My 5 Yr Old Daughter Is Intimidated by Sports

Let her do her individual sports. Maybe someday she will gain her confidence to do team sports. If she doesn't there will be other ways of learning team work.

I H.A.T.E team sports.

Why do you want her to be "confident enough to play" It's not about confidence.

You say that "it can be so fun and so good for her to be a part of a team". I don't believe that.

Dance is "team" oriented. let that be her "team".

Otherwise, leave her alone. You will affect her self-esteem if she thinks you are disappointed in her. that's worse than whatever you think you will happen to her if she can't play football or soccer or whatever at a family picnic with a bunch of random kids who are probably at different athletic levels as well as varying commitment / knowledge levels about the game.

Instead focus on making her feel good about what she DOES want to do.

She is confident enough to play. She just chooses sports different, then what you would like. dance, gymnastics, and swimming is fine. Let her participate what she is good at, and confident in. The sports she does still have teams, and they still compete. You don't have to play soccer or softball, to be a part of a team. Not everyone enjoys the random games at camp and other places.

Let her be, she seems fine. Don't project your childhood feelings, on her.

"Dance, gymnastics and swimming" are sports.. If that is what she likes, that is pretty awesome.

I have never been good at organized sports. Just not my thing.. I am not coordinated, my hands are small, I am slow.. I am short.. But I did enjoy volleyball , Tennis when everyone was about my size.. till about 7th grade. Then when the girls started shooting up, I was still 5 ft. 1.. Hard to compete with the tall girls. And it was really just not my passion..

You cannot force her, but you can do sports as a family.. Start off with balls that are easy to catch and do not hurt if they hit your hands or face,

Get a soccer ball.. While at the park as a family.. kick it around.. Practice kicking it in a straight line. Practice kicking it towards each other. Have races to see who can keep it in a straight line down a field.

Have a small ball you can throw up in the air. Do not throw it up high, but just little tosses. Then have your daughter throw the ball to you and to dad.. Have her do this until SHE asks you to throw it to her at some point.

One of the fun things we used to do was blow up a balloon and see how long we could keep it up in the air.. or keep it from touching the floor.. We did this in room without breakables.

Also when you and dad cannot catch the ball, when you get hit by the ball, if you fall, trip, whatever mistakes you make, handle with with a shrug, or a, "Uh oh".. or "yikes", "that was too far", "I guess I need more practice".. .. whatever you want her to learn as a response.

She will see the point is to have fun, not to be the best, not to make fun of each other or to hurt each other.

You can then consider moving up to a racket, a bat, a hoop.. She is normal. She is always going to be her own person and have her own likes and dislikes. The secret is to give her an opportunity to at east try.

She just doesn't like sports other than dance, gymnastics and swimming.
Why does she have to?
I think you're projecting your childhood experience onto her.
Not everyone likes team sports.
Maybe she'd like taekwondo - it's less team oriented.
Just accept her as she is.
She can do crafts at camp/cook outs/fairs/etc.
Tossing around a water balloon does not have to be a competition.
If she's crying at all these places, then you are pushing her and there are other ways to have fun.

Sounds like she's just like me! I enjoy doing independent sports. Hate team sports (although I love watching team sports).

I don't get the mentality that all kids need to play team sports. It's like saying, "All kids need to take ballet class." Why? It would be a boring world if we all did the same thing.

Nurture her interests and don't worry about sports. They're not for everyone. I avoided team sports like the plague as a kid and turned out fine. :)

But... she already IS part of a team! In fact, she is on three teams -- why don't you look at that way, because it's true?

Gymnastics and swimming are individual sports but if she is on a swim team (or when she is on one as an older kid), her scores matter to the others on the team as a whole. Same if she does team gymnastics. And -- as a parent of an older child who dances extensively but does not do a sport (because...her dance does not leave time for one), I can say that dance also is a team effort if well done; I am not referring to "competitive dance teams" but to ballet, where dancers have to depend on each other to know their steps and do them as a group properly. Is there some competitiveness among team members in gymnastics or swimming or dance? Sure there is. But it's there in soccer or softball too.

Why focus on team sports when your child seems perfectly happy doing individual sports? At camp, just tell the counselors she's not great at team sports and let them handle the rest; it's camp, not a graded gym class. I guarantee that once she is in school (and I'm meaning beyond K here), gym class is going to help her get over the "fear of sports" because they will use games to make it fun, and at the same time, the gym teachers won't put up with her sitting out either. She'll learn to participate and get through it. That does not means she has to love it but she'll get past the crying etc.

But please don't push her to do team sports just because she "needs to be part of a team." Some people just don't go for that -- it does not means she's stand-offish or a loner, it only means she doesn't like those sports or doesn't like feeling she's being chased by a bunch of kids because she has some ball in her possession.....She is getting plenty of exercise and interacting with other kids and with coaches and teachers in the THREE activities she already does. Pushing for another, or dropping one she really likes to force her to do a team sport because it's "good for her" would backfire on you, possibly, and make her resent being forced into a sport she doesn't want. Give her time and let her do the activities she likes. If you don't want her to hate team sports, don't force her to do them.

I don't blame her -have you tried tennis?

Just don't push her. Help her build her skills in an noncompetitive environment. Eventually, if she wants to do competitive dance, gymnastics, or swimming, those things will be there. But if she chokes up / panics because sports are so stressful for her, being on a team won't be fun at all.

She just needs time, leave her alone and let her mature.
Also, she may NEVER like team sports, and that's okay too. Kids don't need to participate in every activity that's "good" for them.
My son hated team sports, he ended up playing tennis and running track in high school.
Let her dance, draw, sing, read, play an instrument, write, run, play, swim, and dream.
If she gets into sports later, great, if not, then let her do what makes her happy.

Lead by example. Join a local softball league, bowling team or your church volleyball team. You join and show her how it's done.

What is the rush? She is 5 years old and is not interested! Not everyone wants to do team sports.

I was in 7th grade before I played any team sports. I did more solitary stuff as a kid. It's fine to not want to do team sports until later.

Give her some time - she's only five!

Keep it fun. Maybe family games? Or a "sport" with just friends like kickball? Not official, but in the backyard, or a playground o r something. Sounds like she's an active little girl! It's all good mama.

You are providing several athletic opportunities - swimming, gymnastics and dance. All of these should offer some time of "team element" or "class element" with other children. Don't rush some of the other sports. When she gets to school, some of her friends might be involved in soccer and invite her to come to play or watch. You could make it a game to be kicking or dribbling the ball, tossing baskets in her yard. Once she has some experience with a skill, she might be willing to try a team sport.

My son was like this and it was frustrating. One mom once told me her daughter was like that and she outgrew it at age 7. Well, we took him out of team sports (he would refuse to participate anyway). And sure enough right before he turned 8 he asked to start playing soccer. He is now much more interested and not afraid of doing something wrong. He still holds back a little, but he's more mature now. We have the rule you have to be in one sport each spring and one each fall. It can be something non competitive though...like swimming or non-competitive gymnastics. Now that he has discovered soccer he has found his niche! I was like this as a kid - I hated team sports bc I knew I was bad at them. So I never tried. Starting in college I discovered individual sports and I've been in love with road biking, mountain biking, running, rock climbing, skiing, and kayaking ever since! Maybe your daughter will be into non-team sports one day.

My daughter is like that and ended up playing ice hockey for a year and soccer for a season. So, give her time. Although my daughter doesn't love team sports, she tried them and decided she prefers dance. I didn't like team sports, but I tried basketball for a season, but stuck with dance too. :) In our house we just let our kids know that they need to do something athletic to stay healthy.

As a family we introduce sports to her at home, so she can learn the basics and feel more comfortable playing with friends.

Some kids don't like rough play or what they perceive to be rough. Some kids are confused by the chaos on the field - and with 5 year olds, it's a whole lot of chaos and very little skill! They have no idea about "positions" and who should do what. And some kids don't love sports because they don't like the constant keeping of score, highlighting the stars who scored the most runs or goals, that sort of thing. Sometimes they see coaches who yell or parents who are critical from the sidelines. I'm not sure why this is a problem for you. There's nothing magical about sports.

She's active if she does dance, swimming and gymnastics, so that's great. She's probably doing some of these in a group, so she's getting plenty of socialization and learning to work in a collaborative way.

I guess I would say she's 5. Don't put your own insecurities from your own childhood on top of her. Wait a few years and see if her interest changes. In the meantime, support her areas of skill and interest and expertise. Let her build confidence in other areas. Some kids in our area aren't the least bit interested ever, and others get involved in middle school or high school, choosing cross country and track because, with our coaches, it's much more about "you vs. the clock" (really "you getting better than YOU were yesterday, never mind what the others are doing").