By Sail1Design’s Elizabeth Dudley
I spent my past two weekends helping to coach one of the Optimist Travel Teams that have sprouted up around the country in recent years. A good number of Opti teams these days are club specific. This one in particular however draws kids from the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Families from New Jersey, Long Island, and Maryland take turns hosting practices to prepare their kids for the major Opti events of each year.
Prior to these weekends, my most recent coaching had been over a year ago in a summer program atmosphere. As in most summer programs, not all the kids want to be there which then requires a certain
coaching style. These past two weekends, it was refreshing to have the opportunity to work with kids who truly wanted to be out in their boats sailing and improving. I could actually talk to them about sailing and racing and feel as if they were ready to absorb at least half of what I had to say. But on the last day of practice, as we were loading the boats on the trailer so that they could all go down to Florida for the winter, I found myself asking, “How much is too much?”
coaching style. These past two weekends, it was refreshing to have the opportunity to work with kids who truly wanted to be out in their boats sailing and improving. I could actually talk to them about sailing and racing and feel as if they were ready to absorb at least half of what I had to say. But on the last day of practice, as we were loading the boats on the trailer so that they could all go down to Florida for the winter, I found myself asking, “How much is too much?”
This question of course is not specific to the sport of sailing. Be it travel teams like this one, clinics, “fall ball”, or indoor leagues, there are opportunities almost year round for young athletes to be involved in their sport. But as kids, does a life filled with something you love to do turn in to a chore? Or worse, something you hate?
Obviously the answer to this question varies on a case by case basis. Speaking with a parent of two children on a travel team, the move to the team was made because of the reliable and consistent coaching that came along with it. Both kids enjoy sailing and enjoy being successful at their sailing. As this one parent said, “They are learning that if they put in the work and get time on the water, that their performance and ability improves – and for me, that is more of a life skill than a sailing specific one.” A travel team allows for the development of this skill.
Travel teams can certainly be an extremely rewarding and positive experience. With the year round participation and concentration on a sport, a child will learn more than they would by just partaking in the activity one season a year. The friendships and memories that can be made on a sports team are priceless and will last forever. Being a part of a group with that level of commitment to one thing is very special and the kids that are truly interested in their sport will thrive in that environment.
But how does a parent handle the day that their kid does not want to participate in a planned practice or regatta? One that a lot of planning had gone into and had already been paid for? Speaking with parents and having been in the position of the kids, it sounds as if support is the best thing a parent can give their child. As one parent said, “Parents really have to listen to their kids and decide what their kids are actually interested in”.
Some kids are genuinely interested in whatever their sport may be, but get nervous or have confidence issues before a practice or competition. As a parent, this is the kind of kid who just needs a little nudge in the right direction. The push will help them get over their fears and go out and enjoy the day like they want to.
On the other hand though, there will be kids who genuinely do not have the interest in a sport to want to commit to a travel team, no matter how talented they may be. In this situation, it is the parent’s job to listen to their child and not push them into anything they really do not want to do. A kid pushed into a sport will be a very unhappy one.
Before saying yes to joining a travel team, parents and children both have to agree that this is a commitment they are willing to make as it will mean making sacrifices in other areas of life. But just because you are on a travel team does not mean you have to forfeit every other aspect of a childhood. Especially on a sailing team, while it may hinder your growth as a sailor to miss a practice or a regatta, taking time off is possible. Perhaps more so than in a more team oriented sport. Time off will give you the opportunity to hang out with friends, participate in other activities and just take a step back from it all. The last thing anyone wants is for a kid to get burned out. Burning out is one of the fastest ways to get turned off from a sport that one could have enjoyed for the rest of their life.
As the parent of two Opti sailors said, “Overall, the biggest thing I can do for them is to let them “drive the bus” so to speak – this is a very labor intensive, time intensive, commitment intensive sport – as long as they are the ones wanting to do it, it is a good thing. If it switches to the parent wanting them to do it, or making them do it, then it becomes work, and not sport, and not fun.”
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