Likes the sport, but won’t engage during games

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the replies and suggestions. I hadn’t considered ADHD but in some ways it makes sense. She has tried swimming and took a few gymnastics classes, but didn’t love either. Tennis sounds like a good idea and maybe volleyball? She’s very strong and naturally athletic so just confuses me. Any other ideas for non team sports we could try?

[Anonymous]

It wasn’t clear from your post whether she wants to continue? If so, I would let her. She might get better, she might not, but if she’s enjoying being part of a team, does it matter?

[Anonymous]

My daughter started to care one day around age 10 like a switch was flipped. She went from perfecting her on-field cartwheels to being too intense for rec without risking injury to the opposing players. She’s now planning to play in college, but she was about the least interested kid in her sport up until age 10

My son seems stuck in chill mode and I’m thinking he may stay that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ADHD kid falls further behind every year and can barely keep up at 13. The game is passing them by. They were a star at 6-8 years old, when it was all about individual skills and athleticism. What I learned is that I wish I had nudged them more toward individual sports where their athleticism alone would carry them - for example, tennis, swimming, and gymnastics. We're now encouraging track and xc for high school.

Mine was opposite actually, once put in the right position (eg for some reason she excels as a defender as opposed to a striker in soccer). She's 16 now on a travel team, but was just like OPs daughter at 8. My point is all kids with ADHD are different. Whats important is meeting your kid where they are.

[Anonymous]

My son who is almost 8 was like this in soccer last year and even this past fall. He would say he liked soccer and wanted to keep playing, but would just kind of stand there in games. This spring it seems like something has clicked. He is getting into the game more, hustling, and generally seems to care more about competing. He is scoring several goals per game. We are going to keep signing him up as long as he says he wants to do it.

I do think my son has ADHD tendencies if not the full blown criteria. Maybe it's hard for him to follow along with what's going on as things change quickly. He is still at the 4v4 age, so next year will be more telling when he starts playing 7v7. He will either keep getting more into it and improving, or realize it's not for him. In the meantime he's having fun and it's good exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ADHD kid falls further behind every year and can barely keep up at 13. The game is passing them by. They were a star at 6-8 years old, when it was all about individual skills and athleticism. What I learned is that I wish I had nudged them more toward individual sports where their athleticism alone would carry them - for example, tennis, swimming, and gymnastics. We're now encouraging track and xc for high school.

Mine was opposite actually, once put in the right position (eg for some reason she excels as a defender as opposed to a striker in soccer). She's 16 now on a travel team, but was just like OPs daughter at 8. My point is all kids with ADHD are different. Whats important is meeting your kid where they are.

That's nice to hear. My 13-year-old is going to play another year, and we're opting to go down a level, where the coach is good and has promised a lot of playing time. It's still a travel team, just not in the highest league anymore. Maybe they'll build confidence and turn things around. I should add that although they've declined relative to their peers, it's mostly because they started so dominant. Even with ADHD-related challenges, they'll still make their high school varsity team. And to the OP, the best 6-8 year olds are not always the best 13-year-olds! And I'm told the best 13-year-olds are not always the best high school players. We'll see.