Best age to start athletics

angeldaisy

Just wondering if my son is too young to start athletics? He's 7, tall for his age and full of energy:D He has expressed an interest in athletics which has only been confirmed by watching the olympics - says he wants to do the hurdles!

He's already swimming, but he can't do any contact sports so I thought this would probably suit him?

Also would anyone recommend a club in Limerick.

Thanks

RoyMcC

That's just about the minimum age I'd say. Honestly, below 7 or 8 there's no chance of a child listening and learning for more than a few minutes. I'd say there's very few clubs would cater for those younger.

Great that you have him swimming though.

ecoli

angeldaisy wrote: »

Just wondering if my son is too young to start athletics? He's 7, tall for his age and full of energy:D He has expressed an interest in athletics which has only been confirmed by watching the olympics - says he wants to do the hurdles!

He's already swimming, but he can't do any contact sports so I thought this would probably suit him?

Also would anyone recommend a club in Limerick.

Thanks

http://www.limerickac.ie/?page_id=125

I think the younger you can get them in the better. At a young age kids development in terms of coordination is crucial and getting him in now will stand to him in what ever sports he aims to go into in later life

Woddle

I'd have to agree with Roymcc. In my opinion 8 maybe 9 should be the minimum. My experience with the younger kids is that you're more of a babysitter and that takes away from the quality of session that the other kids should be getting. Now there's always the odd kid at 7 who gets it and loves it, but there the minority.

The other side of that coin though is that by not taking them younger you lose them to another sport.

Obviously if you had more coaches, you could have a sort of kindergarten athletics program and keep them seperate to the slightly older kids.

angeldaisy

thanks for some great info, I've emailed Limerickac so hopefully will hear something soon.

I think he needs to get some discipline and think this might help focus him.

He's starting with Seal in September so I'm hoping he will begin to learn proper techniques now.

He's not the best for following instructions and does tend to get distracted easily so hopefully it will work out.

angeldaisy

Woddle wrote: »

I'd have to agree with Roymcc. In my opinion 8 maybe 9 should be the minimum. My experience with the younger kids is that you're more of a babysitter and that takes away from the quality of session that the other kids should be getting. Now there's always the odd kid at 7 who gets it and loves it, but there the minority.

The other side of that coin though is that by not taking them younger you lose them to another sport.

Obviously if you had more coaches, you could have a sort of kindergarten athletics program and keep them seperate to the slightly older kids.

Just noticed your post, and I understand that younger children would be a distraction.
I agree with you though that I would hate for him to lose his interest as I always did a lot of athletics when I was younger and loved it.

I would be staying with him when he attends any club, so hopefully would be able to volunteer with them as a helper.

wrstan

Most clubs with a juvenille section will take kids from the age of 7. Some will only take kids in the calendar year that they will turn 8 and many clubs will insist a parent stays with them at that age so that they don't become a child minding service. For that age groups most clubs will focus on teaching kids the basics of movement, mobility and co-ordination.

The outline of the AI Athletics Leader course gives a good indication of what kids of that age will cover: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?page_id=1344

RayCun

I think the minimum age for competition is 8, so for a lot of clubs that is (in theory) the minimum age for joining.