If your child does a hobby competitively/at a high end…

[Naptrappedmummy]

How old were they when they started?

DD is 4. I didn’t have any hobbies growing up, but I remember those who played sport/music competitively or at a high level started quite young. I want to give DD this opportunity, so I was just wondering what age your child started, how you decided what they would do, and so on.

(Please know I’m not a pushy parent, if at any point she wants to stop that’s fine, I just don’t want to miss the boat for her to do well if she finds something she really likes)

thank you!

One of mine does athletics at national level he started training at 14. It's mainly running though so not gymnastics or anything.
Tbh I am very glad we didn't earlier as 4 years of traipsing around the country has been quite enough.

Yes, that comment did actually make me inhale the cup of tea I am currently drinking. I can't think of 2 words which better describe most dancers than strong and agile!

I swam competitively (nationally ranked v. highly - we’re talking competing for country level, not just regionally).

Was in swimming lessons from 18 months and at a club from age 6. By age 12 I trained 6 nights a week.

By 15 I was training 20+ hours a week (in and out the gym).

Any sport at a high level is a LOT of commitment. It’s not just the time and hours and driving the kid to and from it, it’s the associated costs of equipment (even for something like swimming), training camps etc. Swimming has a lot of hidden expenses.

Most importantly, if you are considering high level sport for a child, you must remember that the child has to WANT to do it. The gap between those who are naturally gifted and those who have the drive come into play very quickly in sport.

I got into it because swimming is a life skill and all my teachers said I was a ‘water baby’ so my mum kept me going with it.

@MrsAvocet @taxi4ballet
I never said or meant that they weren't. They were absolutely strong and agile.
The only reason I said it is dancing picks up a lot of bad habits (famously dancers splits) that would be hard to break if moving to the likes of gymnastics (which young girls also often take interest in)

Funny that, because in the dance world, it is the opposite way round and they say that doing gymnastics picks up a lot of bad habits, particularly in the shoulders, the back, and the lack of turnout.

Horses for courses!

Well I don't think you'll find a decent ballet teacher who would disagree that ballet and gymnastics are incompatible beyond a certain point, though of course what are "good" and "bad" habits depends entirely on your perspective. Personally the posture of most gymnasts makes me shudder but that's because I am looking at them from a dance perspective. In reality probably neither is objectively bad, they are actually just different.
But it is a bit of a leap to go from that to suggesting that pretty much all sports that encourage strength and agility are compatible with each other except dance which is what your first post seemed to be saying. Lots of sports don't go well together because they require different physical attributes, train different muscle groups etc. I doubt you'll find a track cyclist, especially a sprinter, who's any good at long distance running for instance. However, lots of kids can swap between disciplines at a young age and don't need to decide on one until they are older. My DS has had to prioritise one of his sports over the other recently because the training demands are very different, one being an endurance sport and the other requiring repeated short, intense anaerobic efforts. One of his coaches wants him in the gym building muscle bulk, the other wants him light, with long lean muscles. Obviously that can't be done. But until he was well into his teens he did both sports pretty successfully, only needing to choose when it became impossible to do both and continue to progress to a higher level. Most of his friends have done several sports when they were little and have narrowed down in their teens.
But the OP's DD is four. Unless she is really badly coached I can't imagine anything she does in any physical pursuit at that age subsequently preventing her changing to something different later. Kids should be encouraged to do whatever it is they enjoy, especially at a young age. It's far more important that they are active than that are doing any particular activity. Nothing that encourages fitness and fun is a "bad habit" in my opinion.

You'd be surprised at what dancers can turn their hand to.

My ballet-dancing dd's PE teacher's jaw dropped at just how far she went in the long jump one day. He couldn't believe it. She was laughing about it when she told me later, she said she just did a grand jete. They boys in her class didn't much like it when she beat them hands down in bleep tests and the plank.😂

On the other hand... total rubbish at distance running.

Bought a pony at age 10 after 6 months messing at a stables/trekking, then quickly into tetrathlon (run, ride, shoot, swim) and pentathlon (run, shoot, ride, swim, fence). National finals within 2 years of starting (cut down competitions not including riding). National finals riding/pony club within 4 years of starting. Very sporty child though, does every sport well.

Different kids do different things, I wouldn't put too much thought into it, just see what she likes as she grows up.

And never buy that first pony!!

They boys in her class didn't much like it when she beat them hands down in bleep tests and the plank.😂
Ha! Mine too. They had a whole school plank competition for Children in Need or something one year and the finalists ended up being my teeny DD and a couple of sixth form rugby lads. Apparently she had the audience in stitches as when they were both shaking with sweat rolling down their faces she took one hand off the floor to stifle a mock yawn. I think she won a couple of the other gym challenges too.
The visiting coach who taught them kick boxing for half a term at school tried to persuade her to take that up as not surprisingly she could kick a lot higher, faster, more accurately and harder than most!