Fred Rogers once said that “play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…they have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play”.
This basic truth applies to all aspects of child development including sports play. While sports practice can provide the basic skills on how to play a sport, the primary way that you can build an elite sports program is to provide a way for children to play (vs practice) as much as possible.
For example, a fundamental concept in French youth soccer is to provide as much play as possible for all children to create the unique talents of each player. It also aims to keep kids playing as long as possible which significantly improves the player base that elite players are chosen from (see “How France Really Won the World Cup”).
Why is Play More Effective than Practice
Practice is not play. Play is where children have most of the control and autonomy over what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Getting input and active supervision from adults is not that. Free play allows them the time and space to develop their unique style of play in actual game conditions-practice does not do that.
More play also keeps kids engaged in sports. The idea of unstructured play is frequently overlooked and is beginning to significantly impact the length of children’s sports experience. Why 70 percent of kids quit sports by age 13 – The Washington Post
When I asked the parents of the kids that I coached why their kids left the sport-the feedback was the practices resembled school (which they already have six hours a day) and their kids just wanted to play with their friends (not practice with adults).
More Play Improves Emotional Development
One study by the Newport Academy shows that those who play sports through the age of 18 in fact have reduced stress levels and better overall mental health as young adults. It is not only children’s mental health that improves with sports, in fact, learning to play (or work) with a team and achieve an objective through good communication is a fundamental skill in the real world that many people struggle with. Finally, sports play teaches the value of tolerance, acceptance, and how to deal with things not going your way.
How Parents Can Help
Regardless of the risk of a few scrapes, bruises, and teasing, it is vital, that children be allowed by their parents to have the opportunity to just go out and play, with as little interference from parents as possible and no obligation for hours of training that is more like school than play.
If finding places for your kids to play is a challenge-there are tools that can help like https://www.gameplayus.com/Search/FieldSearch for a comprehensive list of sports fields in California
The unstructured play opportunity promise is that your child will play for longer, have more fun, be more skilled in their sports play (that they ultimately choose), and be better prepared emotionally for the stresses and strains of adult life.
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