Sport Options for my Uncoordinated Tween
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Anonymous
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would really appreciate your input and suggestions on athletic/sport options for my DS who is going into 7th.
He is quite uncoordinated - has a secondary diagnosis of Coordination Disorder with ADHD being his primary DX. He is otherwise a pretty social kid, who just happens to be "quirky". His/our goal is not for him to become a "super athlete", rather for him to be involved in the same types of activities his peers are involved in - so this is probably a social goal as well as wanting to increase his confidence, self awareness and health! His ADHD affects his coordination quite a bit because of his slow processing speeds - so if a ball is flying at him he may not be as quick to react. He can catch it fine but it takes those synapses longer to react - brain says "ball coming at you...get ready....raise arm...catch ball" , which is what we experience automatically without even having to think about it. Its just harder for him as it takes longer. It also affects his agility because he's just not exercising those muscles BECAUSE he's not good at them so why bother trying..." So its a vicious cycle. I am looking for more of a mainstream environment for him, because although he's not coordinated or athletic he doesn't really fit into a program for those with physical or neurological disabilities - I do hope that I am not offending anyone.  My apologies if I am.
He tried Sports Plus - their swimming program - and didn't really feel that he fit in. Maybe it was just that particular group, but he was much higher-functioning than the particular group of kids that were in his session. Because of this, he didn't really have examples of other mainstream athletes to see how they operate in the sport. Which is what we ultimately want. Tried TKWNDO - he was really not interested at all. Even tried a few different studios, including ones known for their "welcoming environment" - but it just didn't interest him. Have tried Dynamite Gymnastics and Agility in Rckvl. Now that he did like, but I know they've gone through some management changes recently and a lot of the good instructors left. We tried the one-on-one sessions for a while, which he enjoyed but the expense was exorbitant so we had to stop before he could really get anything out of it. So instead he joined a group class -which he also liked. I am not sure though of the quality of instruction - as I really want a coach who is not going to let him get a way with not participating because something is too hard or too challenging. Sometimes instructors just don't give a crap - its just a paycheck for them...so they would really rather not deal with that aspect of he job. So - Am I looking for the proverbial Unicorn here, or is there something out there where he would fit in? We are in Bethesda. Open to traveling, to a certain degree. TIA |
Anonymous
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My uncoordinated young teen likes:
Fencing rock climbing bike riding soccer with other non athletes running with dad swimming for fun |
Anonymous
| Try another gymnastics center. |
Anonymous
Thank you for replying so quickly! Rock climbing is something he has been interested in trying for sure! great idea! Does your DS climb with a group or at a climbing gym? Regarding soccer with other non-athletes, is he in a county rec program? where did he find or meet other kids who are also "non athletes"? its so hard around here as everyone around here seems to be on a travel team, or is really good and competes 
Fencing? that is really interesting! where has your DS gone for this? Thanks! |
Anonymous
Suggestions? |
Anonymous
| What about golf? The processing speed wouldn't be an issue, at least. I played tennis growing up, and you actually develop a lot of camaraderie even though it isn't a "team sport" because you are only playing for 1-2 hours and the rest of the time you are hanging out with the team, riding the bus, at practice, etc. |
Anonymous
| Try a regular summer swim team. All abilities are welcome. What about cross-country? Yoga? |
Anonymous
I never even thought about golf! His eye-hand coordination is actually pretty good. Should we go the county recreation route? or are there clubs/organizations that we should consider? |
Anonymous
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? |
Anonymous
| Swimming? We did FINS year-round, and I liked that kids were instructed according to their ability. |
Anonymous
| There are several fencing clubs in the area-- Silver Spring, Rockville, Chevy Chase and some in VA as well. |
Anonymous
| ^^^ Thank you to PP who suggested FINS, and PP who mentioned local fencing clubs. Who knew?! I had no idea that fencing was so prevalent around here! |
Anonymous
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. |
Anonymous
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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... |
Anonymous
| 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). |