Sport Options for my Uncoordinated Tween

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a regular summer swim team. All abilities are welcome. What about cross-country? Yoga?

I always got the impression that swim team was cut-throat and highly competitive? that would be a terrific option as he loves swimming.

Cross country is another good one! He's a pretty fast runner, but his endurance needs to improve before he embarks on joining a cross country team.

Yoga - he is really inflexible. will he feel defeated right out of the gates?

Our swim club is Div. J in MCSL, so competitive enough to keep it interesting and exciting, but not cut-throat at all. The B meets are open to everyone, and we definitely have kids who are not great swimmers.

Good to know. I've already been on the FINS website researching options! this is helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My uncoordinated 9 yo loves rock climbing. The gym near us has "teams" that compete against other teams. (We don't do that, just the open-climb nights).

Do you go to Earth Treks? that's the only local rock climbing gym I'm aware of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know it might not seem like what you are looking for- but does he have any interest in non-mainstream sports?

I don't know why, but I feel like skateboarding and junior roller derby, things where the non- sporty/ quirky kids find their own...

He has a skateboard - and its tragic watching him on it. I think its due to his weak core....which is again due to his shying away from sport - aka vicious cycle syndrome

[Anonymous]

+1 on the fencing suggestion. My DS (also with ADHD) loves the historical swordsmanship program at Virginia Academy of Fencing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 on the fencing suggestion. My DS (also with ADHD) loves the historical swordsmanship program at Virginia Academy of Fencing.

Thank you! have also started researching Fencing programs in our area. I think he'd find it really cool

[Anonymous]

Swimming can be great. My uncoordinated son does rec sports. Yes, many of his friends play club and travel and there is some level of him feeling a bit left out. But he has friends on the rec teams too. He has improved more than I ever expected over the years. Repeated practice means so much and I personally feel like swim and gymnastics can do wonders for just overall athleticism. I imagine rock climbing would help with that too.

Don't forget things like hiking, which you can combine with geocaching for the treasure hunting fun of it. He doesn't have to have stamina before he starts running cross country - that's part of the training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a regular summer swim team. All abilities are welcome. What about cross-country? Yoga?

I always got the impression that swim team was cut-throat and highly competitive? that would be a terrific option as he loves swimming.

Cross country is another good one! He's a pretty fast runner, but his endurance needs to improve before he embarks on joining a cross country team.

Yoga - he is really inflexible. will he feel defeated right out of the gates?

Our swim club is Div. J in MCSL, so competitive enough to keep it interesting and exciting, but not cut-throat at all. The B meets are open to everyone, and we definitely have kids who are not great swimmers.

Good to know. I've already been on the FINS website researching options! this is helpful

(PP above)...My kids do FINS off-season too.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you so much everyone! I honestly thought that I would get maybe one or two replies. I really appreciate all the feedback - its incredibly helpful

[Anonymous]

which of the suggested is the cheapest? cross country?

[Anonymous]

there is a rock climbing place in Laurel, MD. For your son, you might need him to start rock climbing just for fun so he could take his time figuring out how to do it, then join a team when he feels more confident doing it. other kids could just join, figure it out and get confident all at once.

[Anonymous]

+1 for fencing. It's been great for our 13 year old ADHD/ 2e quirky DS. Plus-- It's a year round sport, and you can progress with an hour or 2 of class a week, so it doesn't take over your life.

[Anonymous]

Track and cross country has always been the sport of choice for our uncoordinated family. The great thing is that you can be very good at running long distance without being particularly coordinated.

Also, crew. You do a lot of running training to be an oarsman. Doesn't take much coordination either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:there is a rock climbing place in Laurel, MD. For your son, you might need him to start rock climbing just for fun so he could take his time figuring out how to do it, then join a team when he feels more confident doing it. other kids could just join, figure it out and get confident all at once.

This is the place in Laurel:
http://www.climbzone.us

You could also try Adventure Park in Sandy Spring or Go Ape.

Yoga is also a great, non-competitive sport for the uncoordinated.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you. all the feedback is so very much appreciated! I have my work cut out for me this weekend as I will be researching all of these options. Probably going to be trying out a lot of them to see which he likes the best!

thank you

[Anonymous]

Golf was the first thing that popped in my mind. Also crew...