Playing sports excites kids! It gives them the chance to exercise body and mind, whether playing as an individual or as part of a team. Summer sports camps take that even further, getting kids up and moving, instead of lingering on the couch all summer long. At team-based or individualized camps, like tennis or soccer camp, children learn the value of physical activity and set a foundation that often leads to lifelong health. 

KidzToPros’ (KTP’s) basketball, soccer and tennis camp all convey valuable lessons for youngsters about achieving goals, applying discipline, and the values of mental strength, determination and perseverance. These lessons carry students beyond summer and into life as productive adults.

Lessons Learned in Team Sports and Individual Sports 

What would you like your kids to learn this summer? While both team and individual sports get kids physically fit, they do this in different ways. Take some cues from your child’s personality and see which type makes more sense for them.  

Team Sports

Society focuses mainly on team sports – and kids pick up on this social cue. They often become fans and want to participate as young children. This is especially true with soccer, the most popular sport in the world. KTP offers both soccer camp and basketball camp, two team sports that each teach young athletes valuable lessons. 

For example, one of the biggest benefits of team sports involves kids interacting with other kids. Together with peers, children work toward a common goal. Campers learn that each participant plays an important role in achieving the goal. They also learn to value the roles of others, knowing everyone comes together for a shared purpose. 

Basketball and soccer players understand, through practice and games, that the world doesn’t revolve around just them. Instead, it’s all about what everyone can accomplish together. This includes celebrating victories and sharing in defeats. 

Team sports can be a lot of fun, especially for children who like to be around other kids. Cooperating and communicating helps campers grow into more empathetic, patient and encouraging young people. 

Individual Sports 

Popular solo sports programs, like KTP’s tennis camp, give kids the opportunity to focus on specific skills. Young players learn to count on themselves first. They set daily goals and discover what it takes to achieve them. They routinely learn their limits and how to push themselves without relying on other players.

Self-reliance empowers everyone, especially young athletes!  

Single players work closely with their coaches, learning how to grow stronger and eliminate weaknesses. Individualized sports also help kids reduce stress, grow self-confidence, and make better choices for themselves in all areas of life. 

Coaching Characteristics for Both

Coaches play an important role in the lives of young athletes. At KTP, we take this seriously and make sure our staff members are experienced, focused and stay positive, bringing out the best in each camper. 

Coaching a Team

Team coaches manage a group of players with different strengths. This requires coaches to effectively: 

• Communicate
• Maintain Harmony
• Understand Each Player
• Set Expectations
• Establish Goals
• Motivate
• Manage Personalities

When coaching children, coaches must understand their power – and use it wisely. Staying positive and encouraging players helps kids grow to love their sport and work well together with others to play it. At KTP, we want our campers to enjoy the experience, while becoming better players. 

Coaching a Player

Coaching individual players is more personal and upfront than coaching teams. It requires coaches to adapt leadership styles to many different personalities so players become the best athletes they can be. 

Solo players often participate in setting their own goals. Therefore, individual coaches must demonstrate: 

• Technical Knowledge
• Sensitivity
• Trustworthiness
• Honesty
• Healthy Communication
• Motivation

Solo players also experience problems they rely on themselves to solve. Coaches must understand the pressure involved with playing solo and work with individual players to build their self-confidence and strength. They should also create a positive environment where athletes celebrate achievements and opportunities, rather than focusing only on mistakes or losses. 

Blending Team and Individual Sports

At KTP’s Play It All sports camps, we offer campers a chance to practice both team and individual sports. Encouraging kids to try different sports helps them decide which ones they want to focus on as they get older. 

Experimenting with a variety of sports has other benefits, too. According to the the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Participating in multiple sports decreases the chances of injuries, stress, and burnout in athletes.”

Different players and coaches bring their own styles and learning/teaching methods to sports. As a result, youngsters who try a little bit of everything grow better at dealing with the general physical and mental requirements of all sports. Kids also stay interested longer and don’t quit as easily. This exposure increases the chance they’ll stay with sports through high school, college and beyond. 

Extroverts and Introverts

If you’re the proud parent of an outgoing extrovert or a shy introvert, you might wonder what kind of sports camps would work best for their personality types. 

Extroverts show up as confident kids who enjoy exciting activities. Easily bored, they don’t seem to mind change and adapt fairly quickly when exposed to new environments. They also seem less responsive to pain. Therefore team environments like basketball and soccer camp attract extroverts who enjoy working hard – even aggressively – with other young athletes. 

Introverts tend to be quiet and often keep to themselves. These children thrive in calm environments where they can concentrate as they grow. Young introverts enjoy sports camps where they can shine on their own, such as tennis camp. This allows them to focus and concentrate, in order to improve. 

Keep in mind that you know your kids better than anyone. Exceptions to these rules do exist. For example, Muhammad Ali chose boxing, an individual sport, despite his extroverted personality. Paul Scholes, on the other hand, is an introvert who thrived at playing soccer, a team sport. 

You Can’t Go Wrong with Sports Camps

If your kids love sports, encourage them to put themselves on the line with summer sports camps. They’ll have fun, learn lots of valuable lessons, and begin to develop a preference for either team or individual sports as they grow. 

Let KTP’s soccer, tennis, basketball or Play It All sports camps help your child develop into a strong, confident player at the sport of their choice, starting this summer. You really can’t go wrong as students find the right fit, master skills, get help from coaches and blossom into self-assured young athletes. 

Discover our sports camps today!