Don’t show her that Litespeed tricycle thinking it’ll satisfy her. She’ll probably tell you she can’t get the front low enough with that tall head tube.
My good buddy has his daughter don his Fuel Belt and tear around the block. And she’ll look at the average kid’s bike and say “What a crappy bike. Daddy’s bike rules!”
Two summers ago, when my youngest daughter was 6 she wanted to do a tri so we set up the family tri in our backyard … 2 lengths of the 32ft pool, a 500m ride up the road and back and then a run around our property and out to the lift locks on the canal behind my house. I gave her one of my old medals for finishing and she thought that was great. Last summer she did her first ever kids of steel race at age 7 (although she had to race in the 8/9 year old category since she turned 8 at the end of October) and is now hooked. Yesterday she did her first ever cross-country running race and broke the old county record for her age group (unfortunately she was 1.5 seconds behind another girl so she doesn’t get the record or win) and won a silver medal that she was wearing around all day today. I’m very low pressure when it comes to having my children doing any racing (my eldest daughter has done a few kids tris and didn’t enjoy them so she doesn’t race anymore) but I’m loving have my little one feeling so excited about doing them. Obviously, I’m a proud dad!
Where are you at? There is one for kids from 2 years old and up, here in Santa Cruz in June.
Our kids are both graduates of the SuperKids tri in Santa Cruz. We were always impressed with how well it is run with safety and fun for the kids being the highest priorities. There’s another good one over the hill here in Cupertino run by Silicon Valley Tri Club.
Absolutely! My 5 years old daughter is getting ready for her 3rd one. That is also the funniest event to be a volunteer at. Nothing like helping a kid crying by his mom out of water to get in and have fun while crossing the pool. Very rewarding and refreshing.
I also agree about the organization, though I am biased. Mike Bennett is as good a swim coach as he is a Race Director. He is well liked by the community and never runs short of volunteers.
A few weeks back - the day before the Road to Athens Honolulu tri trials - there was a kids tri here in Waikiki. They had 7 to 10 AG, and 11 to 14 AG, and also 5 and 6 year AG. But at the last minute they cancelled the 5 and 6 ers’ as the insurance carrier would not cover the tots.
My 5 year old daughter was heart broken, so the race director felt bad and said she could race as a 7 year old provided she looked 7’ish. I said she does, but I forgot that she still need training wheels, so clearly she did not look 7! So on race day she does the tri, training wheels and all, on a 12" bike, Barbie rack included. So cute. Got to start somewhere!
Absolutely! My 6 year old just finished the Music City Kids Marathon, she had 5 weeks to get in 25 miles and then ran the last mile of the marathon. She can’t wait to do her first tri next year.
I too have a 7 year old, and prefer to see him do team sports. To me there is much more value in them. If my son wanted to do a tri, I would not dissuade, him, but I certainly would not encourage him to “train for a tri”. Kids should just get fit free playing, hanging out at a playground, catching a football, kicking a soccer ball, playinig ball hockey, playinig tag, riding their bikes and exploring the woods with their buddies. There is too much structure in life. Finally, I do not like the scene at Kids tris locally. Too many psycho A type parents screaming at Johnny to run harder. Kids will naturally run harder in a soccer or baseball game without parents screaming to pick up the pace. At least that’s my take on it. Sorry to put a negative spin on this, but I believe that triathlon is a bit of a goofy sport for kids. Perhaps it is just the local scene where I have volunteered a few times. It’s way too serious.
not sure where your at but Tuscon AZ has a few kids tri’s. I’ll agree w/devashish paul about some parents. when I coached year round swimming we had to physcally remove and ban some parents from walking through the front door. They would walk back and forth “encouraging” their kid in practice in a rather loud way.
I suck at all things needing coordination, and hate the pressure of team sports (dont wanna let my friends down). But, my parents always wanted me in some sort of sport, it didnt matter what it was, i just couldnt be home watching tv all day. My dad always loved baseball and football, so i just kinda said, “whatever” and did those, my friends played soccer, so when i got into middle and high school, I played those. I hated it. I never wanted the ball to come to me for fear of messing up. Cross country was never really a thought, no one around me did it. I wish at some point someone had introduced me to it, and encouraged me, because now i found out Im pretty good at endurance sports. Suddenly im the athlete and much better than everyone i know (for all 3 events, i know much better runners on the collegiate XC team). I feel that if i had gotten into it in high school, i could be much better, and it could have been a really positive part of my life. But of course, maybe thats just looking back on it.
Also, on psycho parents, that occurs in every sport (remember hockey dad?). I never saw them when the XC team went on a run in high school, but i always saw them at our baseball and soccer games (usually on the other team, our school was pretty chill). I guess it all depends on where you live.
I guess though im also talking about sports with people much older than this guys kid. IMO, anything under 10/12 should be extremely lax or completely unstructured. Games should be pick up, not scheduled months in advance, and practice should be at a friends house.
I also think there are good values to be learned from team sports, and we let our kids pretty much choose what sports they’d like to try, if any. Some sports only last a season, others seem to stick, but as long as it’s the kid’s choice and the choice seems a healthy one, we’re behind it. It is pretty funny to see some of the parents at kids’ tri parading around in their Iron-finisher gear, clearly the audience there is the other parents! But at least in our experience the parents who were genuinely thrilled just seeing their kids have a fun time far outweighed the few who were ragging on their kids. Even if there are one or two of those, it’s too many, and it bums out the other kids as well. And I agree with Trirunner, the most fun is the littlest ones, in the pool with their water wings or on their bikes with the training wheels and the streamers and the baskets. Ours are teens now, but they too get a big chuckle out of the small ones, and they love to turn right around as soon as their race is done and help volunteer for the little kids. I think it does all our hearts some good.
I grew up playing little league football (full contact at 6!)
I really wish I could have been that young in the age of Triathlons. That would have been the ultimate fun thing to do for me at that age. Oh well. You’re doing a good thing, more power to ya!
Our six year old is in soccer and I coach my four year olds soccer team. We don’t keep score in these age groups but some of the kids do, and some of the parents do too. When I introduced myself to my team one of the first things that I said while looking at the parents was that we play for fun. I have already encountered a couple of aggressive coaches with a win at all cost mentality, we are coaching four year old soccer! I also have a girl that will take down opposing players and I have to watch her close, she has some of the most laid back parents that I know. There are also plenty of adult voices coming from the side line screaming at little Janey to put the ball in the net.
It is hard for me when I go for a run with my daughter and we have to stop again and rescue another caterpillar from the road so that it doesn’t get smushed, about the time that I think that I am going to lose it she looks up at me and tells me that she is having the best time ever…thats what it should be about.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4556235/
I too have a 7 year old, and prefer to see him do team sports. To me there is much more value in them. If my son wanted to do a tri, I would not dissuade, him, but I certainly would not encourage him to “train for a tri”. Kids should just get fit free playing, hanging out at a playground, catching a football, kicking a soccer ball, playinig ball hockey, playinig tag, riding their bikes and exploring the woods with their buddies. There is too much structure in life. Finally, I do not like the scene at Kids tris locally. Too many psycho A type parents screaming at Johnny to run harder. Kids will naturally run harder in a soccer or baseball game without parents screaming to pick up the pace. At least that’s my take on it. Sorry to put a negative spin on this, but I believe that triathlon is a bit of a goofy sport for kids. Perhaps it is just the local scene where I have volunteered a few times. It’s way too serious.
And that doesn’t happen with football, soccer and hockey? I’m not sure I understand your post because it’s a bit contradictory. Is it that you advocate your child playing team sports, but not playing on an organized team? Screaming parents are everywhere… let your child play what sport they chose to play, and then you just be the best parent you can be… what the other parents do is unfortunate, but a fact of life.
If you are in the LA area check the LAtri. My
son snuck in when he was 6.5yo to follow his sister.
I think it was the first year it was done and
the whole thing was a blast for everybody. I
was still on a high a week later from such
a great show of sportsmanship. The kids have
no fear and boundless enthusiasm.
I am sure 99% of these kids are also involved
in team sports: soccer, swim team (you can tell 