Let’s face it, we all want to win.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a a game of cards or a race to the car.  It feels good to win.  Thankfully, how we define the word, ‘win’, is up to the individual.

For instance, winning may mean letting your little brother beat you at H.O.R.S.E. once or twice just to enjoy how happy he gets. Winning might also be a good way to describe a child who got on the field and gave his best - regardless of the score.  Or a parent who takes the team for ice cream after a tough loss.  

The point is, ‘winning’, is a relative term, which means it depends on perspective - and there’s nothing better than a little dose of perspective to make your seat the best seat in the house.

Here’s a few tips for winning with sporting children:

1.    Sports are fun and should stay fun.  Even professional athletes think sports are fun.  That’s why they play.  Parents with ‘honest’ jobs sometimes risk falling out of touch with the fact that sports are, and always will be, performed on fields of ‘play’.

1.    Watch the focus. Focusing on the process of getting better at the skills of any particular sport over the trophies and wins is a great way to turn the enjoyment away from winning and put it squarely on the game play itself.

1.    Parents are role models.  Period.  They will do as you do, and there’s nothing you can do about that.  As Charles Barkley once said, “I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a...

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It’s safe to say that children today have access to the largest and most accessible array of video games and gaming systems in the history of mankind.  Some games are considered a good thing while others not so much.  Where a parent stands on this line is something that parent has to figure out for both themselves and their child.  

Parents of athletes know that at least their kids are getting exercise and playing outside for a few hours a day.  These athletic kids might be in the best position to benefit from video games.  

Most scientific studies on children and gaming are quick to point out the benefits of gaming for neurological reasons.  Gaming is great for memory, problem solving strategy, and adaptively challenging a child’s resolve and determination (the better you get at playing the game, the harder the game gets).   For athletes in particular, there’s also the well documented fact that video games improve hand eye coordination.

Most games involve a huge number of mental tasks, and playing can boost any one of them. Fast-paced, action-packed video games have been shown, in separate studies, to boost visual acuity, spatial perception, and the ability to pick out objects in a scene. Complex, strategy-based games can improve other cognitive skills, including working memory and reasoning.

Everyone is different, but if a young athlete is getting regular exercise and maintaining their coursework at school, there is strong evidence that gaming is a benefit to both their athletic lives and beyond.  

Just for fun, try this little browser based hand-eye coordination game. If you can last longer than 17 seconds, you’re doing great!

Click here to test your hand-eye cordination

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