How To Keep Sports Fun For Kids

We’re wrecking the rec league. Here’s a piece I wrote for Lifehacker on how to keep sports fun. I’ve been coaching girls’ soccer for the past six years and I’ve been watching how fun can be ground out of a game…played by children. I don’t know that this will stem the tide; but it didn’t hurt to write it. The first paragraph from the piece is below. You can click here for the whole enchilada.

You always hear that coach before you see them. They’re yelling something about being out of position or not running hard enough for the ball. On a recent Saturday morning, the coach on the next field over was yelling at a pair of boys running past that they should “play soccer.” They stared at him with confusion. The girls on my team giggled because we were all there to play soccer.