What sports do you choose?

[SAMS73]

DDis 8 and we want her to do some sports so she is active.
She wants to do archery but this was not what I was thinking I want her to do some team sports so interacts with other children etc., My DH thinks she should do cricket dont know what to do.I think cricket is more for boys.

[purepurple]

why not just let her choose?

making her do something she doesn't want to is asking for trouble

[glinda]

Lots of girls football teams are popular at the moment.

My ds enjoys tennis. Our local club has indoor and outdoor facilities and runs great kids coaching sessions each week teaching skills through a range of fun games. We have been really impressed. DS is not naturally sporty but he has a lot of fun and loads of exercise as well as mixing with a different group of children.

[SAMS73]

T thought archery is expensive and has got to make her active.

[Ronaldinhio]

Let her do archery

[Astrophe]

I have similar thinking on sports - something active and interactive. I always liked team sports, I think its good to be part of a team.

So my preferences for my kids are football, netball, basketball etc. If they are not so keen on team sports, I'd choose swimming, tennis, or dance (but with a focus on fun/movement, rather than performance).

Having said all that, I don't think you can force interest in a sport or activity. What does your DD want to do? Anything other than archery? I don't thinbk cricket is particularly active btw (not to mention excrutiatingly boring )

[mimsum]

she might be a bit young for archery - unless you have a club near you which specifically caters for under 10s - it's also not particularly active - not much aerobic benefit

ds2 who isn't 'sporty' loves cricket - but again it's not really active a lot of the time

if she enjoys swimming then a swimming club would be great - keeps them very fit and if they do inter-club galas or diddy leagues the kids experience low-level competition and being part of a team

tennis lessons in a group can be really good fun as well, as can something like karate - interaction with other kids and a big focus on discipline

but it very much depends what's readily available to you locally, how fit your dd is and what she enjoys - no point in dragging a reluctant child along to an activity

[pixiemoon]

if it's activity but she's not a team sports kinda girl (I understand!) then how about trampolining. Great fun even if you're not that good at it, you can get involved in team/comp stuff if you fancy, definitely active.

I think archery sounds cool though. She'll interact with the others whether it's a team sport or not. Could she maybe do a holiday course or something if you're not convinced of it as a long term activity?

[UniS]

Cricket and girls- YES YES YES. girls Do play cricket. cricket is played in mixed teams, as she got older she "could" play for a girls team but doesn;t have to. Our cricket club has girls playing both colts league games and mixed age friendlys .
at present no women in the senior team because the oldest girl colt has been selected to play for the county womens team so is not avalible most saturdays unlike her male contemperies who have no hope of playing at county level at 16.

[lljkk]

Doesn't women's England cricket team keep winning World Cup? That would sell me on it.

[LouIsAHappyLittleVegemite]

Definately go for cricket or something similiar. She deveopes bat and ball and catching skils and could later transfer these to another sport such as hockey or lacrosse or vigaro or softball etc
Try something different. I did waterpolo in school and uni and loved it and now play ultimate disc (the greatest sport of all time) www.ukultimate.com/
Netball is overrated IMO.

[uptomyeyes]

My eldest DS's both play cricket. for the under tens practise is really quite energetic, because they sepnd the first hour, running around practising skills, playing french cricket and then the last 20 or so minutes is a mini game. Girls definately play at our local club especially in the younger age groups.

DS2 plays rugby, though the season is coming to an end. Again there are girls playing.

DS1 plays ice-hockey - which is obviously a minority sport, but extremely energetic. If there is an ice rink close to where you live, ice skating could be an option.

Cycling as a family is great if its fitness you're looking for.