Supporting sports for your kids

10/4/2022

By Adam Taylor

Sports are excellent for growing kids. They teach discipline, sportsmanship, and, perhaps most important, give them a physical outlet for their excess energy! They can even lead to a potential career in adulthood. And if your kid seems to be interested in sports, there are ways you can support their interests as a parent.

Let Your Child Try Everything

First, don’t limit your child to just one sport or sporting event per year. If you can afford it in both time and money, let your child dip their toes into everything they can imagine.

This is great because:

      It helps your kids develop their interest

      It helps your kids determine what they really like or don’t like

Odds are most kids will settle on one or two sports at maximum. But giving them ultimate flexibility is better than artificially limiting them for no real reason.

Get (Affordable) Equipment

When your child chooses one or more sports, be sure to pick up plenty of equipment for them. Note that this equipment doesn’t have to be especially expensive or top tier, especially for Little League-level sporting teams.

Affordable or budget equipment is great, but you’ll especially want to provide protective gear and practice gear so your child can enjoy honing their skills at home.

Create a Place to Practice – If the Child Wants

Practicing with their coach and fellow players is important, but your child should also have a safe place to practice at home, especially if they really take to a sport and want to work on their skills. Setting up a practice area is easy if you have a back or front yard: just make sure your child knows where the limits are and what to do if they kick their ball over the fence!

Connect With Coaches

If your child is spending several hours per week with an adult, you need to get to know them. You can support your child and their interest in sports by connecting with their coaches. Get to know what drives them and ask them how your child is doing, especially if your child seems to be really interested in a sport and may proceed into more serious leagues in high school.

Attend Games

Lastly, nothing shows support for your child and their sports interest by attending each and every game that they have. Don’t be the parent that prioritizes their career over their child. Show up, shout when you see your child hit the ball or receive a tough pass, and make it clear that you’re proud of them whether they win or lose.

Have Fun!

At the end of the day, sports are about fun, especially for kids. Have fun with your child and support them as they explore their physical abilities and interests by doing everything you can to make kids' sports enjoyable and accessible throughout their earliest years.

Adam Taylor and Sarah Noel left their corporate jobs to work as freelancers, chasing balance between the work they loved and the life they wanted. They’ve committed to separating work and home so that they can enjoy both. Now, with TaylorandNoel.com, they’re sharing their best practices with other freelancers, in hopes they can do the same.

Parents Support Fun Recreation