For your little one, you want nothing but the best. Competition can change this; if your kid isn’t a winner, they can have some serious self-esteem issues. In our modern and competitive world, how do you ensure that all of the competition you’re creating for your child is healthy, and not a danger to their mental health?

Help Your Child Understand Their Opportunities

Losing isn’t just a setback. In fact, it can be useful as your child progresses in their life. Losing provides a helpful opportunity to learn from mistakes, and reevaluate both enjoyment of a sport and how a player works among their team. You can easily teach your child to understand that losing is an opportunity to learn more about their playstyle, their teammate’s playstyles, and even their opponent’s playstyles.

Help Your Child Learn Humility

Nobody likes a sore winner. If you teach your child humility early, they will have an easier time grasping other concepts, like healthy competition. If they’re not constantly trying to prove that they’re the best at everything, your child will have more time to improve upon the skills they already have. Helping your child learn humility will make playing tennis more fun, and better on their teammates. 

Show What The Real World Is Like

In the modern age, there are a lot of times when you’re being competitive. Whether it’s a fight for valedictorian or the hunt for the next promotion, your child is going to be beset with competition for their entire life. Get a headstart on it and show them how the world works early, by installing low-stakes competition into their life.

Building Healthy Competition

Building healthy competition in your child’s life is easy, as long as you begin early. By helping your child learn humility and the opportunities provided by a loss, they can begin their journey into the real world. Sports are a great way to foster many skills, and the best of them is a sense of competition.