Every child wants to have fun at their sport class. Fun takes many shapes and forms depending on the activity.

Children find fun in nearly anything – annoying their parents each morning when getting ready for school; playing with their food at meal times; ignoring their parents’ instructions; sitting and watching TV; playing with gadgets. They can find fun in the smallest pleasures, the littlest details.

At Shaws Little League, we believe that incorporating fun is the key to building a life-long love for sport and staying active — which will help our children enjoy life to its fullest by keeping their bodies and minds healthy and alert.

So how do we get the children to have fun at Shaws Little League?

Participation

Children develop better when they are physically doing things and involved in the play. We want each and every child to have lots of turns at hitting balls, running hard and always moving and staying active. When kids are happy they continue to play and enjoy it.

Improvement

Once children are participating, we work on trying to help the children get better. However, we do it in a fun way. We focus on skill development with the help of good coaches that are going to make them better and, above all, remind them to not take it all too seriously.

Opportunity

Playing and working with other children, learning new skills, techniques and their understanding of sport. It’s not about becoming an expert, it’s about having the exposure and opportunity to new experiences.

Not Keeping Score

Children are more interested in the act of scoring a goal, hitting a home run, running and racing as opposed to looking at numbers. At Shaws, numbers don’t matter.

Effort

Praising children for trying and encouraging them to give 100%, even if it’s just a little improvement each time.

Engagement

Communicating and working with children at their level. Giving good coaching, in a fun environment and a good competition, will keep kids in sport longer.

Thinking

Always keep them thinking, make them curious and keep them on their toes. Challenge a child to think at their level, but not intimidate them. Learning to use their minds is part of the fun too.

Keeping It Real

Have a laugh, share a joke, and let the children know that it is ok to have the odd bad day. No one is perfect and no one is expected to be, mistakes are made, knees are skinned and that’s all part of the joy of childhood.

So often in sports we hear parents say, we just want our child to give 100% — but what does this mean, really? If a man with a shovel digs his hardest from sunup to sundown and his neighbor does the same with a tractor, which one is giving 100%? Giving 100% isn’t about just working hard, but working smart. Developing these skills at a young age doesn’t just help your child when they are young, but it teaches them how to deal with situations for the rest of their life. It teaches them to become part of their communities when they outgrow being part of their childhood teams.

What parent doesn’t want the best for their child? What we give our children today, will be our gift to them in the future.

Here are some of the top life skills that sports teach children:

Knowledge & Understanding

Confronting their coach or teammate about a problem that is impacting the team; standing up to a bullying teammate; understanding themselves and their beliefs – all of these are skills that children learn in sports today. They are also skills that extend well beyond the field. These skills are ones the that they learn today and will take with them into the future.

Desire/Aspiration

The desire to improve is one of the most positive traits of sports competition. When we grow up, we are constantly in a competitive environment, whether it be getting a promotion or finding your future husband/wife. The desire to work hard to achieve our goals as part of a team is a healthy competitive skill that our children will use for the rest of their lives.

Decision-Making

The decision-making process we learn early in sports allows us to make better decisions as adults, ones that are more community oriented, instead of self-centered. This kind of decision-making helps our children become good citizens of the world. Encouraging them to develop their mental muscles and their own spirit will ultimately help them achieve their goals.

Desire to Improve

It is natural to want it before you have it, to not see the small increments of improvement that come through hard-work. Encouraging a child to be a tiny bit better than they were before slowly accumulates into a large improvement, teaching them that any challenge is within their reach in the long-term and with hard-work.

How to be Flexible

Team sports teach children how to be flexible. They must interpret information and when there is behavior they don’t like, the learn to say no. They learn to express their needs, feelings and ideas. They learn to be flexible, even when they disagree with someone – including how to express anger and ask for help when they need it, all the while in a safe and supportive team environment. No one breezes into a perfect life without effort and flexibility, despite how it might look to others.

Confidence

Being part of a team teaches kids to be assertive. This confidence helps them to become aware that they are unique individuals with each of them their own special gifts. Learning good character and self-respect is the foundation of the self-confidence learned in team sports. Sports help our children learn to expect respect.

Communication Skills

In a team everyone has an opinion, but the process is democratic. Teammates don’t always agree, but they listen to each other. This teaches our children to speak up for themselves and find their voice for life.

Curiosity

Sports give our children the mentality to explore, to not be afraid of what lies around the next corner — to dream big and then dream bigger.

Enjoy the Whole Moment

Enjoying each carefree leap, jump and play is part of the sports experience. In all its glory and guts, skinned-knees, tears, elation and sweat, sports teach us to pay attention and enjoy the whole moment.