That's great that you got your son out there. Sports are an issue in our house, too. We have been waffling for the last year or so on how much to push on getting DS4 out there. It's good to hear about your positive experience.
I feel the same waffle-y way, especially in competitive situations, even those that are mildly so. Even Y classes have a competitive component that might not be great for a perfectionist trying something new. Plus the commitment of X number of weeks, whether it's a good experience or not.
The Olympics are perfect for us, because there's no "build an ice rink in your backyard" commitment. (LOL!) It's one day, and the whole point is to see how hard it is, that is, to see how bad you really are at that sport so that you can appreciate how good the Olympic athletes are. Perfect for undermining perfectionism!
I guess what I'm saying is that before he gets to those competitive situations, he needs to feel like it's safe to try something hard and be bad at it. He's rarely had that experience, so that's one of the things I'm really focusing on for our homeschool experience. Try new things, maybe be bad at them, but life goes on! Then when he gets older and is in more highly competitive situations, he's ready for them.
Baby steps. When I worked for the Girl Scouts, we called it "progression." Challenge kids, but make the challenges ones that they have a high probability of succeeding at because they have the tools they need. Then, when they've mastered one challenge, give them more and harder. It's a strategy that builds real, useful confidence as well as the ability to handle responsibility and independence. It also makes kids more resiliant...and that's all good stuff!
