Some of us come from a background that involved lots of organized sports; both watching and participating. While growing up in your family sports was part of the structure. As you think back to the wonderful times you had playing baseball or basketball with your friends you want your own children to have this experience. On top of that you understand how important physical activity is to both to a child’s physical and mental maturity.  Still, as with all aspects of raising a child there are considerations to be made and you must ask yourself if your child is ready?

There are many excellent reasons for children to participate in sporting activities, but before you enroll your child in his or her first tee-ball, youth baseball, soccer team or other sport, there are some things to consider.

1. Child’s age – Is your child ready to participate in a team sport? While most children are ready for a sport like t-ball by the age of 5 not all children have the same maturity levels and some may not be ready until a later age. If your child’s attention span is so short they cannot easily follow simple directions, they may not be quite ready.

2. Desire – Does your child have a desire to play on a team? If your child does not know if they want to play a team sport you may want to encourage them but not necessarily force them into it. Even if you know it will be good for him or her, back off if they don’t want to do it. If the child is eager to participate you will have a much better chance for success.

3. Purpose – What are your reasons behind participating in a sporting team?

• Everyone else is doing it.
• Because it’s expected.
• You want the child to have an activity.
• You were a good athlete as a youngster.
• The child likes activities with other children.
• The child wants to play a sport like his older brother or sister.

Consider the purpose behind the decision.

4. Aptitude – Maybe your child isn’t very athletic at a particular age, but it may be something he improves with as his body matures and he becomes more coordinated. A sport like t-ball, machine pitch or coach pitch may offer the young child an opportunity to become more coordinated, athletic and the opportunity to learn to play as a team member. With many young children t-ball and machine pitch is a perfect opportunity to learn baseball and with some children the timing may not be right.

5. Family dynamics – If your child is ready to be involved in sports you are now faced with the decision to move him up to the next level. This is not a decision to make lightly. A more competitive team, or year-round sport requires a bigger commitment of both time and money.  If this is the situation and this is the child’s first introduction to sports you may want to consider a sport such as t-ball or machine pitch that last only 2 or 3 months.

Is the time factor going to affect the family? Are you willing to sacrifice the time for other activities and less of your time? Are you willing to put the time in to drive the child back and forth to practice and/or arrange for car pooling with other parents. Also consider the changes to be made on family together time.  When participating in an activity it is important that you are willing to make the time commitment to support your child and the team.

Can you budget the expense? There is the cost of participation and uniforms. In Babe Ruth baseball as with many other sports there will be travel to neighboring communities. Many of the games for Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth are played at the Willamette Valley Babe Ruth Complex in Eugene or at schools in other surrounding communities.

While many sports organizations such as Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth do fund raising to help cover the expense of building and maintaining our baseball fields and to assist with scholarships, full scholarships and the other expense of participation can usually not be offered. It is important that a family be willing to work these costs into their budget.

Participating in a team sport offers a most positive affect on the life of a child. There is a lot of good that can happen with kids in sports; such as gaining self-confidence and pride, learning to be part of a team, gaining a winning attitude, and learning how to become a leader and much more. If your child is ready to play and you are ready to participate this could be a wonderful life changing experience for both the child and the parents.