Reply to When could you tell that your child was a good athlete?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Clearly your DD is interested in the various sports, attentive enough to pick up the rules, and focused enough to follow through on multiple rounds of play.  That all counts for a lot at that age, and for many years to come.  Just like it does for "academics" in elementary school, by the way.  Strong Interest + Strong Attention Span + Focused Follow Through will get kids very, very far in the early years, regardless of their actual talent.

My advice is to focus on observing and praising those things above.  When DD or DH or anyone else talks about how "good" she is at a sport, it's easy enough to answer, "She really enjoys it," or even better, "Yeah, she really likes it and has been practicing a lot."

The message is that it's not all about talent or giftedness.  It's about practice (and attentiveness and focus), which leads to good results.  Down the line in middle school or high school, will lots of practice and focus compensate if she turns out not to have decent athletic skills?  Probably not.  But in the meantime, she'll internalize the lesson that she has a lot of control over her performance, both on the field and off.

And of course, you really need to rein in your DH.  It's exciting to see our kids doing something well, but he needs to control himself and his expectations before this becomes about HIM instead of your DD.  The future will be what it will be.  In the meantime, she's having fun and learning a lot.  That's great, and it should be more than enough for DH.[/quote]

Nope, [b]you are missing out a big factor in most team sports- aggressiveness. [/b]Some kids are simply more aggressive and don't mind getting bumped or bumping other kids. They want to be first to the ball, and won't easily give it up.  You can be interested in soccer or basketball, be able to sustain your attention, focus, practice a ton but if you aren't willing to go push for the ball or use your body to defend the ball, it is hard to do well. OP's kid sounds athletic AND aggressive (and I mean it in a good way, not a mean way), so will do well in many types if team sports. My oldest is coordinated, attentive, has great foot skills, is really interested in soccer, and practices moves a lot. He is a good player but won't ever be a great player because he simply isn't aggressive. Meanwhile his younger brother has fewer skills, isn't as attentive nor interested, but is really aggressive on the field. He wants the ball, is confident when he steals the ball away, and if he loses the ball will chase down any kid and get the ball back. He wins all the 50-50 balls. I get told all the time what a great player he is.[/quote]

Yes, this is very true for soccer.  Also for lacrosse, basketball, football and other sports where kids compete head to head to get the ball.  But not for all sports.

Our DD is very interested in sports and very coordinated, attentive, focused etc., but not nearly as aggressive as the other kids.  She liked soccer early on when it was just ball handling drills, but she began to dread it once it started including scrimmages.  She would beat other kids to get to the ball and then would hesitate and pull back because she didn't want to get bumped.  Just not her thing.

Rather than "help" her become more aggressive, we encouraged her to try other sports.  Baseball and tennis were big hits.  She loves both, in part because no one is coming at her to take the ball away.  She can focus on her skills and also on being a good teammate (encouraging other kids when they come up to bat or when they field a ball) without worrying about getting hurt or being chased by another kid. She is also starting to enjoy running.  Another solo performance type of sport.

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