It’s an interesting question. When I was young my parents never took me to any sport or came to watch me play either come to that. This was 40+ years ago to put it in perspective. Now parents take their kids to everything, me included to be fair! Is that ruining sport or benefiting sport for them? I think what ruins it is the pressure, the intensity that parents have. Watch any weekend football or rugby match and it’s all the same. Sideline coaching, over enthusiastic celebrations for a try/goal. I think parents need to get some perspective back. Cheering like you’ve won the premiership is not appropriate at u9. I was also thinking about the participation. Probably the right level is when the child says ‘can I go?’ Rather than the parent saying ‘you are going’. I see parents who flog their kids at various sports when they have no real talent and they are only reasonably good because they have been flogged. When the other kids catch up with them, disillusion will set in and they will probably give up. Like most things there is a balance.

A timely thread for me personally as my lad wants to race bmx at national level in 2018. I also help run the local BMX club.

Mainly the sport of bmx is inclusive, and as a club we encourage everyone to ride / race.

You do see the arms race and some parents can be overly pushy, suspect I’ve fallen into that trap occasionally as my lad has a tendency to throw motos if his head isn’t right, then beats himself up. I’ve now realised that he has to deal with those situations by himself and I’m there to offer support and love.

On the whole I do think bmx racing is a pretty good environment for kids to be active and just have fun on bikes.

But I look at other sports and see just how aggressive sideline parenting can be and I’m shocked, could this be down to the over commercialisation of those sports.

How anyone looks at sport, cycling in particular, and thinks there’s a career their for my kids are just mad. Speaking to some top flight olympians I suspect that very few earn any serious money, then in their early thirties find themselves looking for a new career, must be great when in the system but really difficult once out.

I will keep returning to this thread over 2018 to keep my perspective in check…

Would love to get involved with a mtb club down the line…

If it’s not ok to be mediocre 99% of STW need to sell their bikes.

If it wasn’t you AA I would think that your comment was very odd. As it is…

im ve had a decent long very mixed sporting hobby background so when dd1 came home at 7 saying could she run for school as nobdoy else would off we went.. she now runs and win british champ rounds and sometimes literally throws them when she doesnt fancy it.. which at 15 is becoming more regular, she ihough she now has to playnitially swam with a club as well and did a couple of low key tris etc but felt 80 length warm ups in the pool were B o R i n g.. she d like to do mtb/cx but frankly the arms race is too hot for me bike shoes helmets maintenance time etc.. i cant /havent the resources she doesnt do team sports for some of the reasons above, has played hockey but the girls were clicky and didnt warm to her or she to them despite been a county standard. shes walking away from sport slowly and reluctantly as it doesnt light her fire anymore.. dd2 lives for rugby at 12 though she now has to play exclusively with girls the lack of discipline and no competive midset of her team mates means she too has a waning interest.. hockey and netball she enjoys as she can be physicalas long as she doesnt get caught. she has been sent off in netball for ‘ agressive play’.. frankly the running them about also drains my little free time and money eaery night of the week at least one of them is doing a sport and after 8 years i need a break.. the opposite to pushy..

Paragraphs? ^^^^

I’m a qualified FA coach, whilst I was doing my Level 2 course a few of us asked the FA coach educator for some tips on how to include those of lesser ability in the sessions we run. His response was “tell them to find another sport”.
He’d only ever been a coach with pro clubs & was an ex pro so had probably never seen true grass roots sport.

I used to be pretty good at running as a kid, county level anyways.

Then drink and girls came along. That trumped running around a field! I would like to tell 15yo me to stick at it, but he wouldn’t of listened.