Hi All, i'm in need of advise. My son (6 1/2 yrs old) had shown an early talent for swimming. He was "recruited" by our local swimming club and is now in the stage of developing his stroke competency within the club's academy. The academy head coach already asked whether we (as parents) would be happy for him to join one of the club's squads once he reaches the age at which he can start competing. Only this week she said that he will be offered a place in the squad in about 18 months' time without any doubt. So far so good, as he loves swimming and has demonstrated a lot of stamina for his age by obtaining his 1000m badge at a long distance swimming event held internally within the academy in April this year.
My concern is that my partner (my son's dad) does not think that swimming is a worthwhile sport for our son to pursue competitively. He even admitted that he's hoping (and actively "pushing") for our son to be a successful cricket player. Of course my son is still too young to even had a taste of what playing cricket in a squad is, let alone show some serious potential for the sport. However, I feel that all the time my partner is dismissing swimming as unworthy in front of our son compared to other sports such as cricket (which seems to have become an obsession at the moment with hours and hours played between the two of them in the garden), he's actively potentially jeopardizing my son interest for swimming where his talent and affinity seems to be. I've discussed my concerns with the head coach, but would also be interested in hearing from other parents who may face/have been in similar situations. It's difficult sometimes to have a clear understanding of where the boundary is between being a pushy parent and make sure that your child fulfill their own potential, I guess this is my concern too in this situation. Thanks in advance for any contribution
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.
Extra-curricular activities
Jeopardizing swimming potentials
4 replies
DeepBlu · 01/08/2014 13:56
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.