Hi, and welcome to the very first blog post for the Preschool Athlete. In this post I hope to accomplish two goals. Initially I hope to communicate the purpose of such a site and, in turn, you might see its value. Secondly I’ll provide you with a brief introduction of myself so you can determine if I know what the heck I’m talking about. Let’s start with the purpose behind the Preschool Athlete. To begin with, I recognize that the title Preschool Athlete may be controversial to some. Why do you have to refer to these young kids as athletes? Why can’t you let them be children without pushing them to be athletes at such a young age? I hope you will continue to read this blog to the end and by then my description and explanation will convince you that my intentions are appropriate and hopefully will prove beneficial to you parents of preschoolers.
The preschool years (age range of 2-5 years) are, in my opinion, four of the most critically important years when it comes to establishing a foundation for a child’s “future” success in sports and athletic participation. As you can see in the previous sentence I have emphasized the word “future”. I’m not interested in whether your preschooler wins or loses her soccer match this weekend, or that his tee-ball team is currently in second place. Not only do I not care about those things, in reality I would much prefer your child was involved in a preschool physical activity program that deemphasized competition and focused on motor skill development and developing a sense of fun and enjoyment in being physically active that will carry on with her as she enters her school-age years. Allow me to use a “home construction” metaphor. Building a stable and durable home begins with a strong foundation. You don’t start framing and putting up walls directly on the ground. You establish a solid base of poured concrete deep in the ground on which the home will rest. This home may eventually be a small two bedroom cottage or a ten bedroom mansion but neither possibility will have longevity and serve its owners with contentment and satisfaction if a quality foundation is compromised at the beginning.
It’s like that way with children and sports participation. It’s unrealistic to expect a child to perform well in sports at the elementary, middle school, or high school levels if the young child doesn’t first develop a solid foundation of fundamental skills. These include skills such as running, throwing, catching, kicking, and jumping. If a middle school-aged child can’t throw correctly it is unlikely he will ever get the opportunity to play competitive or even recreational baseball or softball. If a young child never learns how to bounce a ball proficiently the more advanced skill of dribbling a basketball cannot be mastered. Now, that’s not to say that if a young child becomes a skilled kicker, she will be guaranteed a starting spot on her future high school soccer team. Proficiency in various sport skills is very important but certainly not the only factor in whether or not a child makes a sports team as she gets older (I will discuss other factors in future blog posts). On the other hand, if the skill of kicking is not developed in the young child her potential for making the high school soccer team is probably almost nil.
The preschool years represent the time when fundamental skills need to be introduced and developed. Through this blog and the Preschool Athlete website I will provide a variety of resources to help your preschooler develop these highly important foundational skills. I hope you will continue to visit the website periodically as I regularly add new material to help your preschooler.
Okay, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is John Ozmun and I’m a faculty member in the Health & Human Performance Division at Indiana Wesleyan University. Prior to my time at Indiana Wesleyan University I was a faculty member and administrator for eighteen years at Indiana State University. As a college professor I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood physical activity, adapted physical activity, motor development, elementary physical education, and sport and exercise psychology. In addition, I have taught movement classes and programs directly with preschoolers in a number of settings. These include university childcare classes, church-related children’s programs, day camps, and special needs programs for preschoolers with autism and with hearing-impairments. I earned my doctorate in Motor Development and Adapted Physical Education from Indiana University in 1991 and have been working directly with children or preparing others to work with children ever since. I am the co-author of a textbook entitled Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults (McGraw-Hill). My co-authors (Dr. David Gallahue-Indiana University-retired, and Dr. Jackie Goodway-Ohio State University) are two of the most respected experts in early-childhood physical activity not only in the United States but around the world. I’m honored to call them colleagues and proud to call them friends.
On a more personal note my wife Ruth and I have four boys, all of whom survived their preschool years and are now all young adults. I love to climb Colorado 14ers, but like so many I have to work very hard to get into shape to climb (and even then I don’t always make it to the summit). And finally, I love to work with young children. Their joy and enthusiasm are contagious, and I always come away a better person after interacting with them.
Please take a few minutes and explore the Preschool Athlete website. I hope you’ll find it beneficial for your preschooler. As always, don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or comments at john@preschoolathlete.com. I welcome your feedback. Also, if you haven’t already done so please consider joining our community of parents and family members of preschoolers. By registering I’ll keep you updated of any new videos, blog posts, suggested resources, new sports, and other materials when they are added.
Parents and family members… God bless you in the challenging and rewarding experience of raising a young child.
The Preschool Athlete
Helping parents have a positive impact on their young child’s future athletic development
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