Not just sports

July 20, 2012
Not JUST Sports

One of the biggest differences seen in our program, verses other camps or after school programs where you might play team sports, is the focus on the social skills within the sports. While playing a game of kickball or soccer or baseball, when a dis-agreement or mis-understanding comes up, we don't brush it off and keep the game going. We feel the most important aspect of playing sports, is for the children to feel as if they are heard, understood, and cared for. So, when something comes up, we will stop the game and one of our staff will talk with the kids, down at their level, and work with them until the mis-understanding has been resolved and then we resume the game again. So, instead of running away or shutting down or hating sports as a result, the kids learn to love the act of playing team sports. They have decided this is something they cannot be successful at, so they don't want to try. Many of our campers have had terrible experiences in other programs when they tried to join a team sport and in the end they hate sports. When they first come to us, they usually refuse to play or melt down or find an excuse as to why they can't join in. By the end of a week of camp or a semester of after school, our campers are reporting that they indeed love sports now, they are actually good at sports, and they are more willing to take a risk and play a form of sports with their siblings or in the neighborhood again.