Young athletes: what to do to get your child to love sports?

The habit of leading a healthy lifestyle begins in childhood. An adult will find it much easier to exercise if he or she does it from an early age. But not all parents manage to arouse a child’s interest in physical activity. With psychologist Nadezhda Pozharova, we explain how to instill a love of sports from childhood and inspire your child to exercise.

Support and approval

Without psychological support from parents, a child will never love sports. In such situations, many people commit violence against the child, the expert notes. Do not turn the introduction of children to a healthy lifestyle into torture for them.

Nadezhda: It is very important that the child generally feels safe and feels that his parents accept and approve of him. Only then will the motivation to play sports not turn into an attempt to prove to his parent that he is good enough. He will not be afraid of being scolded or judged. It is also important to realize that a child needs attention from his parents and sincere interest. It is necessary to create a safe, trusting field for him – this is the only way he will develop.

Age matters

Introducing a child to sports and encouraging a teenager to lead a healthy lifestyle are different things. Parents need to consider their child’s age before encouraging them to participate.

Nadezhda: Each age group is different in this matter. A five-year-old child will be much easier to get involved in physical activity than a teenager who already has his own ideas about life. For teenagers, sabotage and rebellion are absolutely common. Attitudes toward the body are formed in childhood. There is a good book about age that I recommend, “Body Psychotherapy. Body Dynamics” by V.B. Beryozkina-Orlova. She will help to understand how the baby is formed and what is important to pay attention to in order to guide the adult child.

By example

Children always take an example from their parents, whether it is the manner of speaking, dressing or the habit of leading a healthy lifestyle. The most effective way to encourage your child to play sports is by example.

Hope: If the parents themselves love sports, the child will feel that physical activity is something meaningful. Very often adults who are not involved in sports in any way, do not care about their health and have bad habits, try to indoctrinate children that sports are useful and necessary. A child learns everything from a parent. Often mom or dad has no explanation of their own, why it is necessary to engage in physical activity, except for memorized phrases from the series of “it is useful”, “it is necessary”. At the same time, the parent lies on the couch all day or plays on the computer and does not find time for himself. The child mirrors this behavior and begins to ignore sports.

Adequate load

Some parents tend to project their own ambitions on their children. In this case, moms and dads often make the same mistake – overload the child.

Hope: If a child is forced to play sports around the clock with the idea that they are growing up to be a future Olympic champion, they may develop an aversion to physical activity because they have too many high expectations. Very often parents decide to raise a “superhuman”: for example, he has school until three, then sports until seven, then homework, then something else. It is important to realize that a child should have an idea of recreation. Not everyone will become an Olympic champion, but it is important for everyone to live their childhood happily. Often parents ignore their child’s condition, thinking that they are just being lazy or faking it when they are actually having a hard time. They don’t realize that even laziness is a symptom of fatigue or worry. It may well be the child’s way of showing that he or she is afraid of something or is really very tired.

Everything in moderation

Nothing is more important than children’s psyche. When parents introduce their children to sports, they should listen to their children’s opinions first.

Hope: Often when parents force children to play sports, it can lead to emotional exhaustion or burnout, and there form a number of maladaptive habits. For example, in childhood, a person is restricted in food or introduced a system of strict prohibitions, which is one of the conditions of many sports. And later on, the adult has to undergo therapy to get rid of overeating or other eating habits that started right then. In my work, I often find that clients almost hate their parents for forcing them to play sports. First of all, it is important to take care of the psycho-emotional state of the child. Then physical development will become of interest to the child.