Choosing The Best Sport For Your Child

Go Alpha runs various activities to engage the child with sports and fitness-related activities. For this, we keep organizing sessions, conferences, panel discussions, and seminars with great personalities who themselves had grown in sports or believe in attracting children towards sports and try sharing the knowledge with people. Mr. Nikhil Latey, during his session at the Kids Sports Summit, briefly explained finding the best sport for kids.

Introduction to  Mr. Nikhil Latey

Mr. Nikhil has been a part of training and tournament for various sports like badminton, boxing, shooting, etc. He had spent most of the decade with the country’s best athletes like Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal. He has also been part of the Olympic gold quest for 5-6 years and has been the head of one of the departments.

Sports at an early age

Starting sport specialization at an early age is not at all a good idea. Parents think that it would help them be good players, but it’s not like that. Single sport specialization at an early age is never a good decision. For example, a child who starts playing badminton at an early age might not be a professional player later, but the one who plays multiple sports has more chances to become a good athlete/player.

Why avoid single-sport specialization at an early age?

The reason for not starting a single-sport specialization is that every sport has its body muscle movement. If the child is playing only badminton, his front/shoulder muscles will become incredibly strong, whereas his other muscle will become weaker. This imbalance between active muscle and inactive muscle is the reason for causing injuries.

For example, in badminton, all the front muscles are inactivity while the back muscles become weak. A professional badminton player who plays badminton for at least 2 hours every day has slouched body because of this.

Essential aspects of succeeding in sports

1. Flexibility
2. Speed
3. Strength
4. Endurance

Above are the qualities that the child should try to gain at an early age. Because such attributes can only be achieved at an early age, and this is possible by doing multi-sports or a sport that includes all body muscle movement.

How and when to make your child start do sports

At an early age, i.e., between 2-6 years, the child should be encouraged to play different sports to be robust, flexible, and powerful. Traditional gymnastics is an excellent idea to start at this age. Parents must make sure that the child is playing with a group and not alone. Also, do not allow kids to choose a sport like chess, shooting “only.” Pick multiple sports to develop their muscle and imbalance with strength, flexibility, power, or speed.

The right time to start specialization in a sport

The right time to start specializing your kid in a sport is when they reach puberty. Till the child reached puberty, he should do all kinds of sports.

Sports recommended by Nikhil Latey at an early age

1. Track and field: It helps in developing the speed. This sport should be done at this age, mainly because athletes can’t build up momentum later.
2. Gymnastics: This helps make the body flexible, and also, you can gain reasonable muscle control, balance, coordination, and movement understanding of the body.
3. Any team sport: A team sport helps you to learn how to work with a team. Also, no one can beat or succeed in isolation.

Sports during/post COVID situations

During COVID situations, parents should try to make their child play at the nearby garden/ground with all the necessary precautions and managing personal hygiene. At home, children can do yoga or some basic exercises like jump, sprints, pushups, sit-ups, etc.

We had a successful half-hour session with Mr. Nikhil Latey and gained much knowledge to engage the children in sports. We believe that every child should be physically fit and strong.

Hence, “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get” – Michael Phelps.