Child giving up hobbies

[ShabbyChic999]

I'd love some advice please....how do you encourage your children to stick with hobbies they take up? My 11 year old has a history of taking up something only to want to give it up a few weeks later, we have really encouraged sticking with football for a few years but apart from that everything else gets shelved - basketball, golf, musical instruments (despite being very good, even amazing the teacher with the speed of understanding)....it seems once something gets challenging it's time to quit....would you force your child to continue with something in the hope they will enjoy it after a time (and put up with the whinging in the mean time) or let them quit?
I think it's important at this age to have some hobbies as there is a lot of free time after school and on weekends but both my husband and I are running out of enthusiasm for coaxing, cajoling and encouraging :(

The rule in our family is that if you take something up you stick with it for the length of the commitment (e.g. a new sport would be a season, musical instrument would be a year, some clubs are just a term.) No quitting mid-commitment is allowed, and you have to do it with enthusiasm - it is not my job to nag you to get ready to do a thing you asked to do!
Towards the end of the season / year / term you need to decide if you want to sign up again.

1 hobby is enough just let him play football he doesnt have to do anything else. He might discover a hobby he wants to stick at when he is older.

It's so hard... but sometimes you just have to be cruel to be kind ... I remember my daughter crying not wanting to jump in and swim at swimming lessons. My husband said let it go... I pushed a few weeks, she is now 15 and is an GB artistic swimmer . I'm a great believer that sport is an essential to get children through their teenage years.... I'm currently battling hard with my son.. who is very laid back...

If footballs his thing let him get on with it. No need to force things he's not interested in.

Thanks guys, we do also have a rule that he completes whatever course we've paid for eg if we've paid for 8 weeks he'll do that etc. The other thing we really forced was swimming when he was younger as reckoned that was not negotiable and he did do swimming lessons for good few years and we allowed him to give up only when he could swim comfortably. I just feel at the moment he has a lot of time in his hands, his friends seem so busy with extra activities, I feel like a bad parent 😵

I think the 'right' number of activities is different for every child.
My daughter is massively oversubscribed. Always has been. She dashes from one thing to the next and somehow fits it all in. Always has.
My son would find that very stressful. He plays football and does one other thing. It's enough for him and I respect that.