Soccer, lacrosse, skateboarding, gymnastics, orienteering, swimming…with so many options available, it’s easy to get the kids off the couch.

Pry their fingers away from their phones, shut down the Wii, and put your washing machine on full alert. It’s time for your kids to get sweaty, dirty, and completely exhilarated. It’s time, in other words, to boot them out into the wide world of sports.

In these days of spiraling obesity and diabetes rates and cuts in physical education program at schools, it’s doubly important for parents to ensure that regular exercise becomes as much of a habit as brushing teeth for their kids.

Whatever you do, though, don’t tell them that playing a sport regularly is good for them, body, mind, and spirit. Just tell them that it’s fun. Because if you help them to find just the right sports and activities, that’s all they need to know to get them hooked on healthy habits with significant psychological advantages for life.

Football, basketball, soccer and baseball are all terrific and it’s easy to get your child onto a team through Parks and Recreation, the YMCA, or your church or school. However, your child’s options are by no means limited to the Big Four.

Start by asking your child what sport he’s actually interested in. You might be surprised at his prompt and enthusiastic answer, or you might need to check out a few different ideas to see what catches his attention. Then think about personality. If he’s highly competitive, then organized team sports might be perfect, but a very sensitive child might do better with an individual sport such as horseback riding. Sports like gymnastics and swimming can be a good compromise as your child will rely mostly on his own abilities but can also be part of a team.

Finally, finding an age-appropriate activity is important. Children under the age of seven, for instance, are not able to follow complex rules and instructions while playing; choose a relaxed non-contact sport that will help them to develop eye-hand coordination.

Sometimes children feel discouraged if they can’t excel at a sport right away. Remind them that even professional athletes at the top of their game still practice regularly, and encourage them to stay with a sport for at least a season.

Here are a few classic sports and some not-so-obvious options to think about.

Lacrosse
What do you get when you combine basketball, soccer and hockey? Lacrosse. And lacrosse is a game that, in the words of the US Lacrosse organization’s Colleen Aungst, is “exploding” in the Atlanta area. “It’s been called, literally, the fastest game on two feet,” she says. “And kids just call it ‘addictive.’”
Modern-day lacrosse originated from a Native American game that was traditionally played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop strength. Native Americans still call it “The Creator's Game,” and Cherokees also used to call it “the little brother of war” because it served as a kind of military training, or a substitute for all-out war.

These days it’s just highly enjoyable, requiring agility and refined strategy. In 2007 nearly 10,000 children through high school age played lacrosse in Georgia, and the figures for 2008 are expected to be even higher.

Visit www.lacrossegeorgia.com for more information.

Soccer
Soccer is the most popular game in the world, and the prestigious World Cup, played every four years, is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world. Over 715 million people, or approximately one ninth of the world’s population, watched the 2006 Cup Final.

Small wonder, then, that soccer has become the fastest-growing team sport in the US. Individual equipment costs are low, and most leagues have strict “everyone plays” policies to avoid having less skilled players stranded on the bench for game after frustrating game. Teams play on pitches that are sized right—a team of five-year olds would never make it to the goal on an adult-sized pitch—and coaches teach cumulative skills.

There are many opportunities to try soccer in the Atlanta area. Try the Youth Soccer Association or your county's Park and Recreation program

Swimming
Swimming is an essential life skill for every kid, whether they learn it as an infant, a toddler or a young child. For one thing, they could never, ever safely go windsurfing, boating, clam-digging, kayaking or just plain floating happily along on their back in a sunny creek, not once in their life, if they didn’t learn to swim, and that would be unimaginable. So plan on basic lessons, at the very least.

Competitive swimming, as an individual and as part of a team, takes it a step further. Kids can become motivated to push themselves farther than they ever thought they could go, swimming faster and for longer distances as well as perfecting new strokes and dives.
Swimming promotes proportional development in children and increases flexibility. It’s also one of the best cardiovascular exercises there is.

www.ymcaatlanta.org, www.peachtreedivecenter.com,
www.theswimcenter.com, www.scatswimming.org, www.wetsetscuba.com

Baseball
Little League baseball, THE classic and highly popular spring and summertime activity for American kids, is fast becoming a year-round sport in the temperate South. Little League’s mission is to develop “superior citizens rather than superior athletes” by encouraging character, courage and loyalty as well as discipline, teamwork and health. There are nearly 200,000 teams in the US alone.

Find a team near you by checking out www.littleleague.org or contacting your local Parks and Recreation department.

Dance
Swan Lake? If you like. But children’s dance lessons are no longer all about ballet. Break out with hip-hop, bellydance, African dance, contra dance…and if you think that today’s kids would never be interested in ballroom dancing, check out the extraordinary 2005 film Mad Hot Ballroom. The movie chronicled the excitement of New York elementary school kids who participated in a ballroom dancing program, proving that there’s life in the merengue and rumba yet.

Martial Arts
Tae Kwon Do, karate, aikido, wrestling; even capoeira—all are martial arts that teach mental and physical strength to men, women and children.

Tae Kwon Do, sometimes called Korean karate, is one of the most popular martial arts in the world and it became part of the Summer Olympics in 2000. Literally translated, Tae Kwon Do means "the art of kicking, blocking, and punching." However, Tae Kwon Do is a way of life, not just a physical skill. Through disciplined training, Tae Kwon Do improves both the mind and the body, placing great emphasis on the development of personal character. Students learn that self-control, self-discipline, kindness, and humility must accompany their increased physical strength and ability.

Gymnastics
Is it an art or a sport? Well, both, and if your child has been ooh-ing and ah-ing over Nastia Liukin’s exquisitely-executed moves during the Olympics, it may be time to look at the gymnastics programs that are available.

Gymnastics, which evolved into its current form only in the early 50s, is a highly focused and disciplined sport. Tumbling, trampolining and foam pits are a blast, but children also learn to conquer their fears as they negotiate the balance beam. They’ll acquire balance, poise, coordination and strength, too.

Children, as young as 18 months, can start gymnastics in Mommy and Me classes. Look for a gym that has an emphasis on safety and is a member of USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport. Make sure that there are adequately staffed to supervise the number of children.

Skateboarding
No longer an outlaw art, skateboarding will have its Olympic debut at the 2012 Games in London. Skateboarding has gained wide acceptance as a skilled sport that increases balance, coordination, and flexibility as well as strength, and kids are flocking to skateboard parks.

Commercial parks equipped with grindrails, halfpipes and bowls are popping up everywhere and the Skate Parks of Atlanta organization is actively promoting the conversion of some public spaces to free skate parks.

Younger children might well benefit from lessons, available at most commercial skate parks. But remember, a helmet is absolutely essential and many parks require wrist guards as well.

Football and Cheerleading
If you haven’t noticed football fever sweeping the South—what with the Falcons and all—you haven’t been paying attention. Boys can’t wait to get bulked up in protective padding and go for those tackles, and although most kids are not ready for contact sports until the age of ten or so, some programs offer a kinder and gentler form of the sport for children as young as five years old.

You may still find cheerleaders on the sidelines, but cheerleading has become a recognized and very competitive sport in its own right. When it started in the 1880s it was an all-male preserve. Once girls started cheerleading in the 20s, however, they began to incorporate tumbling, dance and jumps into their routines and it gradually became the demanding sport it is today.

Find football and cheerleading programs through the City or the county programs.

Table Tennis
Do the terms “pips-out” and “Long Pips” make your heart race? Well, then, you need to get along to the Fayette County Table Tennis Association’s twice-weekly meetings to find some new players to challenge. Players rotate through four to five tables to play a variety of people; you’ll have fun and find plenty of fast and furious challenges. Novice player? You’re welcome at the meetings too, even if you just want to drop in and try out a new sport. The Fayette County Table Tennis Association is open to the public—just stop by on Tuesdays or Sundays. For more about Table Tennis go to http://www.usatt.org

Orienteering
Orienteering is something that the whole family can do as a team, and your children can branch out on their own once they’re old enough. Orienteering combines racing with navigation, requiring each individual or team to set off into the woods at timed intervals armed with a never-before seen topographical map marked with checkpoints, a compass, and a sturdy pair of sneakers—and may the most savvy and the fleetest of foot win. Variations include canoe, mounted, and mountain bike orienteering.

Visit www.gaorienteering.org for information about the basics and a calendar of upcoming meets.

Ultimate Frisbee
Sure it’s a lot of fun to play Frisbee with your dog, but it’s even more fun to play Ultimate Frisbee with two teams of seven players on a big grassy field. You can’t run with the Frisbee—as soon as you catch it, you have to stand still and pass it, so you don’t get one or two people monopolizing the game. Everyone plays, and everyone has a great time while developing an accurate aim, good stamina and a sneaky turn of speed.

You might need to organize your own team until regular leagues become more established, but that’s fairly easy. Gather up your kids and a few of their friends and head to the park; you’ll soon attract more players—or ask your church or school to organize a game or two. Go to www.upa.org for rules and information.

The Benefits of Sports

Smart parents make sure their kids get some exercise to keep them healthy. Really smart parents make sure their kids participate in some kind of organized sports. Why?

Because organized sports have some very real benefits that last a lifetime. And not just physical ones.

David Brandon, Chairman and CEO of Domino’s Pizza told USA Football that the values he learned from his coaches, all strong role models, and the network of friends that were his teammates, had a very positive impact on his life. Although he never became a professional footballer, he did win a football scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he got to learn from one of the all-time great coaches.

“As a result of playing for and observing how Bo approached his work, I often tell people that I got a college degree from the ‘Schembechler School of Leadership.’ He taught us how important it was to prepare—and how no matter how good we thought we were, we could always be better.” Brandon clearly put the lessons he learned as a young football player to good use in his professional life.

And while your child is having a great time acquiring and practicing new skills, they will also be unconsciously gaining any or all of these physical and mental benefits:

• Increased strength, agility, flexibility, lung capacity,
and coordination
• Better problem-solving skills
• Greater self-confidence
• Good social skills—more friends and camaraderie
• Better body image
• Sense of commitment
• Good sportsmanship and fair play
• Cooperation and respect
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Understanding the value of practicing and thinking ahead
• Better academic grades and attention span
• Sounder sleep
• Less likely to participate in sexual or drug activity
• Desire to strive for excellence

The Art of Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship starts with YOU. We’ve all seen them—the mom or dad screaming instructions on the sidelines, getting in the coach’s face about playing their child more, or offering their child a reward for every goal they score. Nauseating, isn’t it?

But it’s not just annoying. It’s either mortally embarrassing for the child or it encourages them to be the kind of kid that slams their tennis racket onto the ground when they lose a game, gloats when they get away with a foul that the referee doesn’t see, or elbows their teammates away so that they can grab the shot for themselves.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with playing to win. Competition can lead to excellence. But where parents and coaches trip up is when they teach kids to play to win at all costs.

Your job as a parent is to get your child to games and practices promptly, to be encouraging, to make sure your child has the right equipment, to cheer wildly for great passes, slick footwork or a good goal (it would be ideal if you could applaud the other team every once in a while, too) and to bring team snacks when requested. Oh, and to help your child say thank-you to the often unpaid or low-paid coach with a nice card and perhaps a small gift at the end of the season. That’s it.

What you don’t need to do is scream advice, drowning out the coach.

“It’s just confusing when you hear all these people yelling at you to do different things,” said one 11-year old soccer player a little tearfully.

“I’ve had to start bringing my needle-point to the game so that I have something to keep me quiet,” admitted her mother, shame-faced.

And if your child isn’t getting a fair shake with playing time? Check out some “Good Coaching Case Studies” answers at the Positive Coaching Alliance’s website, www.positivecoach.org. The organization is dedicated to turning team sports away from the kind of bad behavior that makes national news and instead making it the kind of experience that can transform kids’ lives. You’ll find multiple suggestions for addressing the issue, or—perhaps more appropriately—helping your child to address the issue. One response suggests that parents should clearly understand the league’s goals, whether simply winning the game or developing players, before signing their child up to participate. The rule of thumb is that the younger the child, the more the emphasis should be on player development. Another responds that sometimes players do get overlooked and a good coach will respond positively if approached politely.

Don’t ever offer a reward for scoring goals or winning; the win should be enough on its own. And while you’re teaching your child the importance of being a good loser by congratulating the winner, remind them to also be a graceful winner.

Sally Treadwell is a freelance writer, currently owned and operated by a seventh grader and a rising sophomore. Contact her at sallytreadwell@gmail.com