Team Brave - Don't specialise in sport too early
I heard a great insight into sport from the Olympic committee of Norway.
Apparently, in Norway, no competitive sport or excessive travel for sport is permitted under the age of 12. This might seem crazy and very strict for some people, but the Norwegian’s claim that the rule is having great results! They found that if young people stay playing with their friends for longer, and in leagues without tables or competitive scores, they actually enjoy sport a lot more and are less likely to drop out.
Even their top footballers (you might have heard of the amazing Norweigan striker Erling Haaland) still played at his local club, with his childhood friends, right up until 16 years old, when he eventually moved to an elite academy. Norway want everyone to move away from specialising in one sport too young. They say that this leads to boredom, and actually that if a young player specialises too young, that they don’t develop as an overall athlete so well, as if they play lots of sports throughout their development. I’d definitely agree with this notion, as I always encourage players that I coach, to enjoy a range of sports, so that they can build up different skills, a range of different fitness styles, and most importantly; be exposed to a wide variety of friendship groups. Norway are really trying to reduce the drop out from sport in teenage years (as are many other countries).There are a huge number of reasons that teenagers choose to drop out of sport; ranging from too much pressure to perform academically at school, to changing friendship groups, boredom or peer pressure.
The teenage brain is developing fast into an adult, and is extremely sensitive, so it’s really important (as coaches and teachers), that we take into account that teenage players really want to fit in with their friendship groups, feel accepted, develop independence and feel free to express themselves. If you start to feel that you want to drop out of your sport, it might be that you just need a change, a different coaching style, or to take on a new role such as coaching or refereeing, instead of solely playing.
Staying in sport is great for mental health, wellbeing, physical health, meeting friends, travelling to new places and having fun; so if you feel like dropping out; maybe take a moment to consider other options or alternative cool new activities instead! Who knows where it might take you?!.....
Thank you to Becca from Team Brave
