Sports for teens & tweens

Mark Newfield, owner of Coastal Sports in Hauppauge, tells a little bit about why it’s important for teens and tweens to play team sports.

Amateur sports used to mean varsity and JV teams in high school and college, but today more than thirty million kids play on a wide range of recreational and competitive or select teams at younger and younger ages.  Parents want to encourage safe sports for their children,both on the field and off, whether your athlete is a 5 year old beginner or the star of a varsity team.

We’ve all seen crazy sports parents depicted in the movies and on TV, you know the ones who are screaming at the kids, screaming at the coaches and can’t accept the losses?  Those parents do exist in real life, and we’ve all seen them.  While it is always nice to be on the winning team, there are so many more reasons why our teens and tweens should be involved in team sports, and winning is at the bottom of the list.

• As part of a team, kids learn how to abide by rules, respect and listen to figures of authority (coaches) and how to work as a team.
• Spending time playing after-school sports allows kids to socialize and interact with peers outside of their immediate circle of friends in a non-school setting.
• Playing sports is exercise and exercise will decrease kids’ chances of being a part of the alarming number of obese teens and tweens in our country today.
• Kids don’t have to be competitve to be a part of a sports team.  There are plenty of teams that are considered “just for fun”.
• Sports are extra-curricular activities that look great on a college application.
• Kids will learn that winning is truly not everything and be able to take this knowledge and apply it to other aspects of their lives.

Coastal Sports, Long Island’s premier indoor multi-sport facility, offers professionally run sports leagues, camps, clinics, classes and birthday parties and programs in multiple sports for kids and adults such as soccer, lacrosse, football, basketball and more.  The leagues accept registrations from full teams or individuals and have divisions for all skill levels. Coastal Sports is located at 114 Parkway Drive South in Hauppauge.  For more information, find them on the web at www.coastalsports.com or call 631.813.1599.