Getting your kids more involved in sport is a great way to keep them physically active. It will give them new skills, develop their confidence, and also increase their social circle. However, it’s important to go about things the right way. In this guide, I’m going to go through a few ways that you can encourage them to be more sporty – or, at the very least, get more exercise.

Don’t be pushy

First of all, it’s important not to push your children too hard into a sport. This can cause problems later in life, so try not to relive your own childhood through your kids. You see it a lot on the touchlines of football, rugby and netball pitches and courts. Over-competitive parents berating their children, or abusing referees and players on the other team. Quite frankly, it’s not a good look – and can have grave consequences for your child. So, leave it up to your kids to decide on a sport that they want to explore. Whether that’s a team sport or a martial art doesn’t matter. What’s important is that they make the choice.

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Put some money aside

If you want your child to be more involved in a sport, then it’s going to cost you. You’ll need to pay membership every year, training fees, and match subs. With sport at the grassroots level recently suffering from enormous funding cuts, it’s down to us parents to keep things running. It’s just the way it is, unfortunately. You’ll also need to make another investment – your time. You might have to drop your child off to training sessions a couple of times a week, and then make long trips at the weekends for matchdays.

Be supportive

It’s important for you to support your child, whether they win, lose or draw. Although competition starts at an early age for any sport, it’s vital that you encourage them to see the other reasons for being involved. It’s not all about winning – although they won’t see it that way! Taking part, being part of a team and trying their best is all you should encourage them to do. Winning is great, yes. But it isn’t the be all and end all.

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Get more involved

Sports clubs and teams at youth level are always crying out for people to lend a hand. You could help out with training sessions, or even think about becoming a coach. Being more involved in their out of school activities ’s a great way to form extra bonds with your son and daughter. And, if you progress enough with your coaching, you could even start your own team. You’ll need to find somewhere to play, a league to join, and, of course, new players. Don’t forget about the end-of-season awards ceremony, either. You can pick up football trophies at Premier Trophies and give them out to all the players. Make sure you don’t get accused of too much favoritism, though. Also, it’s a wise idea to celebrate every player on the team, not just the most talented.

Well, that’s all we have time for today. Hopefully, this guide will give you some clues about how to get your child playing more sports.

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