When he is older, take him to playground with friends and play various pickup games. He’ll also get recess and PE time at school. Let him pick, but best sports to consider early on are:

Team sports that provide good exercise and movement and thinking: basketball, soccer, lacrosse (I’d say hockey, but too much equipment and hard to find facilities).

Individual sports that provide good exercise and strength / coordination building: swimming, gymnastics, tennis.

Maybe have him do one team and one inidvidual each year between 4 and 8 yrs old, and see what sticks. Then hone down to two between 9 and 12. After that, he’ll take it from there and make his own decisions.

Over the next 5-10 years, take him to the playground to help him develop body awareness, motor planning skills, hand-eye coordination, patience, good sportsmanship, and how to initiate/exit a game with other kids.

Then sign him up for basketball. One hour, indoors, minimal equipment, no laundry challenges, car stays clean.

Signed,
Multiplayer baseball mom (who's kidding about the basketball. mostly.)

Anonymous wrote:Lady, you need to get a hobby. Thinking about this when your kid is one is problematic.

Read a book. Knit. Go for a run. Just stop trying to control the outcome of your kid’s life by overthinking everything.

+1
You realize you're talking about your child doing year round swim 8 years in the future.

The only "sport" that every kid should participate in is swimming. It is an important life skill to be able to swim reasonably well. I would recommend (at an appropriate age -- say 6-7) putting the kids on a summer swim team.

In a year they will be adequate swimmers. By age 10 they will be very good swimmers. My kids did that along with most of their friends -- they groubled but they all are now very good swimmers as young adults though none ever swam in high school.

Put him in gymnastics. Many places start at 18 months. It teaches body awareness, builds good strength and helps with coordination. At that age he will be learning how to sit with a group, follow a circuit and wait his turn. Don’t expect much but keep him in it. My son is now 5 and has done it since 18 months. I don’t think he will be a competitive gymnast by any means, but at other sports (soccer, t ball) he already has the basics of team sports down (being a good teammate and following directions) plus he is super strong.

The best sport is the one he wants to play.

You are right about swimming needing to start young, however it is recommended that families not think about this until toilet training is complete.

Kids who are goid at sports tend not to have parents who just sign up their kids for sports at 4 and the parents just watch them play a sport for an hour. When my son was one we bought a little soccer net and a ball and set up in the basement. He enjoyed kicking the ball around. By 2 he could drop kick the ball. At three we would put down pillows or other objects and he would have to dribble around them. By the time we got around to signing him up for soccer at 4 he was so much better than other kids not because he was more athletic but because he enjoyed goofing around with balls so he as spent more time playing. Once you are one of the better players in a team sport you get them ball more in practice and games and get better. We also bought a mini basket ball hoop and a t-ball set. We didn't do it thinking he was going to be the best of dominate a sport. He had energy and enjoyed playing.

Joining a waitlist for a pool now would be smart. We got off the waitlist at our very popular pool about a year earlier than the waitlist would have indicated, fyi, because sometimes people defer membership for a year, decide not to join, etc. I would take the listed wait time with a grain of salt.

Try different things and see what he enjoys. My now 7yo was an amazing swimmer at age 6 but the 1st ever race she did she was in tears after because of all the shouting. She never did race again and only swims for fun ( i am fine with this) so try soccer basketball swimming martial arts and give him a rounded experience.

Anonymous wrote:If you want to be at a nice pool, joining a waitlist now is a great idea. Wish I did that.

But don't do it with the plan that your one year old is expected to be on the swim team. That's just some controlling crazy.

If you want to be at a nice pool, joining a waitlist now is a great idea. Wish I did that.

If / when he’s interested just throw a ball to him around the house.

Soccer is easy to start around 3.

I personally wait until the kid is 3 to start swim lessons so I don’t have to get in the pool with them.

In general I don’t think it’s worth fighting with them to go - so see what he’s are interested in and if he’s not interested until older than 3 it’s no big deal. Some people like the parent / child classes at My Gym / Little Gym and Gymboree at a young age. M

We do join a summer pool - for sports leagues and summer pool I suggest joining whatever one is in the neighborhood or where other kids from your eventual ES will go.

Lady, you need to get a hobby. Thinking about this when your kid is one is problematic.

Read a book. Knit. Go for a run. Just stop trying to control the outcome of your kid’s life by overthinking everything.

Your son is 1!?

My husband is not athletic at all. I was a mediocre swimmer in high school but I think what would have benefitted me was starting to swim swim team year round from about age 9.

Our son is currently 1 so we still have some time. He is very social and active. I think down the line it would be beneficial for him to play sports to burn some energy and hopefully to get into a lifetime of being fit (my DH struggled with his weight during adolescence) I recently looked into joining a pool for swim team and the waitlists for some places are 10 years long! Is there anything else I should be considering/looking at?