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Sporty Kids
Making a Game Plan
By Lisa Marie Metzler
John and Beth Nugent of Benzonia, Mich. were hardly surprised when their children, Ben and Emily, expressed interest in sports.
"Both children walked early and had good large muscle skills," says Beth Nugent. Emily, their oldest, started playing organized basketball when she was 8 years old. Ben started baseball when he was 3. "The best thing we could do to encourage our children's natural abilities was to just play with them," says Nugent.
Dr. Walter Meeker, a pediatrician in Traverse City, Mich., affirms the Nugents' philosophy on the importance of playing with children. "Kids play is kids play. When you emphasize performance instead of play, it is not beneficial," Dr. Meeker says. "Parents shouldn't think in terms of raising and creating a great athlete. Parenting is radically more complex than that." Nugent agrees that raising children who are responsible, loving and caring is more important than pushing a child to succeed in sports. In the Nugents' case, the children simply have a love for sports and thoroughly enjoy playing them.
So when does playtime evolve into a more structured setting? Dr. Meeker says that by the age of 10, most children are ready for the defined structure and rules that organized sports demand. At this young age more emphasis should be placed on the benefits of physical activity and team cooperation. "Although weight training is safe to start between the ages of 10 and 12, performance enhancement doesn't belong in younger age children," Dr. Meeker says.