Hi All
I need some advice/calming/perspective!
My sporty 13year old is at a stage where her sports clubs are now expecting the kids to be really competitive. To move "up" a group and therefore be with kids their age they are now wanting the kids to be stronger, faster, better etc. Now, don't get me wrong I understand some of these kids may well have aspirations to become professional athletes in their sport and that should be encouraged and developed but the reality is that most of them wont be.
My daughter has played hockey and has been swimming competitively since she was 8. Always been a good team member, stuck in, behaved, generally been easy to coach etc but now she has decided to quit swimming because she hasn't been moved up a group for nearly 2 years and all her friends have. We have spoken to the coaches and really nothing has changed therefore after lockdown she decided to call it a day. Something similar is about to happen with hockey, unless she gets faster, is more aggressive...she won't move up next year. She is already finding this hard. She loves playing though, she just wants to enjoy it. She struggles a bit with her confidence but on the whole sport gives her that or it has until now.
I keep hearing all this rhetoric about keeping girls in sport and encouraging healthier active lifestyles but I feel my daughter is being actively discouraged! She doesn't want to go swimming with me and her friends who don't swim competitively don't want to do the swimming she does. Her school hockey is non existent due to covid just now and club hockey is ok, but they are now focusing on how many kids they can get picked for the county squad which is ramping up the pressure. She works hard and continues to take part but is finding the pressure to be better difficult even though she is of course improving.
Is there anything out there that she can do? Dance feels like you only fit in if you have done it for years, gymnastics is unlikely to be much better. We live in a fairly small town so options are limited. I did approach the swim club for a fitness lane but at this point it isn't on their radar.
I feel so frustrated for her and me! If you got this far, thanks for reading and do you have any ideas, thoughts or experiences?