Making Sports More Fun For Kids
By Joe Luxbacher, PhD

Choose age-appropriate activities. Children should be challenged, but must also be able to achieve some degree of success and competence. Likewise, if the activity is too easy kids become bored and may choose not to participate. As kids get older, the complexities of the games can increase accordingly.

Provide an appropriate game environment. Children are not miniature adults. Their bodies will not respond to exercise the same ways as ours, and they cannot safely handle the same relative workload. Equipment and the general game environment should be adjusted to accommodate the age and physical maturity of children. For very young children, you can decrease the field area and size of the goal (for soccer), the height of basket (for basketball), and length of base paths (for baseball).

Modify the rules to get kids more involved. Playing small-sided soccer games (3 v 3, 4 v 4) as opposed to full-sided (11 aside) games can serve to increase both learning and enjoyment for children. Small-sided games promote increased contact with the ball (skill development), players are required to make more decisions (tactical development), and players must assume both offensive and defensive responsibilities. Small-sided games are also fun since scoring is increased and all players are totally involved in the action. The same philosophy can be applied to other sports as well.

Do Your Homework. It is important for parents to check out the situation - the coach, the overall philosophy of the organization, the atmosphere at the games - prior to enrolling a child. I learned this lesson the hard way. My daughter Eliza has played in two different soccer leagues during her career. One, in my opinion, was a waste of time because it was parent centered rather than player centered. There were so many rules and regulations that the kids were afraid to make a mistake, or leave their position to run after the ball. They basically stood around for 30 minutes, looked to mom or dad for instructions, and then went home. The children didn't have much fun and they definitely didn't get much exercise.

As a parent, I failed to do my job. I neglected to check out the situation beforehand and Eliza paid the price.

I'm pleased to say that the other league was just the opposite. The coach was positive and supportive, the girls were in constant motion for most of the match, and at the end of the day, win or lose, they celebrated with a post game snack. All involved had a good time and broke a sweat.

Joe Luxbacher is the head men's soccer coach at the University of Pittsburgh.