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Home › Articles › Your Children › Sporty Kids

Sporty Kids

Making a Game Plan

By Lisa Marie Metzler

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. This is a non-profit volunteer sports organization. Local and regional contacts can be accessed at the Web site to find athletic opportunities in your area. The AAU even sponsors a Junior Olympics every year. Sports programs offered run the gamut from traditional baseball and basketball to taekwondo and surfing. Events for physically challenged children are offered as well.

Sports camps, day camps or sport clinics can be a fun way to promote better playing skills. Talk to your school's athletic director. Their desks become inundated with programs and they will be able to make recommendations. Or, try a more high-tech option like www.websportscoach.com. This is a search engine for sports camps in the United States. Other search engines will allow you to look at global options. Check out www.kidscamps.com for a worldwide search. Each site is searchable by sport, including options for children with disabilities. Start gathering information now to narrow down the choices so you can make a well-informed decision before summer break. Remember to take your child's cue. Explore the options together before signing your children up for an event.

Look for Local Heroes
"Make positive experiences available to your kids," says Peter Moss, an elementary school principal and junior high football coach in Interlochen, Mich. Moss prefers to take his own children to local sporting events at the high school level and nearby college games because professional sports have become a lot about money and fame. "Being a spectator at a local high school or college game tends to promote a sense of community and team spirit," Moss says.

Moss has witnessed both sides of the game: as a principal, coach and father of an athlete. "My experience is that kids who play sports have expectations put on them to keep their grades up to be eligible to play," Moss says. "Kids will try harder if they want to play."


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