Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Sports for the non-sporty

We are not big fans of organized sports, and (shockingly, ha ha) the kids don't seem to enjoy them either.

We do yoga, horseback riding, ice skating, golf, and dance.

I occasionally play tennis but get annoyed with the woman drama of neighborhood teams.

The kids have tried soccer and tennis and didn't enjoy either one, but the older one loves ice skating and takes lessons 2x a week, and the younger one likes dancing and has two classes.

For us, it's not about the competition or being excellent, it's just about getting your body moving and "having a sport" as we call it. Gotta have a sport!

My older one is taking fencing lessons, and he really likes it. Apparently fencing is not sword-fighting, like Errol Flynn. It's fairly cerebral and an individual sport.
We go to a local fencing academy, where the teachers are very nice and low-key. I think it could be a long-term love for my son. The older kids who are fencing come in all shapes and sizes- tall, small, overweight, skinny. With so many sports, you need to be a big kid, but I guess at least at this level, you don't need to for fencing.

LOVE Drum Corps! My sister marched Blue Coats in the 90's..we went to DCI finals last
year in Indy. Getting your DD involved in dance now (if she has interest in gaurd) will
help her greatly. Equipment work can be learned...grace takes longer. I am going to Memphis in 2 weeks to do choreo with my sister's gaurd. I can't wait!

DD is very small (8.75 yo and 49inches) and I think uncoordinated. Team sports are not good for her.
So far she has taken to - martial arts (she really loves it and chooses this over dance), skiing/snowboarding (wow, this is a true passion for her and we are thrilled), she's trying archery soon, and running 5ks (it's fun for her and relatively easy, she just enters races, practicing only once on the treadmill before the race).

My most sensitive child is the one who loves animals the most. I think he bonds with them like friends because he makes so few. I would suggest if you do not have a dog yourself maybe she walk someone's dog if your reason for activity is not to socialize her. My son is very excited to sign up for the volunteer class at our local shelter so that he can start walking dogs there. This is a great ways to stay moving but he's so excited to just be near the animals. Hiking is also something he enjoys, again for the peace and the time to think.

My son was in a similar situation. I put him in Martial Arts, of all things, and he excelled at it. You have to shop around to find a good instructor, since many of them just take your money and hand out belts. But if you can find one who takes the time to teach, it's been wonderful for my son. You can progress at your own pace (if you don't get that belt this time, you can always do it next time), there are constant small goals to reach, and they lead to a bigger goal (black belt!) It also teaches discipline and a good work ethic, which are often difficult to learn for a child who breezes through school with little effort. It's also not direct competition between one kid and another - which helped a lot until he started to get the hang of it. Once he did, I allowed him to start going to tournaments. He now has several shelves full of trophies and medals, and recently told me that he is planning on becoming state champion for his age division.
It's not for everyone, of course, but it has worked very well for him - and there are also several other kids in his class who I suspect are gifted as well. So the added bonus is making friends with "smart" kids of various ages - so he doesn't feel like a misfit.

During our follow up with the testing psychologist sports came up and the psychologist recommended we not put our son in team sports unless he asked to participate. I thought that was odd but he said most gifted kids don't like team sports. He suggested tennis (only because he was familiar with a local program)

Our kiddo's psychologist said the same thing based on his profile/personality. But even though it's probably true for lots of gifties, I think it's really a kid-by-kid and personality thing re: team sports. My husband and I both love team sports, although we leaned toward the more individual tasks on the teams (DH was a hockey goalie and I was a fast-pitch softball pitcher).

As with all generalizations, this one will have exceptions. My DD7 loves playing soccer, and I enjoyed playing football. DD would seem to fit your "individual tasks" mold, as she has expressed an interest in playing goalie (though it's not available at her age level). But the most individual position on a football field (QB) is the only one I never played with any regularity, organized or otherwise.

Personally, I think extro/introversion has more to do with it than giftedness, because being a teammate is a social experience. DW is very athletic and enjoys sports, but never plays team sports. She's also the only introvert in the family.

Some gifted kids may be extroverts but experience social difficulties for one reason or another, and that can be a turn-off for team sports. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who seem to fit in everywhere.

I agree. I think that is why I thought it was odd that he said that. We have many gifted people in our family that have enjoyed team sports.

This is something my son is going to do. Something like this might be available in other cities.

http://www.seattlemarathon.org/kids/eventinfo.php