Team Sports for Preschoolers?

[Ceres]

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family-relationships/articles/kids-stuff/cp/home_family-a_soccer_sob_story_at_age_four_when_is_the_right_time_to_join_team_sports_

This is one of my pet peeves about parenting. Why would a four year old need to be on a soccer team? I think stories of child prodigies get parents thinking that earlier is better for everyone, but I totally disagree. There are so many other things young kids need to be doing with their time other than organised sports.

I see it at the Karate school I go to. Some of the kids are barely potty trained and they are in the Dojo, completely lost, bored and tired.

There is plenty of time for activities like that when the child is older. Even is the child is asking to go, there is nothing wrong with pining for something they would like to do - in fact it may make them more keen on it when they are old enough.

[RainInanna]

Mm I have a similiar opinion on this as I posted in the baby gym thread. That said, I do hope to let my son participate in soccer when he's older; I didn't get the opportunity to join team sports or groups and I think it would've helped me socially. Who knows.

I don't understand doing karate then though, what could they possibly learn or remember at that age? At least in soccer it's just physical movement and kicking a ball.

[Lyrien]

I get angered when I see young kids in any sport where mom and dad force them to participate, somehow hinging their success on their child's. However, that is not always the case. Especially when you are looking at very young kids and martial arts. They are usually in some sort of after school program and it's more daycare than anything. At least that has been what I've seen over the past few years. I've actually never seen a very young child in a martial arts class that wasn't there for some type of daycare.

My daughter didn't do any type of organized sport until the end of first grade. However, my son did play soccer at 4 and start martial arts at 5 or 6. He joined because he saw his sister having fun and he wanted to play as well. I made the decision to let him join because I felt it would be better for him to live and learn than for me to tell him he couldn't even try.

He hated soccer and I never pressured him to do anything with it. He played one season and decided not to go back. Tae Kwon Do was different. My daughter had been taking classed for 6 or 8 months before he asked to join. Again, I let him. They both fell in love with the sport and now one is a jr. black belt and the other brown.

There are kids that WANT to join a sport and don't have parents forcing them to do anything. I see absolutely nothing wrong with a child playing soccer or Karate at a young age so long as they want to be there and there isn't pressure to perform beyond their age.

[Amethyst Rose]

Ummm...Quintin's in Hockey. He's asked to play since he was 2, and the team here (pre-novice) starts at age 4. He has two practices a week and he LOVES it. You should see the grin on his face. He's made tons of friends, too. Really, its been a wonderful experience for him, and I don't see anything wrong with it.

[wowmy_sn]

I'm seventeen, but I have a four-year-old little brother, so here's my opinion for what it's worth...

My little brother has been on a tee-ball team since he was like... two and a half-ish. He's now also asking to be on a soccer team, and his pre-school teaches swimming and karate if the kids express interest in the classes...

My parents never made him join an organized sport or anything like that... I don't know, he's just naturally super-athletic. I think, regardless of age, as long as the kids are having fun and aren't being pressured by their parents or anything like that it's all good. Just my opinion though, obviously...