My oldest boy just turned 4 and I'm starting to look into sports. Mostly interested in soccer and t-ball but I can't remember at what time of the year each league plays. Looking online and most sports are year around. What sports do your kids play and at what part of the year?
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Kid Sports
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Last: 2 yr ago by AgCanuck07
girls: 2 and 5.
- swim lessons were the first thing, bc knowing how to swim is very important in our book.
- both are in dance, but its pretty much a **** show at this age.
- going to try the older one in tumbling/gymnastics in the near future.
we are trying to limit the kids to one activity at a time, for now. First, we want to make sure they have legit interest and we aren't wasting our time. Second, I don't want my life to be shuttling my kid from activity to activity 7 days a week. We want time with the family and actually do things. I see friends who their lives are literally shuttling kids around and sitting at practices 6-7 days a week, almost year around. I have no interest in that.
- swim lessons were the first thing, bc knowing how to swim is very important in our book.
- both are in dance, but its pretty much a **** show at this age.
- going to try the older one in tumbling/gymnastics in the near future.
we are trying to limit the kids to one activity at a time, for now. First, we want to make sure they have legit interest and we aren't wasting our time. Second, I don't want my life to be shuttling my kid from activity to activity 7 days a week. We want time with the family and actually do things. I see friends who their lives are literally shuttling kids around and sitting at practices 6-7 days a week, almost year around. I have no interest in that.
We did T-ball, soccer, and basketball with the boy at four. It's all a bit silly at that age, but loads of fun.
We shuttled kids around. I coached T-Ball, kid pitch, and little league. My wife coached our daughter in soccer and softball. The boy played baseball through high school and the girl played volleyball and ran track through high school.
Great opportunity to spend quality time with your kids. Looking back, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Good times.
We shuttled kids around. I coached T-Ball, kid pitch, and little league. My wife coached our daughter in soccer and softball. The boy played baseball through high school and the girl played volleyball and ran track through high school.
Great opportunity to spend quality time with your kids. Looking back, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Good times.
Nowadays pretty much every sport has something going on year round. IMO, let him try lots of stuff and don't force him to keep doing what he doesn't like. Let him have breaks between seasons.rao11010 said:
My oldest boy just turned 4 and I'm starting to look into sports. Mostly interested in soccer and t-ball but I can't remember at what time of the year each league plays. Looking online and most sports are year around. What sports do your kids play and at what part of the year?
At 4, I think soccer and t-ball are perfect. I agree with swim lessons. I'm also a fan of martial arts.
My boys tried lots of sports. I had a blast coaching. It was clear in early elementary that my oldest wasn't into it, but he stuck with taekwondo until he got his black belt.
My youngest has always liked sports more, and now at 14 is focused on basketball.
Just remember that scholarships aren't given out at the little league field.
Also, don't forget about other, non-team sports. Your kid may be into rock climbing, cycling, archery, etc.
Have a daughter (9 now) and we started with swimming lessons around 4 and soccer. We started swim team at age 7 and kept that up. Soccer has gone hit and miss since then, some seasons she wants to play, sometimes she doesn't.
We have also done ice skating, gymnastics, dance, and field hockey. I wish I could interest her in another team sport like soccer, but she is more into the solo aspect I guess.
Right now we just do gymnastics and swim team (year round) and she is liking mountain biking. We go skiing a lot in the winter. My only rule is she has to do something active and learn to take instruction from a coach. We are looking into lacrosse this spring, it's pretty big here.
We have also done ice skating, gymnastics, dance, and field hockey. I wish I could interest her in another team sport like soccer, but she is more into the solo aspect I guess.
Right now we just do gymnastics and swim team (year round) and she is liking mountain biking. We go skiing a lot in the winter. My only rule is she has to do something active and learn to take instruction from a coach. We are looking into lacrosse this spring, it's pretty big here.
We tried the regular sports, but largely went non-team direction because my son just didn't enjoy them. So we've done BJJ/Wrestling (which I coached), tennis, indoor bouldering, track/XC as well as sailing/kayaking. He's ended up liking running and climbing the best.
Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screw-up.
Our daughter is 7 and does dance and soccer pretty much year round at this point. In the winter they have indoor leagues here in the Midwest so she's able to play year round. We tried t-ball and softball but it just didn't take, it's too slow and she would get bored. I had the same issue with t-ball when I was a kid, it was too boring to me. We started her playing sports when she was about 4.
I do think the biggest crap shoot is who the coach is, rant follows.
When kids are learning to play the game they need to be taught at the absolute lowest fundamental level. The coach for my daughter's team does not do this. They basically play games at practice and goof around for the entire time. I've never even seen them work on the most basic part of the game as in the correct way to kick a soccer ball, how to pass, how to receive a pass, etc. I've had to work with my daughter on these things since our coach doesn't, a good coach makes all the difference in the world. When I started sports all my coaches approached it that way. The result is they have been getting their butts kicked for the last 3 years by just about every other team in the league. Learning you don't win every game is important, but winning is so rare that I worry she'll lose interest because it's not fun to lose most games by a significant margin. I'd like to switch teams but my wife refuses because she knows the girls on her team now, and they're all on a sinking ship together.
Sorry for the rant, I just wanted to illustrate that the coach matters even at the youngest ages. And I'm not a bad sports parent, I don't yell and scream at her and make her feel bad. I had one of those parents and I refuse to let her have the same experience with a parent who just makes it worse. I just think our time and money is being wasted by a coach who doesn't actually care.
I do think the biggest crap shoot is who the coach is, rant follows.
When kids are learning to play the game they need to be taught at the absolute lowest fundamental level. The coach for my daughter's team does not do this. They basically play games at practice and goof around for the entire time. I've never even seen them work on the most basic part of the game as in the correct way to kick a soccer ball, how to pass, how to receive a pass, etc. I've had to work with my daughter on these things since our coach doesn't, a good coach makes all the difference in the world. When I started sports all my coaches approached it that way. The result is they have been getting their butts kicked for the last 3 years by just about every other team in the league. Learning you don't win every game is important, but winning is so rare that I worry she'll lose interest because it's not fun to lose most games by a significant margin. I'd like to switch teams but my wife refuses because she knows the girls on her team now, and they're all on a sinking ship together.
Sorry for the rant, I just wanted to illustrate that the coach matters even at the youngest ages. And I'm not a bad sports parent, I don't yell and scream at her and make her feel bad. I had one of those parents and I refuse to let her have the same experience with a parent who just makes it worse. I just think our time and money is being wasted by a coach who doesn't actually care.
I strongly suggest you put him in tumbling/gymnastics/little ninjas. They start to learn body control, balance, how to 'fall correctly', and mobility at that young age and before you know it, you can see the benefits in baseball, football, etc. Also soccer as long as you can, as that helps develop their cardio base.
Edited for: definitively agree they need to learn how to swim first. With all the bday pool parties etc ya'll will attend, having that bit of security that he knows how to swim will let you breathe easier.
Edited for: definitively agree they need to learn how to swim first. With all the bday pool parties etc ya'll will attend, having that bit of security that he knows how to swim will let you breathe easier.
My daughter started in swim lessons and gymnastics. Both at about the age of 4ish. Then soccer at 5 and eventually basketball at 10ish. I wish that I had exposed her to more sports at a younger age but she kept saying no. At 10, I told her she was playing basketball and we put together a Y team mostly made up of her soccer friends. She enjoyed it and played through junior high. I swore I wouldn't be a "specialize parent" and I wasn't but I also didn't want to force her into something she would hate.
She's a reserved kid that can struggle to get "out there", so that's when I made her play basketball. At a young age, more diversity of activities is the way to go, imo.
She's a reserved kid that can struggle to get "out there", so that's when I made her play basketball. At a young age, more diversity of activities is the way to go, imo.
My kids do pretty much everything, soon my oldest will need to choose what he wants to do since he is 8. They have done soccer, baseball/softball, football, acting, piano/guitar, dance, gymnastics, martial arts, and done swim lessons as they are a must how much we are around water.
They are not in any select or competitive leagues, just do it for fun.
They are not in any select or competitive leagues, just do it for fun.
Seconded. We did soccer for both of my kids (now 6 and 5) for two seasons. They were never really into it. Put them in "ninja class" (which is just basic tumbling and obstacle management) and they love it. They go hard for an hour without realizing they are improving their strength and balance. My little girl (5) also does dance and loves it. The daddy/daughter part of the recital is more fun/special than you realize.PatriotAg98 said:
I strongly suggest you put him in tumbling/gymnastics/little ninjas. They start to learn body control, balance, how to 'fall correctly', and mobility at that young age and before you know it, you can see the benefits in baseball, football, etc. Also soccer as long as you can, as that helps develop their cardio base.
Edited for: definitively agree they need to learn how to swim first. With all the bday pool parties etc ya'll will attend, having that bit of security that he knows how to swim will let you breathe easier.
We are doing a Kids' Spartan in November. They are excited to put their "ninja skills" to use. Fun way to get the whole family out and active (before assing out and watching football all day).
Just my opinion, but I think he can go several more years before narrowing down one sport.P.U.T.U said:
My kids do pretty much everything, soon my oldest will need to choose what he wants to do since he is 8. They have done soccer, baseball/softball, football, acting, piano/guitar, dance, gymnastics, martial arts, and done swim lessons as they are a must how much we are around water.
They are not in any select or competitive leagues, just do it for fun.
I'd suggest playing sports in their "natural" season. Baseball/t-ball in the spring, basketball in the fall, soccer in the winter (in Texas). Find a local swim team for the summer.
Don't worry about specializing. Skills built in each sport will pay dividends across pretty much all the sports. Honestly, unless an outside source (respected coach, scout, etc) recommends it because a he or she is uniquely gifted, I don't really think kids should ever specialize. Play every sport you can for as long as you can. Just my opinion.
Most of all, have fun. Kid sports are awesome and nerve wracking and pride-inducing and full of life lessons. I love going to my kiddos' games.
Don't worry about specializing. Skills built in each sport will pay dividends across pretty much all the sports. Honestly, unless an outside source (respected coach, scout, etc) recommends it because a he or she is uniquely gifted, I don't really think kids should ever specialize. Play every sport you can for as long as you can. Just my opinion.
Most of all, have fun. Kid sports are awesome and nerve wracking and pride-inducing and full of life lessons. I love going to my kiddos' games.
I don't want them to narrow it down to one sport, most college athletes at least play 2 if not 3. And it is more about all activities, for example my son currently does baseball, acting, guitar, gymnastics, basketball, and swimming. Needs to start thinking about narrowing things down by the time he gets in middle school
Agreed. And I think parents make kids specialize too early without realizing kids mature at different rates. I was always on a city league team for most sports until I was 10 and was always middle of the pack. Coordination started to catch up with me around 10 and then was MVP in several sports.
Sports to me were always a getaway from what was going on in my life (I had a rough childhood) and most time was the best part of my day. That is one reason I like to coach, to make sure kids find sports enjoyable and also teach them life lessons in the process.
Sports to me were always a getaway from what was going on in my life (I had a rough childhood) and most time was the best part of my day. That is one reason I like to coach, to make sure kids find sports enjoyable and also teach them life lessons in the process.
This is just my experience and opinion:
In observing my kid and his peers, four years old would have felt a bit too young for organized, team sports (at least for my son). I think we started with soccer when he was 5. It was perfect... enough structure to learn about teams but a completely awesome ****show on the field. We waited until he was 6 for t-ball.
My big recommendation is to let them try what interests them and try to introduce a different sports throughout the year (rather than just sticking with one)
My kid is currently 9y/o and we let him choose what sports he wants to play (or not play). He plays baseball in the summer, basketball in the fall, flag football in the spring (we live in CO which makes some of those things feasible in the summer). We just started running cross country and he loves it so far.
Maybe one day he'll decide to focus on an area (or play more competitively) but for now it is about having fun and building team skills. Personally, I hope he keeps this mindset and doesn't feel the pressure to play club sports or anything.
Honestly, enjoy this time when they are young and learning to enjoy sports. It is awesome.
In observing my kid and his peers, four years old would have felt a bit too young for organized, team sports (at least for my son). I think we started with soccer when he was 5. It was perfect... enough structure to learn about teams but a completely awesome ****show on the field. We waited until he was 6 for t-ball.
My big recommendation is to let them try what interests them and try to introduce a different sports throughout the year (rather than just sticking with one)
My kid is currently 9y/o and we let him choose what sports he wants to play (or not play). He plays baseball in the summer, basketball in the fall, flag football in the spring (we live in CO which makes some of those things feasible in the summer). We just started running cross country and he loves it so far.
Maybe one day he'll decide to focus on an area (or play more competitively) but for now it is about having fun and building team skills. Personally, I hope he keeps this mindset and doesn't feel the pressure to play club sports or anything.
Honestly, enjoy this time when they are young and learning to enjoy sports. It is awesome.
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