Families are often faced with the decision of which sport their children should practice, and the media has recently been offering advice on this topic. There is ongoing debate about whether it is better for a child who is considered shy to engage in a team sport or an individual contact sport. Which option is best for encouraging socialization or building confidence, and so on?
People tend to forget that it would be better for children to practice multiple sports instead of just one, or that any sport is practiced in a group where each participant must collaborate. Usually, no one explains this to parents, who remain caught in the web of single-sport clubs that compete for their attention.
I also understand that a soccer school, a swimming club, or any other sports organization must pursue its own goals, which are to recruit as many members as possible to participate in a specific sport. In Italy, there is no solution to this issue with sports, so this model will continue.
However, there is an important role that parents can play, and they can do so entirely on their own. It concerns the free time that children have outside of school and their two sports practices. What do they do in this free time? Do they move, play with others, go to the park, or something else? Or do they stay at home alone, playing on the PlayStation or smartphone?
This time is extremely important for them to organize games and activities with their peers and learn to feel self-determined and progressively more autonomous. I would say this is a significant role that families can play, even while having fun with their children and fulfilling their educational role.
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