Team vs. Individual Sports for Tweens

Choosing the Right Recreational Activity for Preteens

Jun 10, 2009

Here are some tips to help parents decide if a child is geared for team sports or individual sports.

Tweens are at an age where being competitive really starts to take hold. Having a competitive nature is not necessarily a bad thing. It is just a matter of finding the right way to channel that competitive feeling. The question for parents is whether or not a child fits best with team sports or going out for individual sports. Why would there be a difference to consider? Take a look at these tips and suggestions.

Team Sports Leagues

Team sports have great benefits for a tween who enjoys working with other kids, and being part of a team effort. Tweens who are already involved in some type of team sport more than likely feel comfortable working in this type of atmosphere. There is definitely a high sense of involvement for each player on a team to help win games, and this can only be accomplished when a team learns to work together.

Team sports, at this young age, often gear player placement based on a child's level of experience, as well as age group to try and make teams as evenly competitive as possible. Common team sport options for tweens may include, but are not limited to:

Tweens who play on a team have the chance to meet and make many new friends. As an example, the U.S. Youth Soccer League has an estimated 3 million players across the nation. That's a lot of opportunity to get to meet new people, all while exercising and having fun.

Individual Sports Leagues

Tweens who are just starting to venture out in some type of recreational sport may feel more comfortable with individual sports. It is a great way for a child to develop skills without feeling pressured to contribute to a whole team in some cases. It is true that many individual sport leagues work as a team when it comes to scoring, but each member of the team competes on his own with what he is best at doing.

Individual sports do require a much higher degree of accountability, as it is not easy to blame a team member when something goes wrong. The bright side to this is that personal growth takes place much easier when a tween realizes that he can only succeed when he commits himself to his goals and dedicates the time needed to practice.

Discuss with a tween what he feels most comfortable doing. After all, he knows what he might be interested in, and forcing a child to play sport he doesn't want to can easily backfire. Let a tween try new things, and soon he will discover the right fit.

The copyright of the article Team vs. Individual Sports for Tweens in Parenting Tweens is owned by Denise Oliveri. Permission to republish Team vs. Individual Sports for Tweens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.