Sports federations work to combat motor poverty among children

Young soccer players, hockey players, volleyball players and gymnasts should be widely developed in motor skills. To allow children to practice more and more versatility, four sports federations come together in the BMO Skilled Generation project.

At least 60 percent of youth affiliated with a club participate in sports organized under the KNVB, KNHB, Nevobo or KNGU flag. When asked about the common denominator among these estimated 600,000 children, prefix Martin Hoffwick doesn’t need much time to think. In short: They are learning a trick, as they’d better grow up to be advanced athletes in general. “They have been trained in a specialized way, which means that they are less fun. As a result, they will exercise and exercise a little at a later age.”

Two-year-old soccer players

The reasons are many. For example, sports scientist Hofwick, who works for KNHB, notes the trend that children can join the club at an increasingly younger age. “There are football clubs that two-year-olds can actually go to. This trend is now also visible in hockey, where they actually walk the stick. By training toddlers and preschoolers in a particular sport at such a young age, the rule is The broad mobility needed for general development is non-existent. Johan Cruyff once said that he was only allowed to join a local football club when he was seven years old. Until then, he played a lot on the street, which made a very good foundation.

Children are often guided during training by insufficiently trained personnel. Well-meaning parents who stand in front of a group at their spare time. Therefore, the four sports federations will not soon release a database containing various forms of movement exercises that these volunteers can benefit from for their exercise materials, but also offer training for coaches and assistants.

Hofojek: “We consciously choose not to offer off-the-shelf programs, but offer tools that can serve as inspiration. After all, soccer training is different from volleyball training. We also provide coaches with information about the importance of versatile motor development and advice they can implement in exercises. “How do you prevent children from standing still for a long time during training? How to build exercise difficulty material without losing sight of the game format? How to make sure your training models match the children’s experience? Because fun always comes first.”

Exercise certificate

The project, which is funded by funds earmarked by NOC-NSF from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, also provides car training for young people. In addition to introducing an “APK check” for training forms, KNGU’s Miffy Practice Certificate should become the new standard for children up to five years old, Hoofwijk says. In this Gymnastics Association tutorial, toddlers and preschoolers learn basic skills such as balancing, jumping, swinging and catching throw.

“What happens when you do these exercises on a soccer field?” Hoffwick still wonders. Time will tell. At least, he hopes. “The ideal is to train all coaches who work with the smallest group of children to become Miffy’s coaches.”

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