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Peewee Soccer

A question from Peri:

I enrolled my 4 1/2 year old son in Peewee soccer. He is very athletic (runs fast, throws, catches and kicks balls well), and loves to play soccer, and other sports with his friends at preschool. He is enrolled in the clinic with another friend, so he knows someone. He played for five minutes and then cried and refused to play. He is, at least, as able as every other child there, he is outgoing and very social. I can not figure out the problem. I think if he worked through whatever was bothering or frightening him he would have fun. I can not seem to help him do that. What am I missing?

Answer: You asked, "What am I missing?"

Perhaps what you're missing is the fact that your child is only 4 1/2 years old.

For most young children, "play" and "organized sports" are two completely different things. Play usually is unstructured participation with few rules, little adult supervision, little adult interference and little pressure. It is total fun.

Organized sports are just that, organized participation with complex rules, adult coaches, adult referees or umpires, lots of excited and noisy parents and of course plenty of pressure, both peer and adult.

Many 4, 5 and 6 year olds are not emotionally mature enough to deal with the structure of organized sports. They are best encouraged to enjoy the basic concepts of a game without the structure of the game getting in the way such as by kicking a soccer ball into a goal without playing a real game; throwing and catching a baseball with friends, hitting a ball off a Tee, running bases.

Your son seems to enjoy those things so let him continue that. When he is ready to participate in a more a structured manner, he will let you know. In the meantime let him be a little kid and enjoy sports in his own way.