5 Year Old-what Sport to Try First?

I read this question to my husband. He was a wrestler in HS and still loves it to this day. He says to try the wrestling. In wrestling, he will be in a weight class and up against kids his own size, which will make it a little more fair for him. Also, it's a good sport for teaching discipline, which will help with the sore losing and winning.
Also, since you say he is very physical and you're afraid he would be tackling everyone, wrestling might give him the sensory input that he's looking for. :)

Have fun!

Have you thought about archery or fencing? Most boys love it!! I can't wait for my son to be older for him to try these out.

I started my son in sports since he was Three.. We did Tball at three and he wasn't too into it.. Basketball and he wasnt too into it at first but then got excited with it so we are going to go for the next season.. then we did soccer and he ROCKED!! HE is little too and he is fulll of energy and soccer was the perfect sport!! i would start with soccer- or, did you ask him?? many places have 'open house' or trial runs- one free class- I would try a few things until he finds his niche!!

I suggest kid's yoga and perhaps when he has learned to control his temper, martial arts which will help further his self-discipline and respect for others.

Blessings....

Ice hockey is great and they start the little guys out on ice boards. I

However, I would suggest some form of karate/martial arts. They seem to cater to little guys and there's more of a personal best to strive for than win/lose competition. It will build his self confidence, coordination/large motor skills, sportsmanship, following directions, patience, etc. without pushing him to an inappropriate level for a five year old. Let us know what you decide!

my son started playing soccer when he was 5 and you can tell the kids that have played a few years (he's 8) and the kids that just started. This spring he tried baseball for the first time and you could tell right away out of all the kids that it was his first year playing baseball. My suggestion is if he wants to play sports give him only two choices and let him choose if picks football this fall he can always try soccer in the spring lots of areas have it.

We love ice hockey. High pace and structured. At our place the same group if core guys work with the kids from 3 to college level. My sons actually a reserved and shy child but on the ice he's totally changed.
Soccer in our area start at 3. Flag football starts very young too. Good luck in Ur choice!

My son turned 5 in April, by the time he turned 5, he had already completed a season of t-ball, a season of flag football, and was 3 months into his year of Tae Kwon Do! He LOVES to play sports and has had a good time at all of them. He is okay to lose though and listens really well. if your son does not listen to authroity, something like football with be harder for him and the rest of the team. Soccer is a GREAT first sport. We did it with our daughter and it's just a great team sport. I call it unorganized chaos, because thats what it is in our area, but still a great started. T-ball was good too, but slow. They also didn't keep score, so that made it a bit nicer. So I'd go with soccer to try if he doesn't like to lose. But for my son, footbal lwas the favorite! He's old enough and big enough for tackle this year, but we are doing one more year of flag for my sanity :). good luck!! And no, down here they do not keep score in flag football until the flag bowl.

We started basketball and soccer at 3 - just to give my little guy an oulet to run run run! He didn't have the attention span for it at 3, but now he has really grown into it. Soccer was great because it got him out and running in the sunshine. Basketball is a little overstimulating because it's REALLY LOUD in the gym and they scrap over the ball a lot. So, I would hold off on basketball for now. But soccer would be good because the little guys seem to dominate and it's non contact.

What about something non-competetive, like hip-hop dance? Some martial arts programs take 5 yr olds.

You could also look at this as his learning experience. He can get a list of his possiblities, he can research them, choose one (or more) based on his evaluation.

If he decides he doesn't like something, have a plan ahead of either dropping out (5 yrs to me would be no big deal) or following through on your commitment (but I'd check that nothing was longer in duration than a couple of months - which no sports for young kids does in my area anyway).

Soccer is typically the best sport for kids to start with. It's focused around "team" and hard for any one kid to stand out. Martial arts is another option. Great for teaching kids discipline and respect, but is also a great way for high-engery, high-impact kids to get in some focused, appropriate activities.

Either way, individual or team sport... it will be a learning curve for him... in learning about sportsmanship and all the good stuff... which he does not have totally 'mastered' yet.

I also read a CNN article that sports like Football... over time... can cause brain damage.
Here are the links for the articles:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/26/athlete.brains/index...
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSHAR36644720070723

So, you might want to consider these aspects of it... and the fact that a young child's brain is not even fully developed yet. The human brain not being 'fully' developed until 26 years old.

Next, a 'sport' like Karate etc., might be a good option for him. It is an individual 'sport' but yet... it teaches 'attitude' and discipline. There is no room for 'bad' attitudes in these types of 'sports.' They teach the physical skills AND the 'character' of the person.
My daughter takes Karate and LOVES it. They do not keep "score"... but it is about the individual's self-development... and skills... in conjunction with treating others with 'respect' etc. And the benefit to all this, is the child learns how to defend themselves AND about self-control. Discipline.
AND in Martial Arts... is does NOT matter how 'small' or 'big' you are.... it is not about 'size' of the child.
In my daughter's class for example, there is a very small boy for his age... and he is one of the best as far as capability and discipline... AND even against much bigger kids.

Next, with sports like football etc., where the emphasis is on 'winning' and 'keeping score'... is that what you want him to focus on? A 'score' is not always the best learning tool... to improve oneself or to 'define' a person's real worth AND character.

As the other poster said as well, Fencing is a GREAT sport. My Hubby and my daughter did that. It teaches great character as well... and skills. Not just it being about keeping 'score' and who is better than the other.

Decide... what you want your son to ultimately 'learn.' Would it be about developing his 'character' and self-discipline... or have him just learn about being better than another based on "winning" or 'scoring' in a game???? Some kids for example, only base their confidence or self-worth on what 'score' they got. Versus on their own self-worth and sense of self and identity.
Discern... what you ultimately want your son to learn... and how you want him to develop, as a person.

This would be my suggestion.

All the best,
Susan

I like the idea of a team sport. This will allow him to see how other children behave and hopefully he will catch on. My son will be 5 in January. For the past 2 years, he has played baseball during the summer. He is not the best athlete on the team, but he is pretty good. It was humorous this summer when he would see someone holding the bat wrong he would go up to them and ask them if they needed help. Of course we were always by his side so no one got injured and I would try to ask the other child's parents first before my son gave any advice. He was really in with a great group of kids (and parents). If your son is a very physical child maybe soccer would be a good choice for him since it is not a contact sport until he matures a little. Then again football at that age is not tackle either. It is mostly about learning to catch, throw and run some patterns through cones. You are correct that there is no score. As I said, they are more working on skills than anything.

Our experience is that the coach is the one who will make the activity enjoy or not. All of the coachs we have had were great. They had a parent meeting and told the parents that they are just kids. This is just about exposing them to the different sports to see if they enjoy any of them. If during the middle of practice, the kids see a butterfly and want to chase it then let them and laugh about it. At this age, you want them to have a good time so when they do mature in a few years and their skills really develop as well as their attention span they will remember how enjoy the experience was and want to do it again.

Try karate; a friend of mine did that with her son (he's 7 now). My friend's boy is very active and it has taught him self-control. They also have him in soccer. Being small in soccer is not a negative.

Hmmmm....I'd try wrestling. My hubby is just now considering letting our son do football (flag, not tackle) NEXT year--and he's 7 now.
With wrestling he will get great conditioning and all-round fitness and physical strength. Or soccer. (Wrestling in fall/winter, soccer in the spring.)

Being small won't put him at a disadvantage in all sports. Soccer would be great because he will be about to be a part of a team. Whatever you choose, balance is important. He will need to learn how to be a part of a team as well as loosing gracefully as an individual. Life is about lessons. We all have to learn these lessons. Get him into something. Try everything and then stick to the thing he enjoys the most.