Lifelong Sport

In an evening where my son was sharing a bunch of things he’d been going through, he revealed something that really caught my attention: he’s worried that he hasn’t yet found the sport he’s passionate about — and that others already have.

Straight away, I thought about how all the household chatter about my book For the Love of Sport and our constant conversations about sport must have seeped into him. (Which, of course, we knew they would. Kids are highly absorbent — they are always listening!). But I hadn’t expected that it might turn into a source of pressure, or that he’d start comparing himself to others.

Of course, comparison is part of that age. But this particular kind of comparison? I didn’t see that coming.

This moment gave me an opportunity to clarify something that might not always come through in my writing:

You don’t need to have found your “chosen sport” by age 5. Or 15. Or even 25. In fact, you don’t need to specialise at all.

If you do decide to specialise, I’d still strongly recommend being a multi-sport athlete until your mid to late teens.

I’ve been very lucky to find a sport that I’ve devoted my life to — to make it my main focus and pursue mastery in it. (Even saying “I’ve been lucky” carries an implication. While I am lucky for what the sport has brought me, I don’t mean that I’m luckier than others or that those who haven’t found one sport are missing out.)

What I want to teach people is to love playing sport. And that love can absolutely change over time. You might play soccer for a few years, then take up basketball, archery, or netball. You might play one sport in winter and another in summer.

The point is: there’s a time and place for specialisation, but it’s not everything. For most of us, we’ll enjoy different sports at different times in our lives.

What I hope people nurture within themselves — and what I hope coaches and parents help young players to nurture — is a lifestyle and identity that includes playing sport (any sport, at any level) as a core part of life.

I don’t care if you change sports every two years. I don’t care if you just love learning new things and being a beginner again and again.

I just want you to keep playing. To have that healthy outlet, that community, that sense of belonging.

Because that’s what sport is really about. That’s why community sport is so good for us. And that’s why we need to embrace lifelong sport.