In this post I will explore my sporting experiences as a child and compare them to what I see young children doing at present times in terms of sport. I will highlight current issues and current attitudes of children and parents.
I have had excellent sporting experiences within my childhood, I used to regularly go to local astro turfs and play football with my dad. When it was the school holidays and I was sent to my grandma's house for a week, she would take me to play football and cricket at local fields and parks. Due to this I feel that I have been lucky in terms of positive experiences and exposure to sport but I feel that children nowadays will not be taken to parks by their parents or family members. On a sunny day many children would rather stay in and play games rather than going outside on a local park or field to play with friends.
Attitudes have changed over the last 10 years with children and parents being more cautious about playing outside due to potential threats and dangers such as abductions and traffic. When I was a child these were issues but not as serious as they are now, traffic on the roads is a bigger issue with more and more cars on the roads. I think that it should be compulsory for children to join sport clubs, as they can choose any sport they want, they can develop not just skills but also develop character and social awareness, another positive of joining sports clubs is the safety and security of the child there will always be an adult watching. Children are playing out less and less so it would make sense to get them into safe fun organised clubs or activities regularly.
In my opinion, I think families need to play a bigger part in developing their child's attitude and enthusiasm for sport. This can be done by finding a local field or park and having a kick around or play games outside, I have seen and heard on many occasions young children playing in a tiny back yard blasting a football around while the parents stay inside and watch television. There are two fields close to them, one is 50 yards away and the other one is 300 yards away, why not take the children on the fields and let them run free and play football in a spacious facility under supervision from parents? Issues with this are working commitments, for parents who work they can find making time to go local parks a challenge. I can relate to this with my mum working nights this was rarely an option but I can't stress enough the importance of support from parents, my parents made an huge effort to organise lifts and opportunities for me to join clubs so that I wouldn't miss out on having a sporting childhood.
To conclude, I have had fantastic opportunities and experiences of sport from a very young age and this has been the catalyst for my passion and love for sport. My family has been instrumental in creating sporting experiences for me, not many people can boast slide tacking their grandma at football and then she slide tackling you back! Making use of local facilities and decent weather can help ignite children to be enthusiastic and passionate about sport.
Any comments or experience can be posted here or on twitter.
@dannymaynard92
I have had excellent sporting experiences within my childhood, I used to regularly go to local astro turfs and play football with my dad. When it was the school holidays and I was sent to my grandma's house for a week, she would take me to play football and cricket at local fields and parks. Due to this I feel that I have been lucky in terms of positive experiences and exposure to sport but I feel that children nowadays will not be taken to parks by their parents or family members. On a sunny day many children would rather stay in and play games rather than going outside on a local park or field to play with friends.
Attitudes have changed over the last 10 years with children and parents being more cautious about playing outside due to potential threats and dangers such as abductions and traffic. When I was a child these were issues but not as serious as they are now, traffic on the roads is a bigger issue with more and more cars on the roads. I think that it should be compulsory for children to join sport clubs, as they can choose any sport they want, they can develop not just skills but also develop character and social awareness, another positive of joining sports clubs is the safety and security of the child there will always be an adult watching. Children are playing out less and less so it would make sense to get them into safe fun organised clubs or activities regularly.
In my opinion, I think families need to play a bigger part in developing their child's attitude and enthusiasm for sport. This can be done by finding a local field or park and having a kick around or play games outside, I have seen and heard on many occasions young children playing in a tiny back yard blasting a football around while the parents stay inside and watch television. There are two fields close to them, one is 50 yards away and the other one is 300 yards away, why not take the children on the fields and let them run free and play football in a spacious facility under supervision from parents? Issues with this are working commitments, for parents who work they can find making time to go local parks a challenge. I can relate to this with my mum working nights this was rarely an option but I can't stress enough the importance of support from parents, my parents made an huge effort to organise lifts and opportunities for me to join clubs so that I wouldn't miss out on having a sporting childhood.
To conclude, I have had fantastic opportunities and experiences of sport from a very young age and this has been the catalyst for my passion and love for sport. My family has been instrumental in creating sporting experiences for me, not many people can boast slide tacking their grandma at football and then she slide tackling you back! Making use of local facilities and decent weather can help ignite children to be enthusiastic and passionate about sport.
Any comments or experience can be posted here or on twitter.
@dannymaynard92
Hi Dan, good post, have you read the the LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS by Richard Lourve. It talks about kids eventually developing nature deficit disorder in the future, interesting stuff!
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