what do children gain from doing an activity (sport, drama, chess, whatever) at a competitve and high level?

[hatwoman]

if they have real talent then they could have a fantastic glittering olympic style future...

if they are top end of average or bottom end of seriously good (far more likely)then they could have some fun - eg competing at county level, but they could also end up frustrated, disappointed, bitter - or worse (drug addled, no other career prospects, no idea of the real world)

And if you/they want to take it to a serious level then you have to push don;t you? What makes kids or their parents go for stuff like this? and is it a Good Thing? an entirely geniune question I have often pondered...

I teach one or two children who are olympic standard at things....not in my subject I hasten to add

they get something out of it, if they love it.

If they are doing it to fulfull parental expectations, their heart isn't in it, and it tends to fall to bits IYSWIM.

To do things to the very higest levels the kids have to love it, and by doing the thing they love very, very well, they get a huge amount of joy, satisfaction and confidence that spills over into other things

My daughter competes in dancing competitions. Not the pushy mummy "strictly baby ballroom" level that was shown on TV recently. She's pretty good, rather than brilliant. She enjoys it. It's good discipline. She learns that sometimes people are better than her, so learns to "lose" . It's activity. It doesn't involve sitting infront of the TV or computer. She's made lots of new friends throught it. At the same time, I am very relieved neither she nor DS are talented swimmers. The thought of being up for training at 6 every morning doesn't appeal. But if they had been that good, I guess I'd have done it.

i think they get a sense of acheivement, endurance, learn motivation, dedication and passion as well as an adrenalin buzz and something to put their heart and soul into.

i struggle however, with the competitive thing and used to actively cringe, feel sick and try to opt out when put in such a situation myself, when at school.

needless to say, i never competed at a high level at anything!!!! only liked to dabble.

certificates, medals and trophies. Pick the right sport enter lots of competitions with finely graded age groups and you too can win an abundance of cheap trophyware to glitter on your bedroom shelf.

I think if the activity is a part of their life rather than all of it then it's great. You can get real self esteem and confidence from being good at something and from being allowed to pursue an interest to the fullest extent.

I don't think parents should push AT ALL. It should come from the child and be taken as far as they personally want it to go. If that is how it's done then it's all positive for the child; and if they want to give up then that should be fine with the parents too!

I agree about not pushing. but i get the impression that those who are seriously sucessful - especially at sports have started so young that they must have been pushed to an extent?

DS7 - Y3 has just been chosen for swim squad and has regular 7.30am squad training. He's loving it. Getting him to school for 7.20am is a killer and impacts the entire family, but if makes him happy and doesn't affect his school work, it's OK by me

It has given him a sense of pride and a quiet inner confidence in just half a term as so many boys were desperate to get in and didn't.

I don't know about the starting early thing really -some of the best sportspeople have been late starters - If the talent is there they'll progress - My darling bridesmaid,babysitter,surrogate daughter started trampolining in a squad 18 months ago -she's in the county squad now and will be competing in the nationals, as well as competing in schools competitions- there are kids who started at age 6 who are well behind her -she was 13 when she started.
Lisa x

BTW, what has she got from it? well she was seriously underachieving at school, didn't know what she'd do after,but was leaving at 16 -Now she's getting a's and b's and is planning what A levels she needs to do for her degree -She wants to be a teacher when her competitive days are over.
lisa x

that's such a good story. good on her