Children's Sport: the greatest joy for the greatest number

Every child who's a country child loves sport. Their own, of course running, climbling, swimming, playing traditional games. Not every one is very good at it, but all except the chronically sick enjoy it. Sport for children in city schools is a necessary compensation for being deprived, in an urban environment, of much of the natural exercise and play that they need to grow up as well coordinated, healthy and socialised with their peers. It is amazing how many adults, parents, teachers and sports administrators miss this fundamental point Are you a sports lover? Or do you feel that violent physical exercise is rather crude and more than slightly ridiculous? Most of our adult attitudes go back to childhood. Were you the athletic hero of your junior school, or the butterfingers who was always chosen last when the teams were picked? Were you an overprotected girl who wasn't allowed to cycle, while your brother had a bike; or a boy whose father loved cricket and showed his disappointment when you did not make the grade? Perhaps you were a loner who hated the regimentation of team games and never had the chance to try others, or simply a child whose school had no playground, or a wonderful playground on which only the team members were allowed to play. Negative or indifferent attitudes to providing good sports programmes for children often go back to negative or indifferent experiences of sport, when we ourselves were young. Let us for a moment be rational. All children need physcial exercise, play and interaction with others. Sports is a blend of these, with a dash of competitiveness thrown in. What we must decide is how much sport they need, of what kind, when. Initially, young children's physical exploration of their environment, and the testing of their own bodies against it, is an individual and private thing. Small children must be given time and space to play in, and a few things to climb on, scramble over, balance on or run around. Gradually playing alongside, and later with, others becomes important to their socialisation. Physical exercise is often blended with 'play'