Itching for a Jock...

hockey stick - check
baseball bat & ball - check
soccer ball - check
football - check
running shoes - check
mini golf clubs - check
skates - check
bike - check

Now that you've got all the gear, you just need a little tyke to use them. And use them with great skill, right? You know who you are! You sit on the couch & watch TV but expect your kid to be a little Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods or Serena Williams (when she's fit & not modeling, of course). I've heard lots of couch-potato parents talk about how they want their kid to be an athlete. I even had one parent ask me to watch their 6 year-old son run because she thought he was really fast because get this, he could beat her in a race. I had to take a good, hard look at this mother because I've seen Oprah Winfrey run and I think Oprah would kick her butt in a sprint. Especially to the buffet table. Sorry Oprah but it's true. You may have run a marathon but you're not very fast. Oh, I digress. I can talk about Oprah all day. So how do we get our kids to exercise and hopefully enjoy a couple of sports?

For starters, we should encourage our kids to be active. And if they excel at a particular sport later on, then good for them. Remember this is about your kids, not about you. I suggest every kid, no matter what their age, play everyday. By "play", I don't mean dropping your kids off at soccer, gymnastics or swim practice and then head to Timmy's. I mean taking them to the playground & playing with them. You could throw a frisbee around, kick a soccer ball, go to a leisure swim. You get the idea. If you have an older child you could go for a jog and have them ride their bike beside you. Or bike ride together. The key is to exercise WITH them. You know, lead by example and make exercise fun and not competitive. 

Speaking of competitive, fairly recently I read an article about a soccer league for 8 or 9 year-olds where goals & final scores are not recorded. The kids have fun running around & kicking the ball, the parents don't use four-letter words during the game, and the refs don't need to hire bodyguards. This sounds like a win-win-win situation to me, especially for the refs. What is really interesting about this league is the kids are concentrating more on the skill aspect of soccer and not the outcome of the game. This is setting them up to be, dare I say, competitive soccer players. In the future when they choose, of course. Not when mommy and daddy are ready. If this league churns out some pro players than watch other sports try the same thing. Can you imagine baseball without RBIs? Figure-skating without judges and Jeff Gillooly? Gymnastics without a ten? 

Maybe a lot more kids would try the more competitive sports with the scoreless type of model. It is, after all, more inclusive. And for the hyper-competitive parents, their kid would still learn the necessary skills to be a super-athlete later on. So tee up, I'm coming over for play time with my golf clubs & my three year-old. You'd better wear a helmet. I'll bring the Timmy's. 

If you'd like to hire a personal trainer to get yourself into shape and be a role-model for your kids, I highly recommend www.livfit.com [editor's note: If you want to set an example for your child it's better to exercise with or in front of your child vs. going to a gym by yourself].