I am dedicating this week’s article on the young would-be sportsmen of tomorrow. Just this week, I came across an interesting article published in an American sports educational magazine called the ‘Mentor’ (a Michigan High School Athletic Association publication).

Here is an introductory excerpt from this article:

“Is it fun for kids to play sports anymore? If you have not been to a youth sports event in a while, take the time to check it out. More often than in decades past, young players -sometimes as young as six years old -are playing competitively.

There are many factors that cause kids to lose interest in sports today. Arguably, the more competitive things are at a young age the less fun it is to play. Plus, there are many other “fun” things for kids to do, like video games and MTV.”

Unfortunately this trend is also many times seen in our Islands as young children are being put in competitive environments at a very young age when, in my opinion (based also on the advice by top experts), these same children should only be trained in developing sound motor and ball awareness/co-ordination skills as a sound basis for future sport participation.

I have also seen with my own times many instances where it is the parents themselves who push their children in such competition, at times even trying to obtain, via their child, those satisfactions which they think they had missed in their childhood.

The article continues by stating, “…when those fun things (mentioned above) turn destructive, like vandalism or even alcohol or drug abuse, a positive sports experience enhanced by positive people could have an impacted on a badly behaved child.

Thankfully, many youth sports situations have a positive effect on kids. Under the right conditions, sport plays a vital role in kids accepting responsibility, developing self-esteem and learning team concepts - all tools vital in later life.”

Such words are very true but the key phrase that one should reflect immensely upon is, under the right conditions. I can only recount from some of my experiences, yet I have seen, in the last decade or so, a number of instances when young teams, at youth level or even younger, were entrusted under the guidance of incompetent or grossly inadequate persons.

I can never accept a coach of some under 15 or lower team resorting to bad language, threats or worse still physical action towards referees, opponents or administration personnel. Such individuals should never be given the minimum chance to sit on a team bench.

I greatly congratulate any federation who opt to take a tight fist stance on such matters and resort to carefully scrutinizing, in all aspects and not only technically but also psychologically, all the applicants to become coaches, especially at a young level.

The article then sheds its attention on the referees’ role in the mater and openly states that “….officials play a significant role in the development of our youth through sports. The way referees handle situations and people in youth games has an impact on whether a kid’s athletic participation is positive or negative. Officials can be a part of the solution.”

Later in the article there is an valid contribution by a certain Judith Harris who is the director of athletics for West Seneca Education Centre. She listed reasons kids lose interest in sports and presented them at a top conference.

Portions of her list appear below. Following each item is how officials can deal with the situation (information supplied by American Association of Sports Officials called NASO) and help improve the welfare of young children.

1. Poorly trained coaches and supervisors/organizers. NASO advises that referees should host informational meetings (for coaches, parents and other interested people) regarding rules and sports philosophy. The more they know about the game and how it should be played, the fewer problems exist.

2. Over-emphasis on winning in overly competitive programs. There are few worse things than a win-at-all costs coach in youth sports. Referees should remind those coaches that they are coaching for the kids even if they are very eager to win.

3. Mismatches between children’s expectations and reality. Too much pressure on kids equals less fun.

4. Poor examples of parents, coaches, administrators and organizers. NASO is of the opinion that referees should ensure that league rules are established that effectively deal with unruly parents and coaches. If coaches, parents and others are screaming at the officials, how can a 10-year-old be expected to show respect?

These are only a few examples and points that could easily have a negative effect on a child, especially if he/she is very sensitive in nature.

Some may argue against such talk and state that we should start pushing our children in order to increase their chances of reaping better rewards, possibly abroad, in the future.

However I tend to believe that one should always learn to walk before he could run and this holds a lot in this matter. I would prefer a child to soundly build his motor skills resulting in better and agile physical performance in later years and also to develop his ball co-ordination skills to a high degree at a young age as this would easily garner good performances in the future.

Most would agree with me that we frequently see our children competing somewhat at par up to a certain young age (say 10-12 years) and then tend to fall backwards in the next years. Even though there are other factors leading to such a decline, the child’s physical preparation also plays a big part because many times the child would have been immersed greatly in competition whilst physical preparation was put on the wayside usually with the excuse, “well he is still young, he has all the energy to run, why build on his stamina and natural strength..”

We tend to grumble a lot on the lack of a sports culture in Malta but then it is sometimes ourselves (with all our good intentions to instill such a culture) who fail in some aspects.