All Ages Encouraging someone to play sports

lindbergh

lindbergh

Legacy Member
I have a young cousin who is very shy. He he's about to step into college and he says that he's a little nervous about PE classes. He even expressed that doesn't want to attend PE classes because he's not good at any sport.

What will I tell my cousin? How can I encourage him to play sports and overcome his shyness?
 
Try to steer him towards a positive attitude, at least until he starts college when he'll see by himself how PE classes are. I can understand his fear, current day media (especially movies) is full of examples where physically weak kids are bullied in PE classes, but in real life things can be different. Maybe he'll get an awesome teacher and colleagues resulting in a fun experience.
 
I think that just as we can not be dancers of all kinds of music, or we can not be good performers of all kinds of instruments, we should also be aware that maybe we can not be very good at all sports, for example, Michael Jordan, could not be as excellent in baseball as he was in basketball.

For that reason, I consider appropriate that you can help your cousin to identify the type of sport for which he could have greater abilities, because not always the one that most catches our attention, is in which we can perform better.

On the other hand, I believe that group sports could be more appropriate to combat shyness compared to individual sports.

Be his companion and you could even be his personal coach.
 
Sports can be very benificial to kids. This is the time that they should be exposed to all sort of sports and then keep what they like until they go to college. I think the problem lies because of too much technology. Go try and play with your cousin, try playing with him first. Host a sport event in your reunion and make him play. Maybe bringing some cute girls might push him a little bit but make every effort that he plays because when he starts to sweat, he's gonna love it!
 
Most kids at a young age lack self-confidence and still in the process of exploring their interests and where they are good at. For starters, you can go and talk to your cousin, try to get him open up and get a little background on what is causing him to be conscious and shy in PE class. If it is a motivational issue, then a bit of pep talk could work like, "Playing sports will help you improve your overall health", "It will make you look good and fit", "Your crush will notice you even more".

If the concern is more on being uncertain on which sport to play, then you could probably help him explore. You can play different sports together on weekends until he gets into that comfort zone and mastery when playing a specific sport.However, it could be more challenging to motivate him if bullying is involved. If your cousin is an introvert and naturally shy, forcing him to play could only increase his stress level. Overall, you should always be there to listen and help improve in all the steps of way. If it is a skill issue, then constant practice will definitely help.
 
Tell them how fun it can be and all the benefits. Tell him to try all kinds of sports, exploration is very important. He could improve his social skills and overall health. Teach him sports you know and encourage him. Give him confidence and be competitive so he gets motivated. Remind him that failure and adversity will only make him better if he chooses to learn from it. And remind him that he can create many FUN memories!
 
It's very helpful if one can make it a life style. I do sports and it's been very helpful. It's good for those going through depression as well.
 
I have been working out for years, and I consider myself as a person who is leading a healthy lifestyle. I have a friend who always depended on strict diets. Basically starved herself, and didn't exercise at all because she thought she would become bulky. I tried to talk her out of doing these diets and just encourage her to eat more, and exercise a little, so she would see better results. We started walking everyday, progressed to jogging after a while, and today she runs marathons, and eats probably 2-3 times more than before. So, I guess encouraging people to do even the smallest changes in their everyday life can lead to a greater outcome.
 
I suggest try to go to the gym with him, do some cardio and lift some weights. Research on how to do it properly. That way, your cousin will gain some confidence about his physical capabilities, when you are stronger and more athletic, you will have an easier time at learning any sport.
 
I believe one of the ways to encourage him to play sports is to start doing exercises. Maybe aside from being shy, he is not physically fit so he has no confidence to engage in sports. You may start by asking him to jog or run with you every morning. It will improve his cardio and stamina. During jogging, you can also ask him in detail what are his habits, hobbies and interests. With that information, you can benchmark which sports will be a good match to him. Good luck.
 
I was a terribly awkward youth. I grew in "spurts" and always seemed to have "two left feet" As you might imagine, I did poorly at sport.

I grew up in an age, when PE meant one thing; competitive sports. Being the last one picked, the kid who scored on his own team's goal, the guy who couldn't catch a pass if his life depended on it... Games of Sport are meant to be fun, but for me they were little more than exercises in dread. Those experiences (and the social repercussions) soured me against sport in general. My physical health suffered, I was weak, overweight and under-socialized.

It wasn't until I was a teenager and had had enough of being the "wilting lily" that I discovered that physical activity, fitness, and self-improvement need not be accessed merely through competition with my peers. I took up weight training, cross-country running, diving, and yoga... all sports of a more solitary nature yet fantastic for physical health.

I soon discovered that being fit feels really good, and that feeling good is very attractive...

I got lucky, just stumbling upon solutions, but I remain an active advocate of non-competitive sport. There is plenty to choose from, even many that are ostensibly competitive yet in practice turn out to be more about individual goal setting like; skiing, skate-boarding, swimming, track and field, rock-climbing...

still, I cant recommend yoga enough. it is probably the one "sport" that transformed me the most. poise, strength, co-ordination, self-esteem... plus it is a great way for the less-than-athletic person to get their start.
 
I think one way of encouraging someone into sports is to help them choose a sport to suit their age, tastes, and physical ability. Forcing someone to participate in a sport that doesn't interest them can lead to resistance or boredom.
Also, help them to select a sport that is also affordable and convenient, so that they won't have to give it up if it exceeds their budget or available time.
 
Sports is a good exercise and it can keep our body healthy. Instead of doing something bad why don't we try to play sports. In sports, we can have a good future. We can be a professional athlete. The best thing for being an athlete is we can inspire other people.
 
We should definitely encourage children to play sports. Not only is it good for the body, but it is also good for the mind. Sport teaches children discipline, team work, bonding, sense of belonging. It teaches them from an early age that they need to work hard to come to results and how to deal with both winning and losing. These are all valuable lessons that will be precious later in life.
 
If you know someone who is having a hard time going on the gym on a week ends, encourage them to play sports, because for me sports is much easier, better way and much fun way to exercise our body and get fit. But not all sports uses our body to exercise what I am pertaining to is those exercise who uses our body to win like basketball, volleyball and so much more.
 
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