Which Sport for a balanced life?!

[MusicMum80s]

So my DD is pretty athletic and enjoys a lot of different sports- running, swimming, tennis, cricket, netball etc mostly done at school.

She’s only 6 but wants to do more sport outside of school and her school says she’s ‘able’. She already does other out of school activities though so I’m just curious which sport is least demanding regarding practice time, coaching at primary school age if you play in a club or progress to county level?

Young tennis players seem to train excessively if they are talented and I don’t really want her to get roped in to that or be demoralised because she can’t progress.

All sport seems to be so serious from so young these days so I guess I’m asking what is still relatively low key for kids at club or even county level?

[Lastusernamecantthinkofanotherone]

Triathlon.

training is at your own pace, you don’t peak until your 20’s so there’s no intense training early on.

unfortunately for “able” kids finding a sport that doesn’t want hours and hours of training is tough.

you could start with swimming?

[Billybagpuss]

@Lastusernamecantthinkofanotherone

Triathlon.

training is at your own pace, you don’t peak until your 20’s so there’s no intense training early on.

unfortunately for “able” kids finding a sport that doesn’t want hours and hours of training is tough.

you could start with swimming?

Sadly my experience of swimming is if you weren’t prepared to put in multiple sessions a week, including land training and early mornings they didn’t want to know.

[Lastusernamecantthinkofanotherone]

@Billybagpuss

Sadly my experience of swimming is if you weren’t prepared to put in multiple sessions a week, including land training and early mornings they didn’t want to know.

That wouldn’t be at 6 though.

I agree swimming doesn’t have a great culture, but start there and move to triathlon as the demand gets too high.

cheer is quite a good one I’ve found, if you get the right club.

[Whinge]

@Billybagpuss

Sadly my experience of swimming is if you weren’t prepared to put in multiple sessions a week, including land training and early mornings they didn’t want to know.

That's been my experience as well. I would saying swimming is one of the most time consuming sports for children, along with dance / gymnastics.

[IncomingTraffic]

Don’t do competitive swimming!

Rugby can be really good for what you’re looking for. My DS quit swimming (14 hours training a week in Y7, including early mornings) and now does rugby. His club is very much everyone gets to play at least 10 minutes in a game - so long as they’re safe to do so. Inclusion is the main priority.

It’s also much cheaper than swimming, and only one evening training plus a Sunday morning for training/matches. The season stops after Easter too, so summer is just a Sunday morning of non-contact training.

[MinnieMountain]

Maybe cycling? I’m sure others will know more than me, but our 9yo goes to training at the local clarion club. Lots of the children compete but there’s no pressure.

[IncomingTraffic]

@Billybagpuss

Sadly my experience of swimming is if you weren’t prepared to put in multiple sessions a week, including land training and early mornings they didn’t want to know.

Yes. They’d rather lose promising swimmers (with national qualifying times) than say ‘OK - just do the after school and weekend sessions’. So many drop out because it’s relentless.

[Lovetotravel123]

Running. It’s up to her which sessions and races she attends.

[MusicMum80s]

This has been super helpful! I disregarded tennis and swimming for exactly those reasons despite my DD being pretty good and really enjoying both.

I’m really pleased to hear running is lower key as she is naturally very fast (probably her greatest athletic talent) so if it’s also not overloaded on training that might be perfect.

Netball would also seem a good skill fit but I don’t know how time demanding it is so anyone with views would be great!

[IncomingTraffic]

Volleyball is pretty reasonable too.

[MrsAvocet]

I think most sports and activities can be very full on but don't have to be. It's about finding a setting that is the right fit. I coach cycling and see every possibility I think - from kids who come once a week for an hour to those with bikes that cost upwards of £10k who are off racing all over the country (and abroad) every weekend. It's certainly a sport that can be very time, effort and money heavy, but you can enjoy it in a multitude of ways without going down that path. It's a very wide ranging sport with lots of different options both in types of riding and degrees of competitiveness so there's something for most people.
Hockey is another sport you might like to consider. It's very inclusive and most clubs cater for a very wide range of ages and abilities.Depending on where you live you can end up with a lot of travel time for matches and training if it becomes a more serious hobby, but at the age your DD is at it will be very low key - learning the basics at training and maybe some friendly half pitch matches against other local clubs. Both my sons played when they were little - one still does, at quite a good level in fact. We'd been put off by the overly competitive nature of football locally, even for infant school aged children, and someone suggested the local hockey club to us as an alternative. We found it a different world. Obviously we may just have been lucky, but my son has belonged to several clubs now and obviously has played many others, as well as playing at county and regional level and the vast majority of people we come across - players, coaches, officials and parents - are really nice.
I think there is a risk of any youth sport becoming toxic unfortunately, but in my experience both as a parent and a coach, when it does, it is more often than not parental attitude that underlies that. If you approach it with a healthy and pragmatic attitude and are willing to walk away from things that you don't think are in your child's best interests it will be ok. You sound like you have your head screwed on and are not likely to get sucked into uber competitive behaviour which is where problems often arise. I'd try tasters in lots of things at this stage and see if anything grabs your DD's attention. Sports Centres often do multi sport holiday clubs over the Summer holidays which might introduce her to a sport you've never even considered so have a look for that kind of thing.

[whoami24601]

@IncomingTraffic

Don’t do competitive swimming!

Rugby can be really good for what you’re looking for. My DS quit swimming (14 hours training a week in Y7, including early mornings) and now does rugby. His club is very much everyone gets to play at least 10 minutes in a game - so long as they’re safe to do so. Inclusion is the main priority.

It’s also much cheaper than swimming, and only one evening training plus a Sunday morning for training/matches. The season stops after Easter too, so summer is just a Sunday morning of non-contact training.

I was going to suggest rugby too. Its a brilliantly inclusive sport. Our club costs £20 a year for subs and then kit is provided. We just have to buy boots. DD started at 8 and absolutely loves it. It's a great time to be a girl getting in to the sport too.

[MinnieMountain]

I second the friendliness of hockey. DH had played since he was a teenager and all his hockey friends are lovely. You can also play mixed (minimum of half the team have to be female), which provides a good balance.

[FusionChefGeoff]

Definitely a team sport - it adds so much more to her life and family life. I'd echo rugby - our local club is sooo inclusive and friendly and a try community.

Football is also a wonderfully easy team sport to join in plus means you find friends ANYWHERE as long as you or they've got a ball!!!

[FusionChefGeoff]

Team sport is easier on MH from my perspective - solo sports turn the focus inwards and the pressure / mistakes / PBs can be too much.

A team game takes a lot of that down a valuable notch or two as you're a collective

[MrsAvocet]

Team sport is easier on MH from my perspective - solo sports turn the focus inwards and the pressure / mistakes / PBs can be too much.
Not always. My DD used to dance competitively and she was always far more relaxed about her solos than when she was dancing with other people. If she messed up her solo it only affected her, plus she was pretty good at improvising so could often salvage her own performance anyway. But if she was in a group she was always conscious that making a mistake would spoil it for everyone and that made her much more anxious. Other girls in her dance school were the opposite - they felt the "safety in numbers" aspect of a group dance but were too nervous to dance solo.
And there are teams and teams. Obviously a good team will work together, support all its members and take collective responsibility for both good and disappointing performances, and a good coach will treat everyone fairly. But unfortunately not all teams are like that and that can put youngsters under a lot of pressure.
So I think it depends a lot on both the personality of the individual and the ethos of a team as to whether a solo or group activity works best.

[MusicMum80s]

These are all great suggestions. Ideally we’d find something that had a decent club near where we live so I’ll overlay that into the suggestions as well and let her have a go!

[PokemonPasta]

Cricket? my kids started in all stars and our now on a team. Nice friendly laidback sport.

[SkaterBrained]

If you have a local athletics club, they do a nice mix of running, throwing and jumping. There are competitions if she wants to do them, but the variety of skills keeps the training fresh.

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

she 6. Just let her play a variety of sports. Let her play an instrument, go to Scouts etc. A variety is far healthier for a growing body and mind than just repetition of one thing.

[MusicMum80s]

@Muchtoomuchtodo if you read my post I already said she does a variety of sports... She also does other activities including music which is why I’m looking for a sport that isn’t too demanding at club level. I’m asking for specific advice about which club sport is least demanding though there always seems to be some poster that responds this way to every post about activities for some reason.

@SkaterBrained we have a good athletics club and a triathlon club that also seems good. As she loves swimming I think that might an option to try. I’d be keen to hear thoughts if anyone had any experience

@PokemonPasta we have a very local strong women’s club with juniors and cricket is one of the team sports she tried and loved this year at school so it’s good to hear the training expectations aren’t too much!

[drpet49]

@MinnieMountain

I second the friendliness of hockey. DH had played since he was a teenager and all his hockey friends are lovely. You can also play mixed (minimum of half the team have to be female), which provides a good balance.

I was going to suggest hockey too. Have heard very good things about the culture in hockey too.

[grass321]

Definitely not tennis! My son was on a regional scheme and it was hideous, very expensive and full of overly competitive parents and crying children.

Whereas I really like the club and talent academy hockey schemes and good representation of girls. Ditto for club and county cricket.

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

@MusicMum80s As I said, keep the variety - even outside of school.

If you’re dead keen on having a focus on one sport I’d go for dry slope ski racing. By far the friendliest sport that we’ve come across as a family.

[Comefromaway]

I too was going to suggest hockey. So inclusive, totally different ethos to football.