Putting the fun back into physical activity for children will do wonders to foster PA. You don’t see children playing in neighborhoods anymore. A constructive approach to developing outdoor free play is, in my opinion, the cornerstone of developing a love of doing, moving, and being physically active. Many children don’t enjoy the harshness of competitive sport (I was one of them) but do enjoy being out and about doing things. As a child play that involved running, cycling, swimming, and skating were all the things that I truly loved. Aggressive, competitive sports are intimidating to many people. When I was a kid everyone in my family played soccer. My brother and one of my sisters were top notch players. My father coached. I played …show more content…
For me, if you want the ball and you are willing to hurt me to get it, you can just have it. It certainly wasn’t in my nature to be physically aggressive against another person and possibly hurt them. I played left wing, just scoot in as quickly as possible and get the ball as far away from our goal as possible. Probably the least threatening/threatened job on the team. I did thrive on things that I did on my own, and some of the less structured team type sports that we did in the neighborhood that were just us kids dividing into teams and playing baseball or football just for fun. Plus, I was the smallest kid everywhere! Playing in the neighborhood meant that my older brother and two older sisters were there, making it as difficult as possible for me to get hurt. As well as neighborhood children and we were all friends. Not exactly trying to hurt each other. I would have to say that I probably developed and honed abilities the most in that environment. I still do not enjoy aggressive sports, but I am a great kicker, thrower, catcher, and what I call a sprint runner (not so much after I got boobs and my love of running went away), such as in baseball getting from one base to another, or in football and soccer getting the ball quickly to who, or where it needed to be. Pretty much because I want to get rid of it ASAP before I got hurt! I also have wicked fast reflexes (survival instinct!). Children need to just play. Even those who use video games