High school brings many different choices of sport for your child.
Choosing which one to play, is a difficult decision.
If your child grew up playing sport, the decision might not be so difficult.
One of the biggest problems your child could face, is choosing just one sport to pursue.
However, with different seasons, it is possible to pick more than one sport as long as schedules do not conflict.
If your child has never played sport but wants to start, the decision is tougher.
Allowing children to choose their own sport is important, but you should consider many things first.
Remember your child’s interest comes first.
When pupils are in high school, they should have more control over the sport and activities they are part of.
This means that parents should allow their children to choose a sport to play, instead of choosing one for them.
High school sport allows anyone to try it out.
If your son or daughter does well enough in the tryouts, he or she might have a spot on the team.
Practicing and trying out will allow teens to discover whether they truly like a sport and have an aptitude for it.
For some people, choosing which sport to pursue throughout high school is hard, because they have never really played an organised sport before and are not sure what they will enjoy most.
For others, it is a tough decision because their friends do not like to do the same sport.
No matter what your sports dilemma is, you have to make the decision that is best for you.
Playing sport is meant to be fun.
If there is a sport you really enjoy but are not sure if you can make the team, try out anyway.
What is the worst that can happen?
You can always try another sport.
And sports like cross-country and track do not typically cut participants from the team.
You can still participate even if you are not on the squad.
Benefits of team sport
Ideally children should try some form of team sport at some stage of their childhood.
Playing a team sport builds resilience and teaches many skills that are invaluable throughout life – such as working as part of a team.
But you can think outside the square, team sport does not necessarily mean only football or netball.
Rowing, gymnastics, dance and swimming all have team aspects and provide all the benefits.
Benefits of solo sports
A solo sport can teach persistence, dedication and build a child’s self-esteem.
Though a sport may be played on its own, there are normally still a lot of opportunities for socialisation and competing with others, so the benefits of team sport also apply.
Sometimes allowing a child to choose, is the better course of action.
However, there are many ways that a family can work together to choose the best high school sport.
