CLEVELAND — Now that kids are back at school, it also means we are back to the juggle of fall sports. Every year, there’s the age-old debate: "Do I sign my kid up for this again?" Then there are pressures of joining travel and club sports and the question, "Is this right for my kid or our family?"
Today on Mom Squad, Maureen Kyle talks with sports psychologist and owner of Center for Peak Performance, Dr. Sam Maniar, about all of this, including the psychology behind feeling the pressure of club sports.
“It's a very very much a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’,” says Maniar.
He says there’s the peer pressure parents feel that if another family has their child in a club sport, you should too.
And for the kids, he says the fun isn’t just about the sport.
“I think for the for the kids it's about staying in hotels that's probably the fun
part, right? It's not necessarily, 'Oh, I'm on a club sport team or anything like that,'" said Maniar.
Maniar says youth sports is a $37 billion dollar a year industry.
So, should we sign up for club sports as a family?
“The sales pitch is the level of competitiveness will be higher, the coaching will be more professional, and they'll develop your child better than a rec sport,” says Maniar.
What parents need to consider is the culture of that particular team, the schedule demands and what time commitment is involved.
“And in many cases that's true, it just comes at a cost and it's, I think up to every individual family to determine whether that cost is worth it,” says Maniar.
In this episode, Maniar discusses when to recognize burnout in your child and also how to motivate them without bribery.
You can watch the entire episode of Mom Squad on WKYC+, which you can find on Roku, Apple and Fire TV or in the media player below.
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