Just wondered if anyone had experience of their own kids doing a bit too much.
I’m a fully made up parent as the daughter (12) is ticking every sporting box going, but..
This week will consist of 2hrs gymnastics last night (home at 9.30)
Cross country trial at school today, followed by basketball after school then an hrs swimming.
Wed off.
Thursday netball tourney straight after school, followed by another 2 hrs gymnastics.
Friday will be gym again when swapped from the Thursday sesh.

Oh and to add she thoroughly wants to do them all as we haven’t been pushing her into them.

Yes. Outcomes include poss injuries, over-tiredness and poor behaviour. Like all thinks in life, it comes down to balance.

Does your Daughter really want to do all that or is she eager to please you in part?

Kids need a chance to day-dream, unwind otherwise burn out when it comes to stressful exams/home life issue?!!

I think not. If she enjoys it and is not doing more than she is capable of then I see no downside. My boys do football, cricket, rugby, swimming, spend hours out on scooters, bikes and skateboards and when we go away on hols it’s non stop activity from dawn till dusk. Your lass sounds like she likes to be active which is fantastic. Just be sure she is up for it and not being forced and she’ll be fine.

Can kids do too much sport?

Only if they don’t enjoy it.

I’m sure the answer is yes but I suspect that the biggest risk is burn out or doing it for reasons other than wanting to herself. Only you can really see that.

I played some form of sport everyday as a kid; football, cricket, rounders/stool ball, swimming, running, cycling and tennis mainly. Didn’t do me any harm until I got to my late teens when I start getting shin splints. IMO I put that down to incorrectly (basically not being interested in) warming up and warming down.

I know friends with sporty kids and they don’t yet seem to have any issues. I know the body is in a major growing phase at that age so I suspect while some kids have the physiology to deal with it others just don’t. No doubt there’s a tad more science to it that that.

As other people have said, if she really wants to do it and it makes her happy then who cares?

When I was a kid I did a lot of activities, I’d ride BMX or skateboard from when I started my paper-round to 7-8pm every night. I’m a normal podgy 27 year old now.

She loves it all. The gym and swimming has always been done (well last 4/5 years) but the other sports have been as a result of starting “big school.”
The only one we’ve ever pushed is swimming as we see it as a genuine life saving skill that’s worth having.

I was the least sporty boy on the planet as a kid but had a daily diet of running around games including football plus playing out on bikes and playing in “woods ” climbing trees etc. I think lots of varied physical activity can only be good. I would be concerned at repeated repetitive stress from gymnastics or competitive cycling on young bones and joints.

I loved all sport as a kid (still do or should I say still am!) but when 12-14 I was doing sport every break and every day after school and all weekend. Something had to change and it was my behaviour. Not in a serious way, but enough for school to say enough (I was in a position of responsibility at the time). That was the right decision. Still played lots of sport afterwards but also had some breaks and more rest.

It not easy getting the balance right. I still do some sport every day, so I am not advocating abstention!!

To my mind, kids are just engines for converting sugar to motion, so she’ll be fine. It’s quite a mix of activity there.

Mine are younger but swim, climb, cycle, football, gymnastics etc etc some classes some just of their own doing. Still don’t seem to get tired. Ever.

If you think of it simply as “activity” rather than organised sport, then up until a couple of decades ago, that would have been perfectly normal.

When I was that age, I’d be out with my friends all day, every day, riding bikes, playing Frisbee, climbing tress and the like.
We’d spend far more hours a week “training” than any sports club does nowadays.

I would say it depends how competitive it all is .
If she is just doing it because she enjoys it ,then that’s usually ok.
It’s when there may be pressure to perform or do extra for some comp that kids pick up injuries ( IME of course )

When is the kid going to do any study and reinforcement of what she is doing in class?

How much do you talk to her about academic stuff?

MTG – Jumpers for goalposts, eh? 😉

It’s probably not about sport, just time – at one point aged about 9 or 10 I had some activity going on every single night after school – some sport, some not. One day I just thought sod it, and quit all except one. I felt brilliant, so relaxed, and I had so much more time to get on with my own stuff at home.

MTQG – the issue isn’t with physical activity I reckon, it’s about time pressure. Messing about outside doesn’t have that.

Well she’s also excelling academically achieving a near level 7 (?) in one piece of work recently, and winning the spanish spelling b. Had parents evening last week so that put our minds at rest….
However we have a real battle with homework sometimes and last week it was made patently clear that the minute the homework/school work suffers them one of the late night gym sessions has to go.
Have to admit its not ideal the lessons being between 7/9pm but that’s what they are.

A possible downside is chronic injury so worth keeping an eye on that. I did gymnastics from the age of 8 til 16 (between 2 and 4 classes a week), plus netball, trampolining, running, kayaking, rounders. I ended up with Osgood schlatters syndrome in one knee which no one noticed til I was 25, a damaged disc in my spine and a permanently dodgy neck.
I’m still riding my bike though!

Vicky +1
youngest now 12 was hooked into gymnastics/tumbling (awsome to watch elite team close up) she started to go off it once the coaches started to stretch them before sessions, really stretch them eg legs straight on floor nose to floor by knees then coach presses down ,into splits with one foot on a step. can see why but OMG. I would check that out to see what you are happy with

It is better to be into sport than many other teen activities.