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Does
Your Daughter Play Sports?
 Are
you one of those parents who enroll your son in tennis lessons and your
daughter in dance classes? That's all very well - any extra-curricular
activity is a disciplining force in itself. However, if you daughter would
rather shoot the hoop than shake her hip, think again. Don't push her into
a stereotype feminine activity if she doesn't show the inclination for
it. Women all around the world are making big bucks in the sports field.
And even if she doesn't take up sports as a profession, she will be far
healthier, fitter and focused than most girls her age if she plays a sport.
Plus, as your daughter enters her teens, wouldn't you rather she chases
a ball than chases a man?
Here are
five tips to help inculcate a love of sports in your daughter.
-
If you don't already
have membership of a club, apply for it, so your daughter has access to
sports facilities. It doesn't have to be a fancy club, as long as it has
the tennis, badminton or squash courts, or swimming pool.
-
Enroll her in
classes. This will help her get adjusted to the routine, and will also
help her pick up the sport faster. This, in turn, would encourage her to
continue with the sport and excel. Once she starts making an improvement,
she would strive to get better and better. Thus, participation in a sport
fosters a healthy competitiveness in your child, which is far preferable
to a laidback attitude.
-
Do you have a
garden at home? Hook up a basketball hoop, and allocate a time, maybe once,
twice or thrice a week, to play basketball with her. It doesn't matter
if you are just as green at the game as she is. Read up on the rules, and
start playing. Make it a regular activity, and before long the two of you
will be pros! (And you'll lose your paunch!)
-
Gift her a pair
of skates or roller blades on her birthday. Unfortunately, there are not
a great many skating rinks in India. However, this is something she can
pick up even while skating around your driveway or in the corridor outside
your house. Once she learns how to skate, the skill stays with her throughout
her life - skating is just one of those things you never forget. Who knows,
maybe 20 years down the line, when she's earning her Master's Degree in
the US, she wins an ice-staking competition in the University! Wouldn't
that make you proud?
-
Encourage her
in every way possible. Take her to watch sporting activities. Keep her
informed of what's going on in the world of sport. Encourage her to improve
her favourite game by increasing her stamina and flexibility. While most
other parents would be trying to put their kids on diets by the time they
enter their teens, your daughter would be toned and fit, and she wouldn't
be subjected to the insecurities other teens have, who don't have a focus
in their lives.
Here's
a quick run-through of the advantages of being involved in a sport:
-
Keeps her healthy
and fit.
-
Helps her make
friends with other like-minded girls and boys.
-
Helps her fit
into a new community apart from school.
-
Encourages discipline.
-
Builds character,
as any other extra-curricular activity does.
-
Builds confidence.
So if she's
not playing any sport, enroll her in a class today, and help her make you
proud.
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