“Tonight, Matthew, I am going to be Chloe Kelly!” said my 11-year-old daughter, smashing through the sitting room door on her way to her football match. Inspired by the penalty strike she’d watched a week earlier, the Lionesses reaching the World Cup final, and with the hair to match, she was fully set for action.
Whatever her motivation, it got me thinking about the real value of children watching sport. Not just the role models on show, but the chance it gives us as sports parents to spend genuine quality time with them, share a passion, and open the door to some genuinely powerful conversations.
I’ve no data to back this up, just a gut feeling but I suspect far fewer of this generation watch sport on television than we did. They’re likely seeing plenty in bite-sized chunks on social media instead, but in my later years in education and coaching, when I asked young people if they’d watched a particular game or competition at the weekend, the positive responses seemed to come far less often than they had 15 or 20 years ago.
When Liz McColgan joined us on the Parents in Sport Podcast, we talked about the halcyon days of Diamond League athletics on a Friday evening, when parents and children alike could recognise most of the world’s best athletes, it was simply standard family viewing. These days I often find myself having to look people up, and plenty of youngsters struggle to put a name to a face.
Sport on television and in the media has changed beyond recognition compared to when we were growing up, when you had to settle for the odd sporting programme each week and if you wanted your fix, you were glued to it, knowing full well it would be a while before the next chance came round. That probably meant tuning into sports you weren’t even that interested in. That’s not the case today, with such a huge range of sports available across so many platforms which gives us, as sports parents, a genuinely brilliant opportunity.
There’s real value in encouraging our children to watch sport, better still, watching it with them, whether that’s at home on the TV or getting along to some live action at a local venue. Why does it matter so much?
Role models — “if you can see it, you can be it”
Watching sport hands our children a huge range of role models, and teaches them plenty about sportsmanship along the way. We know this isn’t always the case, and sport can sometimes show the opposite but those moments are few and far between compared to the sheer volume of sport being played and watched.
The best role models embody determination, perseverance and teamwork in ways that genuinely inspire, both us and our children. Take Michael Jordan, his competitiveness on court was unmatched, but what really set him apart was staying humble in victory and gracious in defeat, teaching a generation the value of respecting your opponent regardless of the result.
Serena Williams is another. Across a career that threw plenty of obstacles her way, her resilience and grace under pressure never wavered whether that meant crediting an opponent after a tough match, or using her platform to speak up on issues like gender equality. She shows that sportsmanship is about how you treat people, on the court and off it.
Team sport offers its own version of this. The All Blacks are known as much for their unity as for their skill driven by the idea of leaving the jersey in a better place than they found it, and always putting the team above individual achievement.
We should use these stories as a genuine opportunity to talk to our children about what actually makes someone a good role model, which is so much more than simply being the best player. Talking through what makes top performers good at their craft, alongside what makes them good people, can be doubly powerful.
Building critical thinking, problem-solving and analysis
Watching how teams, coaches and athletes make decisions under pressure helps children understand just how much thought sits behind a game, and deepens their appreciation for the sport itself.
Who remembers watching something on TV, then heading outside to copy it with friends, bringing it to life in the street or the park? I couldn’t tell you how many times I was John Barnes, Ian Botham, or a member of The A-Team growing up. I remember watching live the very first ball Shane Warne bowled to Mike Gatting, then spending the rest of the day trying to recreate it admittedly with nothing like the same success.
Watching games and individual athletes helps children build pictures in their own minds. The more of those pictures they carry, the more likely some of it finds its way into their own performances.
We have more analysis and insight into sport available than ever before. Listening to commentary and expert observation helps children build their own critical thinking, learning to question decisions made in the moment, and consider what else could have been tried. It’s worth helping them understand context too, since not everything simply copies and pastes from elite sport onto a Sunday morning pitch.
Supporting physical and mental wellbeing
Watching sport can genuinely support both. We know physical activity matters for a healthy lifestyle, and watching sport lets children experience the thrill of competition and athleticism at close hand.
Seeing athletes push themselves to their limits can spark real motivation in a child to be active themselves and it’s worth us being ready to catch that spark when it appears, and help it along wherever we can. Anything that pulls children away from a screen and toward physical activity is worth encouraging.
There’s a mental health angle too. Immersed in a sporting event, children run through a genuine range of emotions — excitement, joy, frustration, occasionally real disappointment. That emotional ride keeps the brain engaged, and the unpredictability of sport is part of what makes it so gripping in the first place.
There’s plenty more to say on why watching sport matters for our children, but I’m sure you’ll already have examples of your own.
My daughter did manage a goal in her game, I’m relieved to report. The shirt stayed on, and though she gave it everything trying to strike it as hard as Chloe Kelly, this particular effort didn’t quite find the target. Ah well. I wonder who she’ll be next week.
