Why Choose Youth Development Basketball?

The days are getting shorter, but that doesn’t mean they’re getting less busy. With school in session, homework, commuting, and chores all seem to hold higher priority over fun. Youth development basketball offers more than just fun — it also provides children with healthy activity and teaches critical skills for adulthood.

Fall and winter sports activities are vital for helping kids stay active and healthy during the colder months. The school year means hours of sitting at desks and screens, which means kids aren’t getting the hour of physical activity a day that health experts recommend. And inclement weather often means sitting indoors all weekend too, looking at more screens.

Sports can teach kids important lessons for a successful adulthood too. Recent surveys show that up to 62 percent of business leaders participated in sports as children. For women, it was even higher. Of female senior managers and executives surveyed, 90 percent of them played youth sports.

LEARN MORE: Aviator Sports Youth Development Basketball Program

The Importance of Youth Sports

There’s no denying that youth sports can be controversial. Some parents think that it can become too competitive, and even sports professionals are concerned it can become too high pressure.

But organized sports can offer many benefits to children when the focus stays on having fun. In fact, many health experts say that they can reduce stress. Organized sports can help kids take their minds off school and relieve pressures from school or home.

The key factor is keeping the experience positive and focusing on what the child can learn from it.

Youth Development Sports

Youth Development programs are designed to help children become resilient and successful adults. This model for kids’ sports programs works with kids of all ages to provide positive experiences. These “wins” make them more confident in their own abilities to make good decisions, while helping them become more independent and take obstacles in stride.

Youth development supports kids

Youth development programs don’t just babysit — these programs offer real mentorship for kids. The primary goal is to offer kids challenges, while giving them the opportunity to learn the skills they need to reach their goals. Youth development basketball uses the game as a way for children to develop key personal traits and critical social skills while playing a game they love.

Personal skills

Some of the personal skills children learn through youth development sports are key to the executive function and self-regulation skills they’ll need as adults. These include focus, self-control, and flexibility. They will learn how to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and work toward achieving them.

Social skills

Social skills they’ll learn, such as communication, building relationships, and cooperating with others, develop naturally within a team sport. Every team sport requires good communication and coordination with teammates, much of it gained from nonverbal cues. They will also learn conflict resolution, fairness, and good sportsmanship.

Leadership skill

Both personal development and social skills can translate into leadership skills, teaching kids how to inspire and help others. They can use the skills they have in their own personal development in order to influence and lead others as they mature.

Why Basketball?

Basketball might not be your first choice of sport. However, it’s the perfect group sport for kids’ recreation. There are many reasons to choose youth development basketball.

Indoor / outdoor

Unlike other sports, basketball can be played indoors. Weather won’t interrupt practice or games. So, come rain or shine, children who play basketball will have ample opportunity for healthy exercise.

Varied exercise

Basketball offers aerobic exercise that also strengthens bones and improves coordination. Childhood can be a clumsy time for some kids, even at different ages. Basketball improves gross motor skills, including speed, agility, and strength.

Inclusive and accessible

Basketball is suited for children of different ages and abilities. Because it’s a team sport, every child on the team can contribute to the game. It also has a very low injury rate compared to other sports. And since it doesn’t require expensive equipment, basketball remains accessible to kids from all backgrounds.

Fun

Most kids play basketball simply because it’s fun. In a recent study, 74% of young players said that was their main reason for playing.

Why Aviator Sports’ Youth Development Basketball?

Aviator Sports in Brooklyn offers a youth development basketball program for boys and girls from 5 to 15 years old. Children are divided into age groups.

Coaches work with kids to develop their basketball skills, improving hand-eye coordination, court awareness, and ball handling. They’ll also work on physical conditioning and fitness.

Why choose youth development basketball? The answer is clear: Kids learn teamwork and good sportsmanship while developing their game skills, having fun, and getting a good workout.

Registration for Aviator Sports’ youth development basketball program is open now.