Fun or development when it comes to your child’s sporting experience

At Foot-Tech we believe that fun is vital to player development. But when should the importance of development and competition become the priority over fun for children in sport?

Because surely that point must come. Mustn’t it?

It is widely accepted by adults (parents, coaches…) that this ‘point’ occurs as a player gets older and/or becomes a better athlete involved in more serious competition.

Adults know that fun is good up to a point, but sooner or later things need to get more serious.

Fun becomes less important because it is believed that the time comes to start taking things more seriously in order to get better.

How can you be the best you possibly could be if you are having fun rather than concentrating on development?

Fun and development in sport cannot happen together. The presence of one must mean the exclusion of the other. Fun or development not fun and development.

If you want to become the best, if you want to actually improve and progress in sport, then it must become serious.

Not fun.

But is this actually true? Or is it just an assumption that we (adults) make?

Well, the inspiration for this blog came from reading a brilliant book titled ‘Myths of Sport Coaching’ – so there is your answer!

It is not true. It is a myth. Fun is not a bad thing in sport performance and development. In fact, it is vital to successful athletic development!But it is true that fun is not viewed by adults, in our work-oriented and economics-based society, as something that can lead to improved sport performance. The word has negative connotations when it is being discussed in connection with athletic development (by adults).

Fun or development not fun and development.

When adults hear of children having fun in their sporting environments, the word fun becomes something that means mucking around, not concentrating, not trying their best, not listening to their coaches…

And so, we as adults wonder how they can possibly be improving as much as they could be if they weren’t having so much ‘fun’.

Therein lies the problem though: what if children’s idea of fun when playing sport is different to adults?

And it is.

Research that has been conducted with children who play sport to find out their views on participation have found that fun is very important to them.

But do you know what children said was the most fun thing about playing sport?

Messing around? Not concentrating? Not listening to coaches?

No.

Fun for children when they play sport comes from their athletic development!

The thing adults want them to focus on instead of having so much fun is what is making them have so much fun playing sport!

More specifically, they stated three sub-categories of athletic development more than any others when asked what is fun about sport:

1. trying hard (e.g., trying your best, working hard, competing)

2. positive team dynamics (e.g., playing well together, supporting teammates)

3. positive coaching (e.g., having knowledge of the sport, being encouraging, allowing mistakes whilst staying positive)

The things we as adults want them to do when they are playing sport rather than having fun, are the things that to them are the most fun things about playing sport!

Who would’ve though it?

This tells us that when a child says that they are having fun when they play sport, or they say that that they enjoyed training tonight ‘because it was fun’ – that doesn’t mean they were mucking about and not giving their best.

It means they had fun precisely because they were giving their best, they were enjoying being part of a team and they were receiving positive coaching!

All the things we want them to be doing, instead of having fun!

And the research has found that this applies to children, adolescents, and adults; to girls and boys; to recreational and Olympic athletes.

Everyone just wants to have fun when they play sport, and fun in sport means trying hard and getting better.

This doesn’t change when they get older. It doesn’t change when they start to play at a higher level.

Adults want children to prioritise development; children think development is fun.

So, we’re on the same page then. Happy days!

Not fun and development, not fun or development, not separate, not one at the expense of the other. Instead – development is fun!

Research amongst athletes (young and old; male and female; high level and recreational players) consistently finds that the main reason they play sport and stay in sport is because it is fun.

The main reason that they stop playing sport is that it is no longer fun.

More specifically – the primary reason is that there is increased pressure from parents and coaches.

Adults decide It’s time to get serious! You’ve had your fun, now it’s time to train and focus on development!

Ironically, this is the single best way to stop them from developing at all. If we allow them to continue to have fun, they will develop more.

As parents we only want the best for our children, but it is so important that we take their views into account and give them a voice.

They might surprise us; they might even tell us exactly what we want to hear:

They want to train hard; they want to improve – they just don’t want us to tell them that that is what they should be doing, and for us to make that the explicit priority.

The priority of sport participation for anybody should be because it is fun! Young and old; male and female; in the back garden or at the World Cup!

Here’s to another year of fun at Foot-Tech

Inspired by: The Science of Fun in Sport by Amanda J. Visek and Anna Feiler from Myths of Sport Coaching edited by Dr Amy Whitehead and Jenny Coe.

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