Preschool Sports

Yes!

Check out YMCA in Burnsville

http://www.ymcatwincities.org/locations/mnvalley.asp

I started my daughter with the Ymca at age4 for alot of things. We did swim lessons, tumbling, teeball! They also have BASKETBALL, floorhockey and soccer. It's slightly more to join a sport if your a non member but not that much more. It's like 60 bucks or something pretty reasonable.It's not competative more of a learning thing. They learn how to play like a team, fudamentals. It's really a good program for beginners. For basketball they play at the local elementry school's but it's soley run through the ymca. They usually play Sat.mornings and have a 20min. practice then play an actual game for 45min. or so. It's super easy,fun and not to demanding.

That's the best way to start, when they get a little bit older you can work your way into more programs through the schools and whatnot.

4 years old is the minimum age I would recommend to anyone to put their child in a sport. And sometimes that is still to young. They need to listen, follow directions, practice patience, have an attention span etc..I say this because my own child has participated in extracurriculars starting at age4 and because I've coached myself. 4 is a good age to start. Good age to start learning those things. Just keep that in mind when your son starts sometimes they adapt just fine, sometimes they make alot of mistakes, sometimes they love it sometimes they hate it. I know with teeball my daughter at age 4 was horrible, but gave it her all, at age5 was one of the best kids on the team. I just kept encouraging her and had her be positive.

If you have any other questions you can contact me! Hope this helps.

Lifetime Fitness has a class called "hoop it up" for 3-5 year olds. Our four year old is going to his first class today!
The class meets for one hour, once a week, for 6 weeks. I believe the cost was $60. We are going to Lakeville, but I think other facilities have the class as well.

Hi S.,
I live in Eagan and have two boys in sports. EAA sports don't begin until kindergarten. I am not familiar with martial arts, but I know they do have opportunities for preschoolers. Try the YMCA in Eagan for a variety of sports, including basketball and an introduction to sports class. You could also try the District 196 Community Ed catalog or Eagan Parks and Rec. The Parks and Rec department (can find the number on line or it might be ###-###-####) holds sports activities for preschoolers at the Community Center. They also offer t-ball for preschoolers in the spring and summer.

Our 3 (almost 4) year old is in Tae Kwon Do, and loves it. It's been really great for him to be in a structured setting outside of preschool, learning something that is physically interesting to him. It helps channel his endless energy, while teaching him discipline, focus, balance, concentration, respect in a physically interesting way. Sure, we teach many of those things at home, but he doesn't get to break boards with his fist at home! :)

We enrolled him at Lee's Championship Tae Kwon Do in Burnsville - they have a 2-week intro course. For $20, you get 2 classes, a uniform & the white belt test. It's been fabulous for all of us. He looks forward to it every week, so it teaches him commitment too.

As for preschool sports, we're still looking too. Have you tried looking through Community Education (like through District 191)? They offer some youth sports like t-ball, basketball, football, etc., but I'm not sure which sport starts at what age.

J.
Mom to Chase (3) & #2 due June 2

This isn't basketball, but it is a sport--My son went to Soccer Blast in Burnsville. They have a program for 3-5 year olds. Their website is soccerblastmn.com. It's indoor and they have sessions year-round.
I think the program is about as good as it can be considering the skill difference between 3 and 5 year olds. If you're just looking for a fun, low-pressure introduction to sports, I think it's really good for that. It was about $60 for a session that ran about 7 weeks, I think. I very much preferred it to YMCA soccer, which had way too many kids per instructor, and was basically just a mob of kids kicking blindly. I was NOT impressed with YMCA soccer at all.

Check the YMCA that is were my four old played floor hockey and I know that they also had basketball on Saturdays.

Good luck!!

The YMCA. My son is currently in their 3-year old soccer program. He loves it. The rest of the sports start at 4. It is cheaper if you have a membership, and then you also have use of the pool and everything else whenever you want, and cheap swimming lessons ($20/7 weeks). My son loves all the things he gets to do there!