Not so fast: Play sports when you're ready

February 04, 2009|By FRED BOWEN Special to The Washington Post

A recent newspaper article has me thinking about what is the best age for kids to start playing sports.

The New York Times reported that a new world golf champion has been crowned. His name is Brett Sodetz. He is 3 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 50 pounds and was 6 years old when he beat 82 kids from 12 countries to win his age group in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship.

Kids are starting to play sports at younger ages. I receive notices for soccer camps for 3-year-olds. A friend's 5-year-old son has been invited to play on a T-ball team this spring. And it seems as if almost every kid is playing on some team by the first grade.

Kids sports get very serious very quickly. For example, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sponsors a national basketball championship for boys and girls younger than 8 years old.

Recently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the group that makes the rules for college sports, said college coaches couldn't try to get seventh- and eighth-grade players to agree to play later for their college basketball teams.

I coached kids for years. I think it's important for kids to be active and play sports. But when kids are young Â? say, 6 to 9 years old Â? they should play more games at the park or in their own back yard than in organized leagues.

The idea of having a national or world championship for 6- and 7-year-olds or recruiting 12- and 13-year-olds for college basketball is a little crazy.

I know some folks say that kids have to sign up for organized teams at a young age or they will fall behind the other kids. I've even had parents tell me it's "too late" for their kids to start playing team sports because they are 10 years old.

That's silly. What secret skill does a kid learn playing a sport when he is 5 to 9 years old that a 10-year-old can't learn very quickly? If the 10-year-old is a decent athlete who wants to learn and play the game, she will catch up quickly.

So the best age for kids to start playing sports is when they really want to play. That may be 6 or 12 or any time in between. But remember, sports are not just the games with uniforms and referees. Pickup basketball games, playing catch with a friend or soccer matches where the goals are shirts on the ground are sports, too.

And remember you can always enjoy playing sports even if you are not a world champion at 6 years old.

Fred Bowen is an author of sports novels for kids.

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