What sport would you have your daughter do if she was equally good at all she tried?

[Sofia Alexandra]

1) I'd let the kid choose.

2) Anything including horses, except perhaps Thoroughbred racing and eventing (too many horrible accidents happening there ). Working in stables is good for young girls and women (and probably for blokes too), as it teaches them assertiveness, responsibility, respect, and teamwork. Many women in positions of power (CEOs and the like) have spent a lot of time in stables.

3) Parkour. Because it's the sport I wish I'd heard of before puberty turned me into a lazy-ass couch potato.

[madm]

If you are looking for a sport with good potential for a college scholarship, try women's rowing. I know someone in SoCal whose daughter chose rowing due to the high level of competition in high school for other varsity sports, and she got several full ride scholarship offers for college. There are not a lot of women doing rowing. It's great exercise with a low rate of injury. Since Title IX came into existence, many colleges have sports teams for women in some of the more obscure sports, and they are looking for anyone with experience in them.

That said, girls should select a sport that they enjoy doing, not one that their parents force them into.

[sk8er1964]

I'd have her pick one team sport and one individual sport. The team one would be the sport where she had the most friends and the most fun. The individual sport would be the one she enjoyed practicing the most.

That's what my son did (although not by plan). He played hockey and baseball (the fun team sports where he wasn't all about the wins) and golf - which he practically lives and breathes. How someone can enjoy hitting a golf ball on the range for several hours is beyond me, but he loves it.

Whatever she likes best, but if she likes them all the same, then golf. Fewer serious injuries and more longevity. Plus, if you don't make it professionally, you can play with friends and family, and it is a great skill to have for business development. If not that, then basketball (if she was tall) or soccer because it would be great to play in college and great for fitness.

I thought the question was about sports.

At the elite level, these kids are athletic. Plus, the mental aspect of the game is a killer.

Oh, and for girls there's lots of good scholarships available in golf.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Thanks for the ideas...she loves everything she tries, but skating is her favorite. I keep having her try different sports that she might do longer as well, but there are many I'm not familiar with...for example field hockey. Anything horses is out - I don't have funds for that - skating is a big expense.

[PDilemma]

What do her genes look like? Seriously. If she's likely to be petite, skating, gymnastics and such are a great pick. If you and her dad are both 6'6", then it is time to think of basketball or volleyball. If you are wanting to settle into something that she can do in the long term, it is something to consider.

(And must put in a plug for volleyball...it is a great sport of teamwork, power and finesse).

[GarrAarghHrumph]

My daughter and I both ice skate, which is a PITA. It's expensive, ice time is limited so I can only get her to the ice once a week... To be honest, unless you have the cash and can get her to a rink during the day (thus you don't work days like I do), forget it.

I put her in Gaelic Football, of all things, because here, it's free - sponsored by the GAA. I like free. But right now, because my husband is working later on practice days, she can't get there, so she's on temporary hiatus.

She wanted to be in soccer. I think she'd be great in track... My main problem is that I can't get her to practices and stuff, because I don't get home until 6:15pm. That limits what sports she can do. So one thing to consider is whether you can get her to practices - do the practices and games/meets occur on days/times when you can actually get her there.

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Auto-Wrestling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-9qZ4Zs6Ys

[Angelskates]

Thanks for the ideas...she loves everything she tries, but skating is her favorite. I keep having her try different sports that she might do longer as well, but there are many I'm not familiar with...for example field hockey. Anything horses is out - I don't have funds for that - skating is a big expense.

Does she want to be an athlete?

[rjblue]

Another bonus for Curling- girls and boys can play on the same team without gender being an issue as far as skill goes.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Does she want to be an athlete?

She is unhappy when she doesn't have sports. Both physically and mentally. I think she will always have to be physically busy.

She says she wants to coach skating, be an ornithologist, artist and mathematician. You know all the things kids what to be!

[Anita18]

She is unhappy when she doesn't have sports. Both physically and mentally. I think she will always have to be physically busy.

She says she wants to coach skating, be an ornithologist, artist and mathematician. You know all the things kids what to be!

Just because she skates doesn't mean she has to compete. Skating is still an expensive sport if you count private lessons and skates/blades and such. But competing makes it much more expensive with the choreography and costumes and fees.

My fiance gets very very grumpy if he doesn't skateboard on a regular basis. So he just goes out to a local skatepark and practices his tricks for a few hours every day when the weather permits. When he was young he thought he was invincible and got himself pretty hurt a few times, but now he's older and knows his limits. No rail tricks, obviously. But the physical activity and camaraderie with his skateboarding friends relaxes him.

"Sports" can just be really any activity, it doesn't have to be structured if you either don't have the funds for it or if that's not what makes her happy.

[mkats]

She is unhappy when she doesn't have sports. Both physically and mentally. I think she will always have to be physically busy.

She says she wants to coach skating, be an ornithologist, artist and mathematician. You know all the things kids what to be!

Ooh, I really wanted to be an ornithologist in 5th grade!! We had an assignment to find someone who did what it was that we wanted to do when we grew up and interview them, so I called up my local Wild Bird Center and found a local ornithologist. When I got to his house and found his garage filled with rows and rows of dressers, each filled with dead birds with their wings splayed out and eyes rolled back, that was the end of that

Of course fifteen years later I had no problems with cutting up a real human body in grad school anatomy...

[danceronice]

Ditto!!!

And so many gobs of money. Riding is much like skating (being a judged sport) - and is the only sport that requires two living souls, (one of whom can't speak) who at any given moment could be having an off day....making it more complex. Oh - and those horses are life long friends. I would choose (and did) horses any day. Both my kids rode, and some at my barn rode at the levels you are speaking of. Such fun!

Well, the kind of horses you need for the Big Eq are less lifelong friends than 'hope you can get your $100,000+ investment back', and the GP horses belong to owners who have the money to campaign them. At the top of Juniors, you're already learning sponsors, owners, and resale value.

When it comes to safety issues, though, I'd rather have a kid galloping at the track (exercise riding) than in hunters. Gambling means the sport's regulated a lot better, while hunter shows have people more needle-happy than your average heroin addict. As far as accidents, any time you're around horses, riding or not, there's a chance you're about to die, so that's kind of a wash no matter what discipline you pick. Racing where you've got trouble is maintaining your weight if you want to ride (I wasn't even old enough to gallop before I knew I would never be able to make weights), and finding a trainer to work up under if you want to train. (And accepting it's a business first, which I like about it as you don't run into as many sentimental hangups as with ammy owners.) Anything involving a horse, if you make the kid work for it (rather than middling-level hunters where the goal isn't a career, just having fun) will teach them to respect the animal, and to just accept that some days it is not going your way, and you will never get a reason because...its a horse. Horses teach you humility.

Team sports honestly never even crossed my radar. I doubt I'd put much support or emphasis behind a kid doing any sort of team sport type of thing unless they were SO incredibly talented they realistically could go pro or get a full ride.

Oooh...fencing is a good one. My cousin was big into it, but (at least back then) she would have had to move to New York (IIRC) to train seriously, and she went to engineering school instead.

[Angelskates]

She is unhappy when she doesn't have sports. Both physically and mentally. I think she will always have to be physically busy.

Right, but does she want to be an athlete? None of the things you listed require her to do an incredibly high level of a sport. If she wants to be a skating coach, depending on her age, she can possibly start that pretty early. If she doesn't want to be an athlete, let her do all the sports she wants within your budget. Consider only letting her compete up to a certain level, or within a certain region to keep the costs down. I think it's silly to spend a fortune on a sport just because it's liked - even if she's good at it, unless she wants to try and be an athlete. I'm unhappy if I don't have sport/exercise - it just means I do some every day, not at a high level, but it still is good for me.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Of course fifteen years later I had no problems with cutting up a real human body in grad school anatomy...

HA! She has met ornithologists and she has seen a lot of stuffed/dead birds. It's human blood makes her panic.

[Aceon6]

Right, but does she want to be an athlete? None of the things you listed require her to do an incredibly high level of a sport. If she wants to be a skating coach, depending on her age, she can possibly start that pretty early. If she doesn't want to be an athlete, let her do all the sports she wants within your budget. Consider only letting her compete up to a certain level, or within a certain region to keep the costs down. I think it's silly to spend a fortune on a sport just because it's liked - even if she's good at it, unless she wants to try and be an athlete. I'm unhappy if I don't have sport/exercise - it just means I do some every day, not at a high level, but it still is good for me.

Agree 100%. There's a gal in our area who plays golf at a very high level, as well or better than some pros on the Symetra tour. She HAS to play, as it's a big part of her life. For grins, she's happy to take $100 out of the pocket of any guy who thinks she "can't be all that good." Shes a doctor.

[Wiery]

Not sports, but I recommend ballet or tae kwon do; IMO, they're surprisingly similar because they both foster self-discipline, and both are strength and coordination-building activities that would complement any sport she decided to do.

Also, the flexibility she would develop would help protect against sports-injuries she might develop (to a point; however, hyper-flexibilty can make her injury prone).

[wickedwitch]

I'd steer her away from any sport where losing weight is frequently encouraged, so no skating, dance, or wrestling.

[Anita18]

Right, but does she want to be an athlete? None of the things you listed require her to do an incredibly high level of a sport. If she wants to be a skating coach, depending on her age, she can possibly start that pretty early. If she doesn't want to be an athlete, let her do all the sports she wants within your budget. Consider only letting her compete up to a certain level, or within a certain region to keep the costs down. I think it's silly to spend a fortune on a sport just because it's liked - even if she's good at it, unless she wants to try and be an athlete. I'm unhappy if I don't have sport/exercise - it just means I do some every day, not at a high level, but it still is good for me.

Yeah I'm a little befuddled why everyone jumping on the "serious athlete" bandwagon so soon.

I loved to skate when I was in high school. Didn't have money for private lessons (let alone anything for comps or shows) so I just took group lessons and skated on public sessions. Never tested, never competed, but it was something I wanted to do for myself. My parents never supported me. In fact, my mom even criticized me one year for "wasting so much time skating" when I had no accomplishments to tout for it. In retrospect, I could have said the same thing about piano, which she put me into, because I never tested or competed in that either. We were never a sports-oriented family, and I think my sister and I turned out fine.

It was just something I could do for me. And I did write about why I loved to skate for my college essay so that worked out in the end.

[Anita18]

I'd steer her away from any sport where losing weight is frequently encouraged, so no skating, dance, or wrestling.

Or any sport where there are sparring competitions. My friend in tae kwon do made weight to spar. She learned it in college and was on the collegiate team, so it was mostly fun instead of competitive. (She has the wrong body type for seriously doing tae kwon do anyway - long legs and skinny frame are best!) But it still behooved her to make weight.