The Importance of Sport at an Early Age

Children love to play games, run, jump and in general have a wonderful time no matter what they’re doing.   Organised sports are a big part of many children’s lives and there are many benefits for a child to start them young.  The lessons that a child will learn by being involved in sport at an early age are lessons that will stay with them for life.  

Decreased chance of childhood obesity

Childhood obesity is a growing problem due to the ever growing popularity of more sedentary activities such as video games and online interaction. Starting sport at an early age helps to alleviate this problem, due to having the child out of the house and off the couch several times a week. 

Getting a young child involved in physical activity early sets a precedence that can increase as they get older and start participating in more competitive sports.  One thing a parent can do to ensure that the child’s love of sports continues is not to push them too hard too soon.  The stresses of competitive sports on a young child can make them want to quit, so while they’re young and learning, keep it fun and encouraging for them and save the harder competitive mentality for when they are older.

Children that are pushed too hard in sport at a young age can have increased injuries that are not common to that age group.  If your child is involved in sports at a young age, don’t forget to also teach them about taking care of their health and bodies as well to reduce the chances of injuries and long term issues as they get older.

Learning how to be a team player

All children have the “self” mentality when they are very young.  “I want that.”  “Give me that.”  “I don’t want to do that.”  “I don’t want to share.”  When a child engages in team sports at an early age, they learn what being on a team is all about.  This means sharing the limelight, learning to compromise, learning to support their other team members and also learning to work together.  These are all skills that will help them in school, in their careers as an adult and in relationships. Being able to work well with others makes them an important part of the team, whether in sport or in life.

What good Sportsmanship is and what that means

Sportsmanship can be a rare thing in some competitive sports, but if a child is started in sports at an early age, and is with a coach that holds sportsmanship as a high priority, the integrity this will build will be invaluable.  Winning is fun, everyone loves to win.  But what makes a champion, is being able to lose with class.  Every person who participates in sports, regardless of age, wants to excel at what they do, that is the goal of every sport participator.  Good sportsmanship is not about wanting to lose or even not caring if you lose, it’s about having respect for the sport and its participants, so if you DO lose, you do not have a tantrum, disrespect the winner and make the team look bad. Teaching a child to hold their head high, shake the hand of the winner and try harder next time will be invaluable and a huge step in teaching them that even someone who loses in a match or game, can still be a winner. 

Find out more about how Orenda Football Academy can assist your child at www.orendafootball.com.au or contact@orendasg.com.au