Posted By: smokeycabin
Ideal ages for formal sports participation. - 03/18/15 07:37 AM
Make no mistake, I am 100% all about developing our sport. I have saved a bit of data on our various Kansas Kids State Championships 2001-2014 and I am looking at kids who won and/or placed in state at a young age and I am tracking them to see if they are still in our sport. More importantly the kids that did not place at a very young age (a much larger number of the participants/card holders) - are they still in the sport? All this talk about cutting out this/that on the upper end age groups and adding younger and younger "Championships" is not part of the developmental process. Let alone - the bigger picture of growing the sport and creating a culture for life long fans. Just because we have cars in the garage or driveway does not mean we should let our 10 year old take the SUV for a spin to the playground.
Understand Children
"Coaches and parents need to understand that your 8yr old state champion may not even make the varsity wrestling team by the time he reaches high school due to the fact that he may either be burned out by the sport or may have failed to learn the proper skills needed to be a complete athlete."
"*Note: Sports experts have suggested that prior to age seven, children should be encouraged to develop physical abilities through informal free play. Skills developed in free play should then be re-enforced through physical education programs."
Please read the link below and look at the chart on different ages for sports:
http://www.sectiononewrestling.com/documents/youth_wrestling_develop_athlete_champion_wrestler.html
Understand Children
"Coaches and parents need to understand that your 8yr old state champion may not even make the varsity wrestling team by the time he reaches high school due to the fact that he may either be burned out by the sport or may have failed to learn the proper skills needed to be a complete athlete."
"*Note: Sports experts have suggested that prior to age seven, children should be encouraged to develop physical abilities through informal free play. Skills developed in free play should then be re-enforced through physical education programs."
Please read the link below and look at the chart on different ages for sports:
http://www.sectiononewrestling.com/documents/youth_wrestling_develop_athlete_champion_wrestler.html