Which sport should my kid play?

Everyone has a theory about which sports their kids should play and why. I do too. I'm not an expert in child development, but I was a kid and I am a parent - and I can tell you what worked for me...

First off, I'm a believer in encouraging your kid to get involved in something at a young age. It doesn't matter if it's ballet or basketball or basket-weaving. Activities allow them to be engaged, interact with others, and gain confidence as they have success. Once the activity is chosen, it's important to stick with it through the commitment - usually, that means the season. Quitting early, or not giving full effort sends the message that sticking with something isn't important.

For really young kids, maybe up to at least 3 years, I think it's best to play informally. Maybe put them in swimming lessons, but play ball in the backyard, kick the soccer ball around and help them develop basic motor skills. But at some point, they're ready for soccer.

Soccer is great for 4 year olds and up. There's really 2 things to think about - kick and run. Yes, the games are usually a pack of kids surrounding a ball in close proximity... but it's cute. During the practices and games, the team bonds, and learns the basics of sportsmanship along with the actual game. It can be rough going, but it sets the stage for enjoying soccer further, or playing other sports.

It was difficult for me to explain "offense" and "defense" to 4 year olds. I gave up on that, and instead talked about kicking the ball toward "our goal" and away from "their goal". That's probably another topic.

My son was able to play basketball as a kindergartner. Of course, you have 6' hoops, and there's not much dribbling or passing, but there's only slightly more to think about than soccer (run, shoot, and then anything else they can remember). With basketball, offense and defense is a little bit clearer, because you're doing different things.

When I was a kid, I played tee ball in first grade, and so we tried baseball (coach pitched) with Alex at 6. This added the next step in complexity - when batting, you just swung the bat and ran when you hit it... easy. But what do you do in the field? Usually the rules are set up so that baserunners stop either at first base, or at the base they're on after the ball is touched by the defense - so for fielders, you can tell them to "throw it to first" all the time, and that's pretty safe. But, baseball has lots of complex rules about force outs, tag outs, etc. It takes a little bit of practice and playing the game for the more advanced concepts to begin sinking in...

At 7, Alex begged to play football. I was ok with that. Flag football. He's now at the age where he understands games and rules, and can easily adapt. We rotate sports, although he has his favorites (which doesn't include soccer). The most difficult part about the football team is that there are 6-8 year olds, covering kindergarten through THIRD GRADE. If you've made it this far in the post, you probably understand how that's a bit of a challenge...

Most importantly - encourage your kid to do something. Every child is different, and - maybe there's a football prodigy out there who's 4... But if you're scratching your head, pick a soccer league, and see what happens.