Striking the right balance

“There’s more going on in education than the reading and arithmetic that students are learning in school... Sports lead to students becoming more productive members of society.” — Betsey Stevenson, researcher

Now that there is almost a global consensus that education includes sports participation, there is considerable debate about what children should play, how much should they play and how they should strike a proper balance between sports, academics and family. Are a growing number of parents taking sports too seriously? All these questions infuse stress into sports activity which should be fun for kids.

These days those who entertain doubt that sports offers great benefits for children and teens, are a shrinking minority. Beyond physical and mental exhilaration, sports can teach children a lot about facing life’s multiplying challenges — working towards distant goals, the importance of teamwork, competition, winning and losing, and learning how to sacrifice short-term gratification for long-term rewards.

Many students play sports and attend to their studies without much problem. But increasingly the scale is being tipped towards sports instead of school. Therefore the role of sports education advisory and management firms (such as EduSport India) is becoming impor-tant. Their prime challenge is to invest fun and meaning into the physical education and sports programmes of schools and colleges while ensuring that the sports-academic balance is maint-ained. Indeed, their message is that sport is an extension of the classroom because studies indicate that children between ages four and nine who engage in physical activities tend to have fewer difficulties in reading and math, and develop better study habits, than those who rarely participate. Equally, physical education and sport help students relate better with other people, including peers and authority figures.

Here are a few suggestions that will help young people strike a healthy balance between sports and academics.

• Be careful not to become too zealous about sports training. Many athletes practice all afternoon after school, every day, neglecting homework and study. Instead of using all your time practising, finish your homework, review the day’s lessons, take another look at tomorrow’s assignments to make sure you’ve got everything covered. Too many athletes put off homework until the last minute when they are tired and hungry. Postponing homework is a prescription for falling behind.

• Make sure you pay attention in class. Students involved in extra-curricular activities tend to daydream. There is a best time for everything. Therefore during school hours, focus on schoolwork. When you’ve put in your best in class, your mind will be at peace, freeing you to give your best in sports and/or athletics.

• Know when to consult with yourself and others (teachers, coaches, parents) about maintaining an even balance between academics, family and sport. If you find it difficult keeping up with any or all these spheres of activity, think about dropping some or all of your sports activity. Sports training can be resumed once you pull even in your schoolwork because school is about your future, sports isn’t. You need a sound academic education for just about everything you want to do.

Now a few suggestions for parents to help their children and the family maintain a good equilibrium between school, sports and family.

• Model a life of balance for your kids, i.e.  make time for work, leisure, friends and everything else.

• Schedule family time. Consider setting aside time for ‘family night games’ — a board game, card games, making tacos, or just being together. Families that bond together provide the support that children need when participating in sport. Therefore treat family time as sacred.

• Introduce children to several sports — basketball, tennis, cycling, jogging, etc to avoid early specialisation.  Premature specialisation can interfere with normal identity development, and carries the risk of children developing a uni-dimensional self-concept and/or having to persist with a sport they don’t really enjoy.

• Encourage social life outside of sports. Over-emphasis  on working out, training and practice can result in social isolation from family, peers and the larger community. Training and winning can become obsessive and children could lose their childhood too early.

That’s why in sports parenting workshops, I usually start off by asking: “What are your long-term objectives for your kids in sports and life? What word or phrase comes to mind which sums up how you’d like them to turn out? What do you want them to be like as adults? Finally, we get to the real question: is what you’re doing consistent with what you really want for your children?” Posing and answering these and related questions will help them find stability and balance in their lives.

(Dr. George Selleck is a San Francisco-based advisor to EduSports, Bangalore)