Organized Sports: Too Much, Too Soon?

Is it my imagination, or are parents pushing small children to be involved in structured competitive activities when they have barely gotten out of the high chair? My best guess is that parents have become overly concerned about their children being successful. 

Let’s see . . . if a child plays a sport at the pre-school level, surely she will be a kindergarten standout. That means she’ll be a shoo-in for the preps, and by middle school she’ll be the talk of the town.  Junior highs will be scouting her, high schools will pay us to move into their district, and by the time she goes to college she just may be . . .

Sorry to say, she just may be fried, burned out, bored. Or she may get that scholarship after all. Who knows?   

Early childhood development experts agree that 3-year-olds are just not ready for structured sports. Here’s why. At this age, most children:

• Need play periods that include a variety of movement activities
• Need freedom to explore and try new skills independently
• Cannot wait; want things “now”
• Are active; have an attention span of about 5-10 minutes
• Learn best through using the five senses

I am a strong advocate of developmentally appropriate activity for growing children. It bothers me that parents somehow have bought into the idea that unless your child is participating in some kind of structured activity, you are not being a good parent. Extracurricular activity has been shown to have many benefits for older children, but for pre-schoolers?  Here is what I would recommend you do with your 3-year-old: run, hop, dance, play tag, read, listen to music, talk, go to the playground, give lots of hugs, make a few rules and enforce them lovingly, encourage imagination and creativity, give positive reinforcement when appropriate. And when the time is right for organized sports, both of you will have something to cheer about!