Child loosing interest in a sport he's very good at. What to do?

[dogoncouch]

DC is 8. A couple of years ago he got into a sport quite be accident and became very good very quickly. He now competes regionally (very successfully) and nationally (top 20 for his age group). I have been told by various sources that he has a lot of potential. For the first 18 months he was very zealous about the sport and spent every waking hour practising but for the last 6 months he's got bored, not wanting to train and now a bit meh about competing too. It's an outdoor sport so generally not as appealing in the winter. He says he doesn't want to give up but if his rankings start to slide, this will inevitably follow.

For context he has ADHD - which is a positive in that he's hyperfocused during a competition but I recognise it's also probably the reason he's getting bored now.

I wasn't pushy to begin with but as it became clear he had talent, I've become more invested in helping him succeed (travelling around the country most weekends)

I guess I have 3 options

1. Insist that he sticks to his present regime and hope his interest returns when the summer series begins.
2. let him train when he wants (it's a very flexible sport in this regard) but his rankings will drop and then he will want to quit.
3. Suggest some other sports he might want to swap to now (as I don't want him to swap his active weekends for a games console)

Has anyone been in this situation. What did you do?

I'd push on to a natural end point - end of season, big race, change in age group. If only because kids especially ADHD kids need to learn you can't just stop without completing commitments. But at that point I'd back off and leave it up to him, maybe he'll decide to continue maybe he won't.

Id suggest you get him involved in sports with friends, at 8 that will likely hold his attention more and hopefully potential for lift shares or whatever to ease the pressure on family.

As for the gaming, he's 8 I suspect 99% of his mates game so it's no wonder he wants to join in. Set time limits but take into account the way his mind works he likely won't be able to just 'switch off' when you say 45 minutes is up - I'd suggest you do limits around stopping at the end of a level, or when there's been x number of 'lives' or whatever natural break there is in the game. This will likely work better and make the end point less acrimonious. Also means you have to understand the game to set the limits, and never underestimate the power of a mum who can talk about gaming!

Thank you for all your replies. I hear what everyone is saying and agree with lots. I think some are getting hung up on the rankings thing. Its an Olympic sport with a full time elite team but due to lack of facilities, fairly niche, but none-the-less DC has done really well in a short space of time, particularly his skill set which is still to play out in rankings. 'The best is yet to come' as they say.
That is given for context. DC is not remotely interested in the bigger picture and his national ranking. He lives for the moment, as most kids do and particularly those with ADHD. He loved the adrenaline rush, risk taking and sensory aspects of the sport. This is what is fading for him and which saddens me. I'm also feeling sad, not for what could have been in terms of this sport but more in terms of keeping him out of mischief when he gets older. A teenager who spends all of his time crafting his sport is not standing on street corners...or worse.

He has many friends in this community - lots of neurodiverse kids too, so it is definitely not isolating even if it is an individual sport.

He is generally quite sporty and I am sure there are other sports he could try but this was his first love and it's hard for me to see him falling out of love with it.

Op I hear what you are saying sport keeps kids out of trouble but he needs to want to do it. You can't let his leasure activities become a battle ground.

Encourage him to have a break, try other sports, do other things. He might eventually come back to his first sport but.

I've a 12 yo who dabbles in various things, not wonderful at any of them but has fun and enjoys.

My friends son was exceptionally good at tennis and was selected for a national talent programme. He went hot and cold several times before giving up around 14. He just couldn't take the competitive stakes and temperament required - which is very common. But he still loves playing for fun and coaches in his spare time. Not everyone can make it and to continue at a competitive level it can take an enormous amount of dedication and pressure - that can mean also struggles to keep up with academic work.

Of course this can depend on the sport but competition and repetition, training and sacrifice isn't for everyone.

He is eight
Say he can stop but still has to do something active - these are the options for saturdays .
Carry on til end of term or natural break.

I agree with others who say that finding something else active is important.
But I think you should let him quit, as getting into a pattern of having to strive for extraordinary achievements when you really don’t want to because others expect it of you is not a great thing to live with as an adult.

Let him chose what he wants to do. Insisting on doing one active hobby is fair, from a well-being perspective but his choice.