JYVÄSKYLÄ Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Sports Science, former Hockey League player Sami Kokko is worried.
The Finnish sports movement has a problem that pervades the whole field of children’s movement to top sports.
There are more children and young people in the club than ever before, but nonetheless, children are less mobile.
There are also fewer young athletes now who have an adequate physical base when it comes to starting targeted training.
“Children quit even earlier at sports clubs. Potential successes may not be found at all, ”says Associate Professor Kokko.
ABOUT THE FINNS As many as 62 per cent of children and young people aged 7 to 15 now take part in physical training in clubs.
Still, according to the recommendations, only a third get an hour of brisk exercise a day, Kokko says. He has been involved in a working group of the Ministry of Education and Culture to draw up exercise recommendations for children and young people.
The growth of club activities has been rapid, with 40 per cent of children and young people playing sports in clubs at the turn of the 21st century.
By size, part of the reason for the increase in the number of clubs is the parents’ concern about the movement of their children.
“The news has been told that the children are not exercising enough, and perhaps this is why there are now more children in the clubs. The good thing is that children get exercise and are in physical education. It’s worrisome if some parents just put a check mark in the box that ‘movement managed’. ”
If a child or young person moves mainly only during club rehearsals, the amount of movement may not increase enough. In an hour-long club exercise, the participant may end up with brisk exercise for only twenty minutes, Kokko says.
Potential successes may not be found at all if children stop playing sports too early.
In yard games, children are no longer seen in the same way as in previous decades.
“When the exercises are three evenings a week, it would only become an hour of exercise. Seven hours a week is enough for health, but if you are a young athlete, then more exercise is needed. There can be as many training hours per week as there is age. Going over it increases the risk of injury. ”
The immobility of children is not just a Finnish problem. In terms of size, the decline in physical activity is a global phenomenon that is also evident in developing countries. Advances in technology are leading to a passive lifestyle.
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“Now there are sports and skating schools for 4-5 year olds. The starting age is one year earlier than ten years. ”
SIMULTANEOUSLY as children’s voluntary exercise has decreased, hobbies in clubs have increased.
Today, children start practicing club coaching at the age of six.
However, for many children, the time for club coaching is short.
At an average age of 9, a child focuses on one sport, and the hobby is stopped at an average age of 11. Then the child switches to another sport or stops exercising altogether.
Depending on the size, the starting age decreases all the time. At the end of the last millennium, sports began at the age of nine on average. The change has been rapid.
“Now there are sports and skating schools for 4-5 year olds. The starting age is one year earlier than ten years. ”
Even active children who start at sports clubs now have less than three years less exercise than those who start at the end of the millennium. Readiness for training is lower, and this results in a risk of stress injuries, Kokko says.
Of course, it is good to start early, Kokko says. Children get exercise and, above all, they are involved in physical education.
In situations that require special skills, early start and limited other exercise bring other problems. For example, skating is a special skill.
“If others have started at the age of four, then a seven-year-old has skated three years less. He is on his way back, and if he is in the same group as those who started earlier, the enthusiasm may stop, ”says Kokko.
Sami Kokko is a former player in the Finnish Ice Hockey League and has also worked as a coach himself.
Athlete however, nothing really can be said about the potential for a seven-year-old.
“If a seven-year-old has skated for three years, it is not known if he has a better chance of reaching the top than a child who does not come in until he is seven years old.”
At about the age of 15, a young athlete should make a decision about whether or not to go for the top. Now there are fewer people of this age involved than before.
“It is not known from the narrow mass whether the potential successes of the future are no longer involved or whether they have dropped out in the past,” Kokko says.
Even for coaches, the large number of enthusiasts and the early training of clubs bring their own challenges.
The groups are more heterogeneous than before, with children and young people who were mainly physically active in the 21st century.
“The coaches have their own experience in club training from a time when they themselves were juniors. Now you can’t coach in the same way you did 20 years ago; not all bottoms are okay. If the amount of strenuous exercise suddenly increasesit can be mentally and physically stressful. ”
According to Koko, the training should be differentiated more than before, ie training in small groups according to the level of skill and fitness.
bonfire seeks cooperation between schools, sports clubs and families. One solution can be found in the world of hockey.
In Jyväskylä, JYP juniors considered ways to increase the distance between home and ice rink on foot or by bicycle.
“At first, some of the young people were tired, but when they got used to the trip, it took care of the initial warm-up and had more time on the ice. The restlessness at the beginning of the exercises was also gone and the total amount of exercise increased. ”
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