When managing or volunteering to help out with a sport’s team, either as part of the local school initiative or elsewhere, it can be helpful to know how to properly manage the children and to make the most of the results you get.
These ‘results,’ of course, do not necessarily rely on winning every single competition you enter or developing the next mega athlete. Naturally encouraging the skill and interest of a child, for instance, can be important, but an emphasis on safety, fun, learning, teamwork, and getting out to exercise should be key. Children can be competitive, sure, but they don’t have to overdo it or be treated harshly to win or to compete with dignity.
It’s also worth considering exactly what form the sport you manage takes. Helping out with the local Karate classes is much different to managing a football team, as is being a close presence in your son or daughter’s gymnastics class. In this post, we’ll discuss how to properly prioritize your action so that these interactions and development will be nothing but healthy:
Motivational Talks
Children might seem like endless reserves of energy and competition, but that’s not always the case. It’s good to give them a pep in their step, to praise them where necessary, to reward good behavior, to encourage sportsmanship, and to showcase that every member of the team has a part to play (instead of just feeding the potential of a star player). Sure you might not give a Braveheart-level speech before a game with another school, but children need encouragement, and in a directly competitive setting, it’s worth nurturing and kindling that.
Sportsmanship & Fellow Feeling
It’s important to make sure that sportsmanship is at the top of the list of achievements you hope for your children to showcase. Being able to adequately express their feelings, take a loss well, and focus on getting better over time will help them get more out of the game than anything else, and ironically enough, can help a child develop more confidence than simply winning game after game after game. Fellow feeling between a tight-knit team, such as via uniform online sports kit design, can enhance the rates of success, but also how sports will contribute to their development. Don’t be afraid tp prioritize this approach, then.
Different Learning Rates
It’s important to notice that not all children have the same learning rate, and this goes for sports, too. Some might be able to pick up concepts more easily, some might just want to be there for the physical expression and exercise. It’s important that we focus on what children might be having a tough time, or perhaps ask the instructor to repeat the explanation of a concept from time to time. In a solo sport, perhaps your child can ask for a little more help at the end of session with your encouragement, or practice at home given your willingness to help that happen.
With that in mind, we hope you can more easily manage your child’s sports team, or manage your child within a sport with care.