I suspect that the most significant statement for swimming may be:
"If children are practicing a few hours a day at the pressure of their parents or coach, they will most likely grow to resent the sport. Parents should make sure the sport is not dominating the free time of the child - they need to make sure he or she has time to thoroughly do homework, to spend time with family, to play with friends and to enjoy other pursuits."
I've heard parents complain about the grueling training schedules their kids are subjected to as swimmers. One father recalled his own training schedule as a football player, but noted that "at least the football season ended." His 9-year-old son's swimming schedule, on the other hand, continued through the entire year.
I know of a kid who didn't join his high school swim team because the coach wouldn't let kids swim at meets if they hadn't been to practices, and his activity schedule made it impossible to attend every practice. In the end, so few kids joined the team that there weren't enough swimmers to fill all of the events, so the policy was bad for both the team and for the individual swimmers who were excluded by it.
Bob
I suspect that the most significant statement for swimming may be:
"If children are practicing a few hours a day at the pressure of their parents or coach, they will most likely grow to resent the sport. Parents should make sure the sport is not dominating the free time of the child - they need to make sure he or she has time to thoroughly do homework, to spend time with family, to play with friends and to enjoy other pursuits."
I've heard parents complain about the grueling training schedules their kids are subjected to as swimmers. One father recalled his own training schedule as a football player, but noted that "at least the football season ended." His 9-year-old son's swimming schedule, on the other hand, continued through the entire year.
I know of a kid who didn't join his high school swim team because the coach wouldn't let kids swim at meets if they hadn't been to practices, and his activity schedule made it impossible to attend every practice. In the end, so few kids joined the team that there weren't enough swimmers to fill all of the events, so the policy was bad for both the team and for the individual swimmers who were excluded by it.
Bob
