Building Confidence in Children Through Sport

What is Self Confidence?

Self confidence means having a realistic understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses. Building on existing self confidence means identifying areas that need to be worked on that may be lacking in some way. A child’s self-esteem is acquired, not inherited. In children, parents are the main source of a child’s self confidence and so it is really important that parents take a vested interest in their child’s behaviour from a very young age.

Obviously parents have a huge influence over their children and so if a parent displays low self confidence themselves, this can have a bearing on a child’s behaviour and self esteem. That is not to say that being over confident or arrogant is the correct method. A happy medium must be achieved whereby the child can see that is ok to have certain weaknesses but it also ok to celebrate strengths.

Why is Self Confidence Important?

So why is it important for a child to have self confidence, can it not be something that develops through life? Of course, it is an ongoing thing but the basis of a child’s confidence begins at a very young age and because a child’s parents are their primary carers and influencers, of course what they do will make a big impact. Parents can help in those areas that assist in the promotion of self confidence. This will help to make the child feel good.

Encouragement

Encouragement is a key tool in this whole area. It is important that encouragement is used at the right times. A child should not just be given volumes of encouragement when they behave positively. Encouragement should be a natural emotion emitted from the parents even when a child doesn’t appear totally successful at a task. For example, encouragement should be handed out if a child reads a new word well but fails to read every word on the page perfectly. Encouragement can serve to teach the child that while they have done something well, there are areas for improvement.

What shouldn’t happen is stark criticism to the child of their behaviour. This can result in the child having a complex about a specific area at a very young age and in turn hampering their willingness to learn or attempts to improve. What is healthier is to give positive, well thought out feedback to help them understand the areas that can be improved on. Children with healthy self esteem and confidence tend to interact better and show a greater willingness to learn than those that suffer with low confidence.

Sports

Sports are great place to start your child’s developmental growth from a number of aspects. Of course, it will assist in their physical fitness and coordination. Fitness is becoming more and more of an issue in this country as the childhood obesity levels continue to grow so that benefit is substantial. Sports are also a brilliant way to encourage a child and their behavioural development; whether it be to help them understand the frameworks of teamwork or to help to grow their own inner confidence.

Team Sports

It is only natural that the child involved in sport will view his/her experiences through their own personal success, even in team sports. It is important that parents and coaches work towards highlighting the importance of working as a team while also showing the child how their personal strengths can assist the team in its success.

If a child is involved in a team sport such as one with an experienced football academy for kids , those coaches will be trained in the best ways to encourage your child, thus positively affecting their self confidence. A good coach will have the ability to highlight the skills that a player holds while also building on the areas that need growth or to be worked on. Sometimes, especially with children of a certain age, it may only be confidence holding them back. The key is for the coaches to understand the specific strength that an individual child has and let them bask in that for a while until they grow more confident in other areas. For example, a child may be athletically strong and fast but may fear shooting or kicking the ball. A good coach will recognise this and encourage the child to use their abilities well and not force them in a position such as striker. Once the child has performed well in other areas, their confidence will grow and they might attempt a shot of their own accord.