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So, we have a kid (1st grade) that runs a lot. We are doing some races and he's pretty good and he's enjoying it, which is the most important thing. He is super-active so he needs lots of physical activity and running is pretty great for that.
Around our area, Northport, we can find, for his age, soccer, basketball, baseball, karate, tae kwon-do, and lots of other sports for kids to do after-school stuff but no track and field. Well, there is one track and field club in Northport but is for older kids and it's totally full, so hard to enter there and not for us yet, though we will try whenever he makes the age.
Our idea is NOT to try to create a "Bolt" or anything simile (just in case anybody is wondering)... but using something that he actually enjoys to burn energy while, hopefully, steering him towards a very healthy sport to do in his youth.
So, the question is, does anybody know where little kids can have after-school or weekends FUN track and field training in our area or not too far away?
I wonder if he was running as part of an organized "team" - would he still enjoy it as much? Running is inherently pretty boring - even more so for young children. I say put him in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse (avoid little league like the plague) - but continue to do local 5ks or whatever with him on the occasional weekend.
It's certainly possible he will eventually gravitate more to individual track and field sports, but at age 6 it's usually better for kids to be part of a team with a bunch of kids their own age.
Have you checked local churches? Our local one has a CYO track program for kids starting in kindergarten. They practice mainly in the spring on Tues/Thurs nights and have a 4 or 5 meets on Saturdays. My son (currently 2nd grade) loves the practices, the coaches made them fun while trying to teach them some basic techniques. Unfortunately we never made it to the meets because of other sports conflicts, so I can't comment about that. They picked up the practices this fall for those that were registered last spring and have two meets coming up, but again I don't think we will be making meets. Lastly, it was very affordable.
I wonder if he was running as part of an organized "team" - would he still enjoy it as much? Running is inherently pretty boring - even more so for young children. I say put him in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse (avoid little league like the plague) - but continue to do local 5ks or whatever with him on the occasional weekend.
It's certainly possible he will eventually gravitate more to individual track and field sports, but at age 6 it's usually better for kids to be part of a team with a bunch of kids their own age.
I agree with this. Two of my kids are very fast, but they enjoy using their speed in other sports. If I had put them in track when they were little they would probably not be playing any sports right now because they would have hated it! Both of them hate distance workouts.
I have a friend whose niece started running cross country to stay in shape for her other sports and now she's one of the fastest runners on the east coast. I say let him run in the other sports where his whole body will get a workout. If he enjoys running that much he'll be an asset to any team and will probably gravitate to track when he's older.
Thanks for all the comments, we'll check the places mentioned!!!
And, don't get me wrong, I'm ok if he wants to play croquet or curling... whatever keeps the kid active doing something...
He is enjoying the Healthy Kids Running Races and that's what triggered this search for some after school or weekend activities... also, I have a family tradition of track and field (high jump).... BTW, track and field could be SUPER-FUN for kids... jumping little hurdles, doing long jump, doing races, throwing balls as far as you can, etc...... and it is fun to do it in a group, so you get friends, etc... for some reason we have the idea in our minds of the lonely runner training concentrated under the rain with their minds in their world... but for kids it isn't like that, there are lots of games to make it fun and track and field activities could be really good.
Anyway, I was surprised to find out how difficult it is to find some after-school training for track and field. For example, when he goes to basketball camp in the summer, they teach him how to shoot or dribble or pass the ball. Or if he goes to swimming lessons, how to move his legs and arms to do a better stroke. Or if he goes to Karate how to do "Chinese Sword A" (or whatever the heck is that)... Well, running is like that as well, there is a proper technique of how to run better, how to do longer strides, the proper arm movement, etc... and yet, that seems to not be taught that often to little kids than other sports.
Hipo
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but for kids it isn't like that, there are lots of games to make it fun and track and field activities could be really good.
