That's Fit

My son loves playing sports. There was a lull between baseball and soccer season this year. By the time soccer season rolled around, he was practically bouncing with excitement. He had really missed the fun and camaraderie of weekly practices and games.

But not all kids love team sports as much as my son ... and that's OK. Any activity that they enjoy is beneficial for their health and good for their social skills. I'm not a believer in pushing kids into activities they don't want to participate in. But making the sport more fun and encouraging your child can be a great thing ... for both of you.

My son and I have a habit of practicing the soccer drills he learns in practice in our backyard. We also go down to a local soccer field and I blast kicks at him so he can work on his goalie skills, then he takes a turn aiming for different areas of the net to improve his ability. (Admittedly, I don't present much of a challenge as a goalie.)

The added practice has several purposes:

• It's quality time spent between me and my son; we have fun and laugh a lot.
• It's good exercise for both of us.
  
• It improves my son's soccer skills and helps him advance his abilities between practices.
• It enhances his enjoyment of the sport. Just like with anything else -- homework, hobbies, books, etc. -- when a parent expresses a strong interest in their child's activities, the child tends to do better.
  
  

However, I do feel there's a fine line between healthy attention and pushing your child too hard. When I sit on the sidelines of my son's games, I see many parents who are overly involved and seem to be quite hard on their kids. I think it's our job as parents to support our kids, foster their interests, help them, encourage them, and cheer them on. But it's important not to cross that line in the sand or else we run the risk of sapping all the fun out of the activity.