The promise of sport: Childhood potential and fulfilled futures
Being a good enough parent in the modern world is not easy. After a terrific summer of cricket, with a World Cup Win for England and an Ashes to inspire a generation of children across borders, we look at the way sport can safely enrich and bring confidence to children’s lives.
Being a good enough parent in the modern world is not easy. After a terrific summer of cricket, with a World Cup Win for England and an Ashes to inspire a generation of children across all borders, we look at the way sport can safely enrich and bring confidence to children’s lives.
All children have vulnerabilities and all children have a need. This can become more apparent at heightened times of stress to parents or families, such as with a divorce our separation; illness to self of a loves one; or of course, sadly through the death of a parent or carer. It can also be at times of new beginnings, such as the birth of a sibling, moving house, the death of a beloved pet. All are areas of deep uncertainty, change and worry. However, can a sense of emergence be felt, alongside a sense of emergency?
In mediation and arbitration a large part concerns listening and resolving, in accepting what is a ‘good enough’ rather than what is ‘perfect’. Surely this could play a role too in how we parent and care for the youngest members of our society. In listening to the voice of the child, empathising and acknowledging our own and a child’s feelings, including those of feeling lost and not having all the answers all the time ourselves, could we not be granting a wonderful and precious gift. We can also offer a healthy outlet and meaning, alongside the added bonuses of exercise and an encouragement of lifelong activity and fitness, through sport and games.
Team sports involve listening to one another, seeing another’s worth and skill, acknowledging the importance of those around us and not always being perfect all of the time.
Sport teaches us to be good enough, it teaches us we will and can sometimes fail.
Being aware of a child’s awareness is also a crucial factor. Children can appear like sponges, soaking up all around them, including family disputes and arguments. Attending to this comes a massive sense of stress and fear. The addition to children’s lives of a sport and activity can bring an escape and stable routine, alongside the huge rewards of teamwork: closeness, mutual understanding and companionship.
So as this week begins, with the Rugby World Cup, it’s great excitement and anticipation, we have a duty to grant access to sport for our children when we can, to provide meaning and stability to children who face uncertainty and upheaval, be it due to divorce, separation, illness or death of a loved one.
Sadly, sport for children has been tarnished by instances of abuse and parents and carers may understandably be concerned about the safety of their child when participating and clubs, coaching and team games. There are however steps we can take as parents to promote positive parental involvement in youth sport. We can still be sure that our children do not miss out on the stabilising and empowering gift of sport, whilst still ensuring their safety and wellbeing.
Take a look at the SPORTS PARENTS PROMISE. An initiative aimed at parents, to ensure their children participate in, and have a safe and enjoyable experience of sport. Each year the campaign, run as part of Parent’s in Sport week, allows parents to acknowledge the contribution they make to their child’s enjoyment of sport, and allows clubs, coaches and other sports organisations to really get parents on board and take an interest in their child’s sporting life.