Lately the Stockholm based newspaper DN has been publishing a series of articles about girls who have been pushed too hard in gymnastics. It's been a growing problem in Sweden that both parents and coaches push kids too hard in whatever sport they're doing. So far that they don't enjoy it any more.
I think this is pointless. If the motif for pushing the kids is that they'll make great athletes, it doesn't hold up in the end. Children want parents who cheer for them, not who get mad at them if they don't perform. After a certain point, they're going to lose interest in the activity.
I think it's wrong by parents and coaches to complain about the child's performance in a way that it seems they've only done something wrong, but at the same time these people can help if the child wants to get better at what they're doing. Of course that's a coach's job: to give the child the tools to get better at something they think is fun. But that's where the line goes. It has to be what the child wants, not what the parents want. Sometimes it's easy to forget why we do a sport, and that's when we have to think who it actually is for.
Here's an article adressing the issue from January 2012.
Please tell me what you think about this in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment