Haley has started fencing, and really enjoys it. This summer, her 2 new "introductions" were tennis and fencing. Her personality is suited for individual competitive sports.The history of Haley and extra-curriculars in long. And in the process of "finding her best spot" the parents learned quite a bit as well. One thing we learned is to be strategic when introducing new activities. Choose a sport or activity based on the child, their age, their stated and demonstrated interest, and how it fits with everything else they (or we) are doing.
Haley started with itty-bitty-sports at age 3. A few week camp at the local Y where she was introduced to T-ball, basketball, and games. Haley then started ballet at age 4. She did that for 2 years, but didn't make great progress. She didn't seem to enjoy it. And towards the end, actually seemed to dislike it. So we finally wised up and ended those lessons.
She did voice lessons, but it was sort of boring, and entailed more "work" learning music. She wasn't enthusiastic about it then, and it was quite expensive. So we stopped that.
Haley then participated in golf, basketball, and volleyball. Golf was boring. The team sports were "difficult" for her because the success (or failure) of the group, depended on the group. She (individually) couldn't 'make the team win' and she became frustrated being "just like everyone else." She naturally
wanted to compete with teammates, causing incohesiveness on the team. Volleyball was expensive. And her lack of enthusiasm for basketball (that she finally revealed) made stopping a logical decision.
She has had archery experience. She's not excited about swimming (because of her curly hair and its required upkeep if she swims. Remember, there are lots of 'moving parts' when choosing an activity, and hair is as valid as anything else). She was excited about track, but heel pain caused her to have to sit out the season last spring. However, before she sat out, she realized that in order to be a good "sprinter" she'd have to do some work. While she was fast, she was only "average fast" on the track team....
So this summer, we chose tennis. Tennis is a time and financially intensive sport. But a summer intro is not. So she did that. Did not like it. And finally, fencing. And fencing...seems to become her!!
