What Age Should Kids Start To Play Sports?

As I was growing up, kids generally did not really start playing competitive sports until middle school which was about 7th grade. Most of my neighborhood friends found sports playing sandlot ball, middle school athletics program or the local recreational league. We played various sports until some of the group found “their sport” in the midst of all of that.

Today, parents who have the big “D1 college scholarship” dreams could start their kids as early as 4 years old. By the time, those same kids were 7 or 8, they were playing or participating at a very competitive level and even started to travel for tournaments either in state or nationally.

It is no surprise we are seeing a rise in child sport related accidents. There are approx. 3 million youths that visit the Emergency Room and another 5 million visit their primary care / sport medicine clinic for injuries annually.

This shouldn’t hold you back from introducing them to sports. In fact, there are many health and mental benefits kids can attain on the field. The critical component is to find the right sport for their personality.   

Backyard Playing

Dads and moms alike should be encouraged to toss the ball around with your kids as early as possible. This could not be more critical during the COVID pandemic when you are looking for activities to do with your kids. 

I have two kids, a boy and a girl, and I could quickly identify their level of interests in sports from an early age. My older son and I started to kick the soccer ball at around 2-3 years old. He had fun and it encouraged him to start to run and play more. My daughter on the other hand had no real interest in kicking the ball but rather enjoyed running with son. Even though at that very young age I had pre-conceived ideas on what sports they may be interested I was 100% wrong every time. I’ll explain why in a moment.

Playing sports at an early age has many health benefits. You don’t have to be in a sport to enjoy the physical benefits of simply playing in the backyard with your kids. These benefits I believe will have a long-lasting impact well into their adult lives.

Health benefits include:

·         Reduce risk of obesity

·         Increased cardiovascular fitness.

·         Healthy growth of bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons.

·         Improved coordination and balance.

·         a greater ability to physically relax and, therefore, avoid the complications of chronic muscular tension (such as headache or back ache)

This does not include the great quality time and memories you are building. In my family we split our family time learning about running and jumping for fun. The other time was placing other emphasis on playing an instrument or reading. I felt a healthy balance between the two one start good habits early on.

Youth Team Sports or Individual Sports

As I mentioned earlier, I had World Cup stardom dreams for my son. We put him in “learn to kick” soccer class and when he was about 3 years old introduced him to pee-wee soccer. As great as he was with his footwork, he did not like soccer. The concept of not “sharing the ball” and how it was okay to “take the ball away” were at odds to us teaching him good manners. With that, he would not be the next USA super star.

So, we took a step back and tried out several sports from that point including gymnastics, swimming, and karate. These individualized sports allowed him to simply “be himself” and not be pressured by a team mate or a coach. He could just “play and have fun”. At that moment, our rule of the house as it concerned with sports was “If you are not having fun then why do it”.

This rule became especially true for my daughter. She was 18 months younger than her brother and participated as well as we jumped from sport to sport. By 4 or 5 years old it turns out she excelled at soccer and had no problem playing defense and taking the ball away. However, by 6-7 years old she had burned out due to the intensity of the sport and the year-round commitment.

After seeing a wide range of sports with both of my kids I can attest the kids are getting younger and younger. From individual sports such as gymnastics to team sports such as youth baseball, you can often see parents push their child towards any particular sport. Unfortunately, that is a very negative reality with youth sports programs today. However, the good outweighs the bad.

Positive Outcomes from Youth Sports

My kids have greatly benefited from sports and starting them at a young age was good for my family. Both my son and especially my daughter have a very high self esteem level and seem to be more self-aware of the world around them. They are often part of the “fast” kids in class and mentally are very sharp. Studies have shown that young athletes perform better academically.

My son, now 13 years old, made the decision to play travel baseball. He played recreational baseball with his best friends until one day we got in the car after a game and told me he was ready to take it to the next level. Of course, I went straight to researching all about travel baseball and got him on a competitive team. It is now his passion and plays nearly every weekend in tournaments in addition to practicing over 10 hours during the week. I should also mention he is a straight-A student in middle school taking advance classes.

My daughter found her sport, post soccer, in rock climbing. She loves the challenge and although they have asked her repeatedly to join the youth travel team, she only wants to do it for fun and to keep fit. I love and support her decision. 

Summary

I can only tell you about my personal experience on whether should you put your son or daughter in sports at an early age. Personally, I highly recommend it as it helps with their social interactions, enables them to keep fit, and increases their mental aptitude. Let them try out a variety of sports early on and let them tell you what they like and don’t like. Do not push them into any one sport. Most importantly, let them have fun!

What are your thoughts on the subject? Comment below.  

About the Author

Trinidad Aguirre, aka Travel Dad, has been part of the select or travel baseball community for the past 6 years. He has supported his son by participating as a coach for his little league team to now handling all the select organizations parent requests and questions virtually anytime.

Learn, Contact or Follow Trinidad at his newly published website traveldadbaseball.