around ages 6 - 7. They progress though house-league and rep/club programs in various sports. What is startling is the attrition rates along the way, to the point that when you reach the late teen years the two end products are:
1. If you talk to high performance national team level coaches in many sports they tell you that one of the problems is very small talent pools to pick from
2. Statistical evidence that by-and-large most teenagers by this age, have almost zero physical activity in their days/weeks.
So what was that frenzy of activity at an earlier age for? We got really nothing out of it!
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog