My husband and I were college athletes. We're not pushing competitive sports on our kids.

My husband and I, both former college athletes, have a unique perspective on raising our children. We don't push our kids towards competitive sports, contrary to the assumption that people made when they learned we were both once athletes. Instead, we encourage our 6 and 8-year-old children to explore various activities, including soccer, baseball, flag football, piano, musical theater, and Cub Scouts.

Our approach is based on research suggesting that early sports specialization (ESS), where kids focus on one sport year-round and practice extensively, can lead to overuse injuries, burnout, and hinder overall motor development. We want our children to be well-rounded, so we limit their sports participation to one sport per season, allowing ample time for free play and unstructured activities.

We also aim to avoid our own soccer-related injuries, which include sprained ankles, a broken nose, a badly hyperextended elbow, chipped teeth, and torn ligaments, as well as my husband's two concussions that ended his collegiate football career. By avoiding competitive sports, we hope to prevent our children from experiencing similar health issues and burnout.

We are modeling our philosophy after the Norwegian approach to youth sports, which emphasizes joy over winning, no scorekeeping for young children, and no early specialization. This approach has resulted in a country with a strong sports record and many elite athletes, without the pressure of early sports specialization. Our ultimate goal is to raise happy, well-rounded children who pursue sports or other interests based on their passions and enjoyment, rather than being pressured into early specialization.