is he too young?

[lozzylou]

i have a son who is 3, he is very active and loves playing football with his daddy and uncles. while at swimming yesterday i noticed a poster for football coaching from age 4-10 years. the next course dont start till next june but was told the places go really quick so his name needs to go down before xmas if i want a place. it is a 22 week course and is 180 pound. he gets proffesional coaching from proffesional players and gets loads of other stuff with it too.
do you think i am being too pushy at his age or do you think it is good for them to be involved in sports at a young age. i will have to pay 120 pound up front so its a lot of money for me to lose. i dont mind paying the money as i know he could get alot out of it

what you all think?

[sara3]

you do it if you think he will enjoy it, and that should be the only reason.

[888sally888]

I was going to type the exact same as Sara - if he seems keen then yes. Any doubts from HIM then no. Great minds!!

Oh and hi Sara - hope St A is sunny today!!

[sara3]

hi Sally, the weather is a bit nothingy today.. you can never tell how it will turn out any more!

good luck with the GCSE results x

[888sally888]

Thank you!! Will post on Chatterbank later and let you know how she goes!!

[annie0000]

I don't think his age is necessary a problem, but I think that you are unlikely to get value for money at that price until he is older - If he is keen, I would shop around and see what your local council, or lower order football teams offer as they will tend to be cheaper and would certainly be suitable for his age. I think that our council classes cost about �30 for ten weeks and our local football club is a similar cost.

You will also find that he is likely to learn just as much in terms of skills at the moment from playing with his Dad/uncles etc as this is fun for him and is on a 121 basis and a class would be bigger.

If you are looking at it from a fun point of view then that is something else again, but it does seem a bit expensive.

I think an older child would get a lot more benefit from professional coaching.

[LoftyLottie]

It depends on the child. Some 4 year olds are very sensible and can do very well in a large group, some still behave like babies and would actually disrupt the group and certainly not benefit themselves. You know your son better than anybody else.

I would not hesitate to put his name down if you think he would enjoy it, benefit from it and fit in well - it's not for nearly another year anyway.

After all, if the coaching says from 4-10 then the coach must be know what he is doing and will be experienced with children as young as 4 and won't overstretch them.

I don't think you are being pushy.

[RevFunk]

Too young

Wait until he's 7

[lozzylou]

thanks for all your answers, he is a very nice boy as in listens well and dont run riot and i know he would enjoy it. i just didnt know if it was a bit too much for him to be at nursery till 3 15 then football from 4 30 till 6.
i think i may have to give it a bit more thought. he loves running about and enjoys swimming, i just wanted something that is going to give him excercise and that he will enjoy. there isnt much in my area ( birmingham ) for his age

[annie0000]

This might be useful

http://www.birminghamgymclub.org.uk/highgprog. htm

http://www.birmingham-sport.org.uk/b-sports/in dex.php?_cp=sports-football-custom

[ganesh]

Don't waste your money on organised groups. He's too young,just play the game with him and he can join something when he is old enough and when HE wants to.
I did the same with my kids ( swimming and gym and tennis from at soon as poss. ) They can get bored after several years and it can put them off!

[LoftyLottie]

I totally disagree. I depends entirely on the child. My son was desparately keen to play a musical instrument and just loved music. He had music lessons from the age of 4/5 and never looked back. Some children can be very focussed and quite serious about learning things at four years old, and let's face it, they wouldn't offer this sort of football tutition from this age unless they had researched it well and had experience and good results.

I agree with Sarah and Sally in the first two points. He needs to be really keen and want to do it.