Ways To Keep Children Small Interested In Sports As A Coach

Whether it is soccer, football, baseball, or swimming, there is a lot to be learned in any sports arena you choose. Sports teach children the value of perseverance, teamwork, and physical fitness, which is why it is only logical that parents want their children to become interested in some type f sport at an early age. If you are the director of a youth sports team that is designed for younger children, this can actually be a difficult thing to achieve. When children are small, it takes a little extra push to hold their focus on one activity. To ensure the little ones you coach on your sports team stay interested in the activities, there are a few things you can try. 

Make sure the youngsters feel rewarded for their efforts. 

Kids flourish when they are praised for the effort they give, even if the effort is not as great as some of their fellow team mates. Because of this, it is important that children feel rewarded so they can continue to stay interested in the sport you have to offer. This is easy enough to accomplish with simple medals, trophies, and other small tokens of reward that can be given when certain milestones are reached or achievements accomplished. 

Having something tangible helps to solidify the importance of  a child's effort and involvement in their mind. For example, if you hand out custom medals when children learn how to swim their first lap in the pool or offer trophies when the team takes their first win, a child will have this to hold as a reminder of the achievement. 

Break up monotony by including variant activities in the sports training. 

Little minds can get bored a lot easier, which can make holding interest in one sport difficult with younger children. To keep the small ones you coach from experiencing burnout and boredom with the specific sport you offer, make sure you do not focus too much on one specific activity all of the time.

You can break up the monotony of your sport by having special days when you focus on other activities that are related. An example would be incorporating a water-dance class in your competition swimming lessons on occasion or hosting an outdoor movie night at the ballfield to watch a movie about something baseball related.  When there are breaks between the usual tasks of training, practice, and games, kids are much more likely to stay interested.