How to encourage children to become athletes? & bull; hello healthy

Sports for children is very useful in supporting their growth and development both physically, cognitively, and psychologically. However, motivating children to be good at sports and become athletes is another matter.

How do you motivate children to like to exercise? To what extent is the role of parents? What is the right portion of exercise for children?

Following are the results of a discussion on Hello Sehat with the Director of the Daya Insani Psychology Institute, Sani Budiantini Hermawan, and a sports medicine specialist at Mitra Keluarga Hospital, dr. Michael Triangto Sp.KO.

What are the benefits of exercise for child development?

Michael: Sport is an activity that will maximize or optimize the growth of a child. This means that if the child is more concerned with his academic abilities, his motor skills will not develop too much. With sports, not only academic abilities but also motor skills are balanced.

Sani: So first, exercise is a form of physical activity that is healthy, refreshing, and improves blood circulation. Second, sports can make children hone competition spirit in a match or it could be sharpening team work . In addition, he can also hone skills that become a hobby so that he can advance into competitions.

Children who enjoy sports are active, not passive, have smooth motor skills. Hopefully, sports can balance their academic and non-academic abilities, so that balance . With exercise, children will also feel happier, more relaxed.

So the benefits of exercise for children can also hone cognitive, reasoning, dexterity, then team work , socialization, building team cohesiveness, including language skills, how to communicate with the team.

How do you introduce sports to children?

Michael: We start from toddlers. His ability to move is not good, so at the beginning the goal of the sport is to improve his ability to run, throw, and jump. It can start with exercise.

So if you get older, elementary school age, of course we can direct, sports that are suitable for him, he is happy, and can also develop his abilities to be optimal.

Sani: Even babies can already exist baby gym , so the kids used to move. This movement improves blood circulation, automatically makes the child fresher, has a higher catching power, and is more easily stimulated.

From a small age maybe, from the age of 2 years, sports can be introduced. What is clear is that we shouldn't think of it as a difficult sport. So don't just set children with standard rules so that children end up avoiding sports because they find it difficult. Not making him happy .

Parents have to make this sport become fun . So the results will be felt by the child. He is happy, sharpens his perceptive powers, his powers of reason.

At what age can children immediately be invited to train to become athletes?

Michael: In some sports, it is very important for children to start as young as possible, as small as possible. Because if it is too old, it will be beyond its golden age.

Therefore it is important for the child to be introduced to the sport first, then choose which one is the most suitable. From a health perspective, we want everyone to develop, then at the right time the child chooses. However, in certain sports, inevitably it requires us as parents to decide earlier.

Here, wisdom is needed in seeing children's abilities, the goal is to develop children's abilities optimally.

Sani: If we say elementary school age right, elementary school age children are exploring again at the same time as the activity. So if he wants to explore at the practice site, that's fine. But maybe the child observes first.

If he's not interested, then there's no need to do it. The important thing is to invite children to discuss, then condition it until the child wants it. So don't be trapped, suddenly come and continue to practice, the child feels cheated or feels not considered his wish.

What if the parents have the ambition to make their children an athlete?

Michael: There is a difference in perspective between the portion of exercise for health and exercise for performance.

If exercise is for health, of course there are certain limitations. If we overdo it we will overwork these little muscles.

But from a sports point of view for achievement, it must be carried out. Instead, we have to go beyond the limits of ability. If the goal is achievement, there really aren't any clear boundaries. Children must always exceed their limits, must be tired, sore, sweaty, otherwise they will not achieve.

The first limit is whether the child is happy or not. If the training is not hard, please be happy. Is it right or not to the limit of the ability. If after training, he can't do things like before for days, that means it's too much.

Exercise patterns should not be the same. The exercise must be personal, must determine, according to the level of ability.

Sani: Parents' ambition can be a reason, but he must succeed in making his child ambitious too. The hard thing is if the parents are ambitious, but they don't succeed in making their children ambitious. Becomes lame, the child will feel depressed.

Now there are indeed many sports routes that have achieved and been appreciated by the government. One of them can enter superior junior high or high school, or study at PTN through the achievement pathway. This can be used so that the child is also willing, because he feels this will be of benefit in the future.

So parents can also succeed in building children's ambitions so that it becomes children's motivation, not only parents' motivation. Especially telling me what the benefits are, how much easier will it be for the school. Clever parents to raise that ambition to their children.

What are some tips for parents to be able to introduce and motivate their children to become athletes?

Michael: I often see parents accompanying their children and are ultimately disappointed with the results. The first consensus, children should like sports that are not forced.

After that, parents have to honestly see that my child is at his limit. So if I talk to parents who want their children to be athletes, I give them plans a, b, c.

Parents must be honest if the child is truly incapable, yes no need, look for something else, unless this becomes the parent's ego.

Sani: First, children from childhood are introduced to several types of sports. So we can see the talents and skills can be seen from the start.

Then direct the child by involving the child in the activity, through lessons, doing more exercises but in a fun way.

When elementary school children later, it will be strengthened even more, for example by participating in competitions. If the child really awakens his enthusiasm to become an athlete, his hobby is there, the talent is there, why not join a more formal sports club.

But all of that goes through a process. So parents should not insist, have to look at children's capacities, understand children, and have two-way communication.

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