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More than
athletics
Nickelodeon examines
the importance of sports
to kids’ development
BY ERIN MILLER
In
last month’s Kaleidoscope report, we explored
the wide world of sports from a kids’ perspective.
Having looked at the sports they like to
play, and delved into their overall feelings about
playing sports, part two of this report examines
the importance of sports from a developmental standpoint
and how kids approach sports differently by age.
Achievement and mastery is a major developmental life
stage for kids and tweens—it’s core to their development.
Playing sports contributes to their growth in a big way, and
not just from an achievement perspective. Sports help kids
understand friendships and fair play. They’re testing the
boundaries of what’s right and wrong, and even learning
how to deal with complex socio-emotions through common
situations, such as coping with winning and losing, or perhaps
the disappointment of not getting enough play time.
How kids approach and experience sports differs by age.
On average, kids typically begin playing sports around age
five. From this age through to age eight, sports manifests in a
purely fun way, with an emphasis on the enjoyment of playing.
While kids may be playing on a structured team (with
a coach and teammates), they’re more likely to have permission
to be less structured at times, which feeds directly into
the fun of just playing the game. Kids at this age also tend
to experiment with all kinds of organized sports. Friends
and parents are also often an entry point into the sports kids
choose to play.
When kids reach age nine or 10, certain pressures begin
to kick in when it comes to playing—pressure from coaches,
parents and themselves. This is seemingly tied to coaches,
parents and sometimes teammates emphasizing more serious
game play. Interestingly, there can often be a disconnect
between kids and coaches/parents as the kids are still
focused on playing for the fun of the game. That said, nineto
10-year-olds are looking for, and enjoy, the structure of
an organized team. They’re also very into the fairness and
teamwork that sports have to offer. From a generational perspective,
kids at this age have grown up to be collaborative,
and their entire lives have been scheduled. It comes as no
surprise that they take the same approach to playing sports.
By age 11 or 12, a true sense of competitiveness kicks in.
Kids have a more complete understanding of what it means
to be competitive, and that competitiveness can be perceived
as a positive or a negative attribute. Coaches and other players
are likely to emphasize a more serious play environment,
thus leading kids to take their own game play up a notch.
Though kids may be playing more seriously, sports at their
core are still about having fun, so it’s common for this age
group to actively work out how to take a sport seriously
without sacrificing the fun and love of the game.
As kids reach their early teen years (13 to 14), performance
and excelling are key. There is a clear understanding
that performance correlates with game play, which in turn
can often add pressure and stress. At this age, those playing
on teams are focused on a fewer number of sports, typically
participating in ones in which they feel they have the
opportunity to “be a good player.” Additionally, there are
aspirational goals attached to playing sports. For example,
kids at this age are likely to recognize that excelling in a sport
can pay for further education through college scholarships.
They’re also hyper-aware of teen athletes who have made a
career out of playing sports (i.e., Olympic gymnasts, swimmers
and snowboarders). Across all ages, “being a professional
athlete when I grow up” pops with boys and girls.
And as young professional athletes continue to emerge in
the sports world, the opportunity to be a part of this elite
group can feel within reach for these young athletes.
This concludes our report on kids and sports. Stay tuned for a
brand-new Kaleidoscope next issue, where we’ll take a look at
what toys make it off the shelves and into homes.
For more information, contact kaleidoscope@nick.com
(Source: Nickelodeon Kids and Family Research, January, 2013; Touchstone
Research. Quantitative Sample Size: N = 750 kids)
A major focus of the Brand and Consumer Insights Department at
Nickelodeon Kids & Family is to live and breathe kid culture. We continually
track and identify trends, and explore what it means to be a kid
and teen today. In an effort to keep you in touch with our audience and
give a voice to our consumer, we’ve created the Nickelodeon Kaleidoscope.
Every month, Kaleidoscope will capture key areas of interest
across the kid and family cultural landscape, provide an understanding
of attitudes and behaviors, and report on trends and buzz.
May/June 2013
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