Is my child ready to compete?

By: Kendy K. Vierling, Ph.D.

Children seem to be competing in organized, competitive athletic programs at younger and younger ages. Children as young as five have been seen competing in sports such as gymnastics, swimming, tennis, baseball, and golf. Most parents strive to provide the best environment for their child’s physical and psychological development. However, this quest poses the question, “When is my child ready to participate in competitive leagues?”

When is my child ready to compete?

Although this seems like a simple question, it is actually a complex question and it does not have an easy answer. Because each child has unique abilities and talents, each parent needs to take time to carefully examine whether his/her child is physically, psychologically, socially, and emotionally ready to participate before the young athlete is enrolled in competitive sports.

The adult model of competition and children’s development

The "adult model" of competition is usually the type of environment that adults are most familiar with and typically think of as “competition.” The adult model of competition is usually considered as organized games, meets, or tournaments where participants compete against each other according to pre-determined rules and success is determined by outscoring the opponent- with the focus on winning the event. The emphasis is often placed on the product or “winning,” rather than on the process or equal access to participation and learning skills.

However, children are still physically and psychologically developing. They have not learned all of the technical skills necessary to play at the highest levels and may not be physically or psychologically able to consistently perform those skills yet. The problems associated with an early specialization in a sport are closely associated with the levels of intensity, duration, and frequency of workouts in a particular sport. An early, intense focus on one activity at the exclusion of other activities also may expose the child to repetitive motion and impact injuries that affect specific limbs and joints. Therefore, it may be more beneficial for children can be involved in a variety of sports and activities that are more developmentally appropriate. However, this developmental appropriateness of activities should involve broadening our definition of “competition” to include models that are more appropriate for children’s changing bodies and developmental needs.

At young ages, children usually cannot keep accurate score and they do not understand “staying in a certain zone or position.” Because they are still psychologically and cognitively developing, they naturally gravitate to the ball wherever it is on the field and abandon their “position” on the field. It is extremely difficult for young children to understand perspectives that go beyond their own personal perspective and to see relationships on the field that do not involve them directly. The ability to understand the complexities of strategies used in sports, however, is typically reached in children who are approximately twelve years or older. Therefore, when adults insist that six-year-old children stay glued to specific patches of field during a game to “stay in position” or that the score of the game is kept, it may not be realistic for the children to fully understand the concepts- nor may it be immediately beneficial for the children’s development. In addition, prior to approximately eleven or twelve years of age, children are unable to cognitively distinguish between effort and ability in explaining successes and failures. Young children generally believe that if they try really hard and exert a great deal of effort, then they performed well. Therefore, it is important to emphasize effort and individual skill development, which are also relatively more controllable factors, to encourage the child’s development and foster the child’s self-esteem.

When the adult model of competition is used with young children, typically the early-maturing children enjoy a physical, social, and emotional advantage. The early maturing children are more likely to be larger, be placed in a position where they receive more practice and interaction, and to receive recognition for their achievements. Often the early-maturing children spend a disproportionate time with the ball in the adult model of competition, so their skills then develop. Therefore, early competition using “the adult model” typically creates opportunities for success for only a very select group of kids- those who are lucky to mature earlier than other children.

Developmentally appropriate forms of sport activity for children

A young athlete may not be socially, psychologically, technically, or physiologically ready for the "adult model" of sport competition, however, he/she may be ready for more developmentally appropriate types of sport involvement. An example of this more developmentally appropriate form of sport activity would be for young children to participate in t-ball so that they can learn the basic skills of hitting a ball and throwing before children are enrolled in fast-pitch baseball leagues where children are expected to hit a moving ball thrown (often erratically) by the largest child on the opposing team in the general direction of home plate. It can be understandable why a small child may become afraid of being hit by the ball when it is hurled at them by the largest child on the opposing team with little accuracy. Therefore, parents need to not only determine whether the young athlete is ready for competition, but also the type of activities that the young athlete is ready for and what type of environment would be most suited to that individual child’s psychological, physical, social, and technical development.

When a young athlete is growing into his/her body, the child is not only expected to learn new technical skills, but also to relearn skills that he/she was previously able to perform proficiently as the body changes. Therefore, it is important to structure the learning environment to emphasize skill development and the inclusion of all children. Competitive environments that “cut” children and only evaluate success based on winning do not provide opportunities for late maturing athletes that are at a biological disadvantage relative to their early maturing peers. If these late maturing athletes are not provided opportunities to develop their skills, they may not develop their abilities to their full potential and they will miss out on the opportunity to experience the success of improving their skills.

Ways to create a developmentally appropriate environment

Therefore, it is important to use a variety of developmentally appropriate criteria to reinforce and emphasize the development of physical and social skills, such as technique development, individual improvement, and learning sportsmanship. Again, when adults keep in mind that the most important factor in the sport experience is the child’s psychological, physical, and skill development, winning is not the most important outcome. Therefore, be creative in organizing activities that encourage, rather than discourage, skill development. Below are a few examples of activities that emphasize skill development:

Change how the events are structured and played to allow for developing physical abilities, such as lowing the basketball hoop so that children can throw the ball with correct shooting technique instead of having to heave the ball at a 10 foot hoop from below his/her waist because the child does not have the physical strength to throw the ball that high.
Have the children play for a period of time without keeping score. If one team is dominating the game, “change up” the roster so that teams are more equal in skill level and the children will have a more balanced game to use their skills.
Allow all children to participate in the game or meet, instead of “benching some kids indefinitely” because their skills may not currently be as developed as other children.
Allow children to use smaller balls or specialized equipment so that they are more appropriate for a child’s smaller hands, feet, and body. Then, the children can learn proper technique or learn not be fearful of the ball, such as allowing children to use smaller soccer balls or softer baseballs.
Pairing children of similar size and age so that an early-maturing child who is physically much larger does not injure a child who is late-maturing.

The benefits of emphasizing skill development

When the emphasis is on skill development, all children can be successful and enjoy the activity. When emphasizing skill development, it is important that children are given plenty of opportunities to try newly learned skills so that they can develop them further. By creating developmental progressions for children that emphasize skill development instead of winning, adults create a more appropriate program for young athletes to develop a firm foundation of technical skills that encourage proper skill development and promote self-confidence. Lastly, emphasizing skill development as the focus of a children’s sport program, instead of using an adult competitive model that emphasizes winning as the prime outcome, will encourage children to continue participating in sports and develop a love of physical activity that will last a lifetime.

Understanding when a child is ready

Therefore, while a definitive answer cannot be provided regarding when precisely a child is ready for competition, specific aspects of development can be identified that need to be met for the young athlete to be "ready" for competitive sport participation. If we structure the sport environment to be developmentally appropriate for very young athletes, they will benefit from the experience by developing skills and self-confidence to prepare themselves for competition at older ages, when they can truly understand competition and the complexities of sport.

For more information, contact the AIA Academy at (602) 861-6198 or contact@aiaacademy.org to schedule a coach or parent education clinic for your youth organization.