When we assess youth sport talent, some kids develop early, while others need more time for physical growth, better balance, and improved coordination. Often we jump to watch the better kids play, while disregarding kids who appear to be lacking athletic talent. As you might imagine, the faster developing kids are assumed to be future stars when they enter high school, while the lesser kids are largely forgotten about. What is most interesting about this way that we assess kids who play sports is that the opposite often occurs, where some early youth sport stars fade away from sports, while other late-blooming kids seem to suddenly become good athletes. This week we dive into why some better kids lose interest in sports sooner than expected, while other seemingly less talented kids end up becoming very good athletes.
The impact of interest on success
While not every early developing kid loses interest in sports, a good number of kids do learn that while they were good at sports early in life and maybe liked doing sports, they didn’t love doing sports. Put another way, it is not uncommon for the bigger, faster kids to play well early in life (mostly because of their early physical advantages), but when other kids catch up in size, some early advancing kids learn that they only played their sport because they were good at it, not because they loved it. Being good at something may keep you interested in something for awhile, but over time most of us need more than that to stay truly committed. With kids, when they do not have a passion to play a specific sport, the success they experience will only carry them so far before they start exploring other, better uses of their time. Quitting sports becomes easier for these kids as other kids catch up, mostly because they were only in the sport because of their previous success — and when that’s gone, there isn’t much left.
Interestingly, the exact opposite occurs for a lot of kids who started youth sports without physical advantages (but really enjoy the sport). In these cases, even though the early results may not be there (mostly because they haven’t had a growth spurt yet), these kids do often have a great interest and passion for playing the sport — and therefore continue to play hard until their body eventually catches up. As late blooming kids grow into their bodies, their intrinsic motivation and resiliency continues to propel them toward ongoing athletic success!
The big takeaway is that it is important to assess if your child has no interest, likes, or loves the sport he or she plays. If there is little to no interest, his or her early success likely will not be enough to sustain commitment to the sport long-term. Conversely, if your child really loves playing a sport (even with little early success), as he or she physically develops you might be surprised how much improvement you witness, driven mostly by intrinsic motivation.
Final thoughts
Too often in youth sports we focus on the early developing kids, while dismissing the smaller kids still waiting for a growth spurt. Later, we often experience confusion when a more talented kid quits, thinking that if he or she was good at the sport then he or she must also love the sport. As we just discussed, this is not always the case. It is also a welcome surprise to see a kid who always played hard and loved the sport (though never experiencing much success), eventually hit puberty and as the kid grows in size begins to see a lot more sport success. Yes, intrinsic motivation can really make a difference when it comes task focus, adherence, and eventual success!
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