Balance is better: Why we should let our kids have fun playing sport - John Wansbone

It’s a good time to reflect on how we can help make our kids' participation in sports as enjoyable as possible. Photo / 123rf

As we head into the winter sports season, there will be many excited tamariki looking forward to their first season or returning to the team or sport they love.

As parents, coaches or managers, we want our children to form a lifelong love of being active and involved in sport. So it’s a good time to reflect on how we can make their participation as enjoyable as possible.

A good place to start is to ask them why they want to play sport in the first place.

A recent national survey conducted by Sport New Zealand highlights “having fun” as the primary motivating factor (76%) in why young people choose to participate in sport.

This was followed by “hanging out with family or friends” at 44%. This suggests that, for most children, sport is simply a way to enjoy being with their mates.

The “Balance is Better” philosophy developed by Sport NZ focuses on putting the interests of our young people first. It is about balancing the aspiration to win and perform with making participation in sport enjoyable.

This requires a balanced focus rather than simply a win-at-all-costs approach.

As adults, we need to align our expectations and behaviour with what is motivating our tamariki to participate.

If we expect children to train and play like they are All Blacks at the expense of having fun, we will inevitably see participation drop off.

This will be to the detriment of those missing out as well as the sustainability of the sport. Many sporting codes realise the importance of this and are changing the way they coach and play.

The Balance is Better approach also extends to encouraging our tamariki to participate in a wide range of physical activity and sporting opportunities. Specialisation may be appropriate later in high school, but studies show participation in different sports will support greater skill development and co-ordination.

There are many good resources for parents, coaches and administrators on the Balance is Better website that can help those involved with youth sport to build their knowledge and understanding around these topics.

The other elephant in the room is sideline behaviour.

At Sport Northland, we are working with sporting codes to help improve this. Participation data shows that 50% of children who play sport stop participating at age 11. Poor sideline behaviour is a key contributor, with 61% of surveyed parents, carers and supporters having witnessed bad behaviour.

We all get passionate about sport. It brings up strong feelings for many people and sometimes those strong feelings can have unintended consequences.

So next time you’re on the sidelines, try to remember to use actions and language that celebrates effort and improvement, focusing the kids’ growth, and remembering their why, rather than just focusing on winning – “That was a great game, it looked like you were having heaps of fun out there” or “The opposition was pretty tough today, but I saw how you enjoyed it, went for every ball and didn’t give up.”

And always be respectful to the refs/officials and coaches. Without our community volunteers who tirelessly give up their time to coach, umpire or referee, we wouldn’t have sport in Northland.

If you would like to read more about some of our outstanding volunteers or would like to find out how you can contribute as well, check out Good Sports on the Sport Northland website.