I agree with gymnastics and wrestling.

Soccer is fine, as long as he works to develop skills and can find somewhere to play with quality coaching (assuming he wants to be at least somewhat competitive). Small players need to work on speed of play, skills, and vision to overcome small size.

Soccer if he likes it. Look at Maradona, Pele, Messi, Ribery, Neymar, etc. many are 5’5” to 5’8”. If your son is naturally very slow that might not work though. Not that he has to be a star, but he does have to like it.

Anonymous wrote:Let him play what he loves especially at 5 years old. My son was always at the 3rd percentile for height, he even dipped to 1st percentile in 8th grade. He just started growing in summer after 8th grade and will never be considered tall.

He has played rec basketball, wrestled and flag football but his passion is soccer. He has been playing club soccer on top level teams since he was 9 yrs old. We never let his size stop him from doing what he loves. He has been been made fun of by opponents and their parents, but he persevered. He is now not only Captain of his club team but made Varsity as a sophomore at his high school and starts!

Best of luck in whatever he chooses!

What assholes!!!

Train him to be a catcher in baseball. Good ones are hard to find and there's an advantage to being short (and stocky) as long as he can hit too.

Let him play what he loves especially at 5 years old. My son was always at the 3rd percentile for height, he even dipped to 1st percentile in 8th grade. He just started growing in summer after 8th grade and will never be considered tall.

He has played rec basketball, wrestled and flag football but his passion is soccer. He has been playing club soccer on top level teams since he was 9 yrs old. We never let his size stop him from doing what he loves. He has been been made fun of by opponents and their parents, but he persevered. He is now not only Captain of his club team but made Varsity as a sophomore at his high school and starts!

Best of luck in whatever he chooses!

Soccer up to a point. Wrestling.

Crew, when he gets older, if he wants to be a coxswain.

Anonymous wrote:My 5yo son is in a very low percentile for height. 3%. His brothers and DH are taller than average and athletic. DH played d1 football but not sure we will go down that path. We live in a very competitive area for sports and he has done soccer and we will introduce him to more sports. Which team sports would you recommend trying out that you don't need to be tall to have a huge advantage?

Why would you want to limit what he plays? He is only five years old and I'm sure he isn't the only short kid. Your kid could play soccer, basketball, ice hockey, baseball, tennis, golf, volleyball Literally anything! Just have fun!

Horse racing.

My DS is really short- below the 5th percentile. He is quite good at gymnastics and wrestling. He is also good at golf.

He also loves basketball and is good for his height, but not for his age/grade so he's not playing in a league - just for fun at the neighborhood park.

Agree to just try and find out what he loves but it's also good to steer a bit to things that will be successful for him.

The only reason this question would possibly matter is if you are trying to grow an elite athlete. Let your child play what they want to play, have fun, and be healthy.

I assume eventually height becomes an issue but in the basketball league my 4th grader plays in, some of the best kids are short. Not just not tall, but short. At this age, it’s more about the skill and hustle.

Baseball too! It’s harder to pitch to a short kid since the strike zone is small.

Just let him try a bunch of things and play what he enjoys the most. It’s all for fun.

Gymnastics, wrestling

My 5yo son is in a very low percentile for height. 3%. His brothers and DH are taller than average and athletic. DH played d1 football but not sure we will go down that path. We live in a very competitive area for sports and he has done soccer and we will introduce him to more sports. Which team sports would you recommend trying out that you don't need to be tall to have a huge advantage?