Let the kids play

The pep talk before the game should focus on values instead of tactics.

The CrossFit Kids model begins with raising interest in movement and more specifically, developing a love of fitness which will build functional and capable kids/teens & eventually adults.

In other words, fun comes first. You have to find ways of building fun into sessions, to keep kids intrigued and eventually build off of that.

In each workout, juniors will learn and practice functional movements involving exercises that are fundamental to all things that kids need to do when they play. They will pull, push, run, throw, climb, lift, and jump. Learning to work through workouts without giving up, which has many benefits for kids outside of the gym and this process can help teach them a healthy way to approach obstacles in life. Our coaches try to create an environment where we encourage each other to assist in shining light on this character trait of never giving up and doing your best.

Winning vs Developing

Where does this leave the competitive aspect? Well, for our juniors, we try and park that aspect, for now..

Their time will come to be more intently focused or commited to the results, but pushing our young ones too hard, too soon, might just end up having them dislike sports or exercise and could have further detrimental aspects in future.

Junior sports in general can easily get out hand. The intense focus on outcome/points scored/games won, can be detrimental in the long term. Parents who push their kids to excel on the field usually want their kids to learn “what it takes to win.” That’s admirable but is probably having the opposite effect.

A national survey of 5,275 high-school athletes revealed teens would rather play in a game for a losing team than sit on the bench for a winning team. According to other studies of youth athletes who quit sport before age 14, most listed “too much pressure to perform/win” as one of their main reasons for quitting.

Most former professional athletes will tell you that what they miss most in retirement, is competing in sports, the camaraderie. Not just winning games.

The odds:

Now, another often missed, seemingly lesser know fact. Is that very, very few of our kids, will go on to make a career out of sports. So why the big push to treat them as such so early on? When they should be developing other skills and learn to enjoy the lessons sports and fitness has to offer?

Take rugby as an example:

Only, one in five players who play in the u13 Craven Week are selected five years later to play at the u18 Craven Week. With reference to playing U13 Craven Week, “The dropout rate from there on becomes even steeper, with only 0.02% (1 in 6 102 players) of players selected for the national u18 week going on to play at the highest level for the Springboks”.

The chance of becoming a Springbok is very, very slim. Another interesting statistic, is that 95% of school leavers stop playing the game altogether.

So does that mean I shouldn't tell my kid to dream or work hard to become a Springbok? Absolutely not.

Instead, should we not believe that if kids enjoy the process of being fit, playing on a team, learning through winning, learning through losing, and experiencing the joys sport & fitness has to offer, that these principles will EVENTUALLY lead to competitive excellence as they get older. Further more, that these lessons can help shape them into a better, well rounded adult?

The concerning part of the competitive approach in junior sports, is that so many kids never receive the opportunity to play. Or end up disliking it.

Where in reality, all children should be playing, regardless of their ability.

When kids are having fun, seeing themselves improve, and playing their sport with integrity, they are more likely to stay involved. They play with effort, enthusiasm and confidence. This helps develop that desire to compete and excel.

The goal of CrossFit Kids is to break the cycle of passing on poor behaviors, by instilling in this and future generations of children, a positive association with exercise, a desire to be fit, and a goal to live a long healthy life.

Celebrating successes:

Positive feedback can be extremely important to an adolescent, we have found that endeavouring to recognise their progress helps motivate our juniors to keep trying and give their best during sessions. A virtue of kids classes is to provide opportunities for success and learning to overcome hurdles . For children with stressful home and/or scholastic environments, these classes may be one of the few positive moments of their day . For those already athletically capable, it serves as a platform to enhance their ability to levels priorly impossible, in the form of strength, speed, flexibility, mobility and agility amongst others.

In closing, we firmly believe our kids classes have the power to positively change children’s lives from a very young age. That remains at the core of our preparation and execution in class. Along with CrossFits proven methodology, our juniors can only succeed. Better than yesterday!