How Much Is Too Much for After-School Sports?
September 11, 2009
On any given weeknight, Shawnda Walker-Leu can be found taking her two daughters, Abigail, 7, and Vanessa, 4, to any number of after-school sports activities, from ballet lessons to swimming classes. But when Abigail "stated this past year that she didn't want to partake in any extra activities on the weekends, we respected her decision," says Walker-Leu.
Walker-Leu isn't the only mother drawing the line on after-school sporting activities. Sporting activities can teach students valuable life skills such as teamwork, self-confidence, and responsibility. In fact, in 2005, according to estimates from Child Trends DataBank, the most popular after-school activity for children was sports, with 31 percent of children participating in sports-related programs outside of school hours. That's good news given the positive impact athletic activities can have on a child's health, especially in light of today's high youth obesity rates.
However, there are risks associated with students becoming over-involved in after-school activities. For starters, children and teenagers who participate in too many vigorous sports can put undue strain on their muscles and joints"and cause pain they're likely to endure for years to come.
"Clinics that specialize in sports injuries are seeing children at younger ages with all sorts of problems that will keep them from playing that sport permanently or from being physically active throughout their lives," says Rae Pica, a children's physical activity specialist and author of Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child.
But that's not all. Taking on too many after-school activities can also negatively impact a child's psychological well-being. "They can become disinterested in everything, grades can go down, they can become sullen, have difficulties sleeping, lose their appetite"symptoms that are fairly similar to those of depression," warns Pica.
To avoid physical injury and mental burn-out, Pica says it's important to expose a student to a variety of after-school sports activities so that they may choose to participate in those that truly interest them. "Young children are meant to dabble," says Pica. "It's how they find what their likes and dislikes are, what their passions are, and where their skills lie."
Also, Pica recommends making certain that a child is participating in an after-school activity for the love of the game"not to placate parents, please friends, or win at all costs. "If it's all about competition, then the social benefits [of after-school sporting activities] can go down the tubes. Before children can learn to compete successfully, they need to learn to cooperate."
In the end though, Pica says it's crucial that teachers and parents alike never underestimate the power of downtime. "Free play is far superior to organized programs," says Pica. "When children play on their own, they learn problem-solving skills, how to work together, communicate, achieve conflict-resolution, develop creative thinking skills, and learn to be self-directed."
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