As a parent, it’s understandable to be concerned when your child starts playing sports. While basketball is technically non-contact, it’s still very physical, and pushing and shoving can occur in an intense game. Any sport presents a certain amount of risk, what with the running and athleticism required in high-intensity games, but basketball safety, in particular, has improved drastically over the years.

Even with these improvements, however, children are still at a higher risk of sustaining sports injuries — mainly because their bodies and coordination skills are still developing. Let’s get into how we try to keep children safe at Little Boomers Basketball.

Maintaining a Healthy Competitive Outlook

One of the biggest reasons people get injured in sports is the commitment to competitiveness. No matter how old you are, if you want to win, then you’ll often do whatever it takes to do so. Most parents don’t want their young children playing rough-and-tumble sports. This is why at Little Boomers Basketball, we strive to create an atmosphere that is fun-loving, sportsmanlike, and fosters healthy communication above all else.

We don’t think competition itself is always a bad thing. While it’s been a matter of debate for many years, most child development experts say there is some value to kids engaging in healthy competition. At Little Boomers Basketball, we believe that to harbour an enjoyable environment for all children, it’s better to focus on the game itself and have loads of fun with new friends. Winning shouldn’t be the primary goal until you get serious about a sport!

Safety Equipment

While basketball, especially for children, is usually a non-contact sport, there are still risks. Unintentional contact, slipping and falling, and over-tiredness can all contribute to a risk of injury. To curb these dangers, we at Little Boomers Basketball encourage some basic safety equipment guidelines to ensure everyone is playing as safely as possible.

Proper Footwear

One piece of equipment that we highly recommend is a quality pair of sneakers. Basketball courts can get slippery over the course of a game. Sneakers or any sports safety shoes will give kids the traction they need to move quickly without having to worry about whether they’ll slip and fall. For very young children, it’s not a bad idea to invest in a pair that doesn’t have laces, as an untied shoelace can prove to be a tripping hazard.

Safety Glasses

While most professional basketball players don’t wear safety glasses, it’s not uncommon to see them on younger players. Safety glasses help reduce the risk of a serious eye injury, which can be caused by an overthrown pass or a misplaced elbow. Since basketball often requires players to get up close and personal with one another, sports safety glasses can be a sensible precaution.

Additionally, if your child wears eyeglasses, an eyewear retainer might be a worthwhile investment. These are more for protecting the glasses themselves since they can easily come off during practice or in a game. If your child can wear contact lenses, these might be the better option, but eyewear retainers make for a practical middle ground when contacts aren’t an option.

Knee and Elbow Pads

Basketball courts are made of solid wood and can be quite painful to fall on. Knee and elbow pads help reduce the risk of a bad bruise or worse injury. One thing we teach kids is how to fall correctly — an important skill for any aspiring athlete! However, while they’re still learning, they can think of pads as a set of training wheels for themselves as they become familiar with the court.

Mouthguards

Your child’s teeth are important to their overall health and self-esteem. No parent wants their child to come home from basketball practice to see a chipped tooth, or worse — a gap in their mouth. Mouthguards are worth wearing, especially if your kid wants to start playing basketball at a competitive level.

COVID Safety Precautions

With the pandemic still raging around the globe, we at Little Boomers Basketball are taking COVID precautions very seriously. Currently, any staff members or players who present cold or flu-like symptoms are required to abstain from any Little Boomers Basketball programs for 14 days. We also use floor mats to keep players socially distanced from one another and have modified our classes to prohibit handshakes, high fives, and other forms of unnecessary physical contact. Plus, we supply an ample amount of hand sanitiser and enforce its use after handling equipment that’s shared between players.

Little Boomers Basketball Programs

Any sport presents risks, but we do our best at Little Boomers Basketball to keep things safe and kid-friendly. If you want to learn more about our programs, we encourage you to contact us by calling 1300 702 719 or emailing [email protected]

For thousands of years in every culture worldwide, children have always played sports. From the Mesoamerican ballgame in 1650 BCE to the basketball we know and love today, team sports have always played a key role in culture and childhood development.

Health Direct reports that children can see numerous emotional, social, and developmental benefits through participating in youth sports programs. Many of these benefits are well-known and self-explanatory. For example, most people are aware that children’s participation in sports can aid in a child’s development of determination, perseverance, and healthy exercise habits. However, there are plenty of other benefits that might not be as familiar to the general public.

Emotional Benefits

Exercising releases endorphins, which are essentially pleasure chemicals that your brain manufactures and distributes when you engage in physical activity. In other words, they’re biology’s reward for accomplishing tasks. Setting goals and seeing them through is an excellent way to get through life, as any adult will tell you, and dopamine is your brain’s way of letting you know you’ve done just that.

Research has also demonstrated that children who participate in sports programs have a better overall focus in class, better attitudes, and more positive outlooks on life. These benefits especially pertain to children who participate in team sports. In some cases, the emotional benefits are higher for children who play a team-based sport than an individual sport such as tennis, golf, swimming, or gymnastics. Let’s get into why that might be.

The Importance of Socialisation

As mentioned in previous articles, basketball and other team sports have excellent social benefits for children. Not only do children learn the basics of communication with one another, but they can also develop long-lasting friendships with their teammates. Socialisation is crucial for a child’s psychological development. While very young children are usually more interested in playing with their toys than one another, between the ages of 3-5, they start to value the company of other children. When this occurs, friendship can blossom as a result.

A child who doesn’t experience socialisation until later in life can suffer several consequences as a result, including an increased likelihood of shyness, lower self-esteem and confidence, and an unwillingness to take risks. Generally speaking, the younger a child is when they become comfortable around unfamiliar people in their peer groups, the sooner they’ll be willing to put themselves out there and make friends. That isn’t to say that it’s normal for every child to make friends with other children instantly. Some kids are naturally introverted or prefer to play alone. However, kids sports can sometimes crack the shell of a child who’s painfully shy and scared to approach other kids!

Psychological Benefits of Team Sports

Anyone who has viewed sports clips knows that team sports like basketball teach the values of teamwork, strategy, and sharing.

Sharing

Basketball is an excellent tool to teach children about the importance of sharing. No player is more disliked than the ball-hog, as other children might see them as show-offs or attention-seekers — even when they’re outstanding! Even the best players know that they have to move the ball around the court from player to player, but highly competitive teams that only care about winning sometimes ignore this rule.

Teamwork

At Little Boomers Basketball, we’re much more focused on developing the fundamentals of the game, which means putting a real focus on moving the ball, passing to your teammates, and having fun as a group! Team sports like cricket, rugby, baseball, and football also teach the importance of relying on your teammates to win together as a complete unit. Likewise, individual sports will teach athletes to depend on themselves. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but kids need a healthy balance of socialisation too!

Social Confidence

No matter how talented an athlete you are, team sports teach children that showing up and working at something is rewarding. In addition, when you and a group of like-minded peers are collectively working toward the same goal and seeing results, it can significantly boost your self-esteem. Kids must learn to recognise these feelings early, as self-confidence is key to establishing friendships and forming meaningful relationships.