Do you want to get your child into athletics?
With the Olympics upon us we should be seeing some world class athletics on our screens! It’s always inspiring to see great athletes performing at their best, having put in years of training – and they can be fantastic role models for our children!
If your child enjoys running and competing then athletics might be for them! It’s not just about running the 100m sprint either – athletics involves all sorts of distances as well as jumping and throwing events.
Athletics is an umbrella term that encompasses lots of different events – no other sport offers so much variety! Get your child into athletics and you’ll be opening up a whole world of new challenges and they’ll get the opportunity to see what discipline they like the most.
There’s no better time than now to inspire your kids and get your child into athletics – the summer is here, school is out and the Olympics are on TV! At PKS we’re always keen on getting our kids involved in sport – and our Personalised Bottle Labels are ideal for clearly naming kids’ sports bottles at the athletics track!
Get your child into athletics – what are the main events?
The Sprints
The obvious ones – the 100m and 200m sprints. These are the high profile events that everyone tends to think of if athletics is mentioned. Running fast with extreme power is needed for these races, so if your child is very quick off the mark then sprinting might be for them!
Get your child into athletics as a sprinter and they’ll learn to run faster and with better technique as well as developing strength and power!
Don’t forget that the sprints also include the hurdle races – which combine high speed with explosive jumping and bags of technique. Hurdles are tricky to learn but lots of athletics clubs can help your child develop the skill needed for this event.
Middle distance events
This encompasses races from the 800m running up to the 3000 m steeplechase – which involves jumping over obstacles and water! Get your child into athletics and they can try out these middle distances – different distances suit different kids, so let them try and see which is best for them!
Some children think they aren’t fast – but maybe they just need to try out at different distances to find the perfect one for them!
Long distance events
Long distance events suit kids with lots of endurance! They range from 3000m right up to a full marathon – although children usually do mini marathons as a full marathon is a lot for a child! Get your child into athletics and who knows, they might just make a marathon runner!
Long distance running is very different from the explosive sprinting needed for the shorter races – so there’s a distance to suit everyone! Just because your child doesn’t shine in the 100m sprint on sports’ day doesn’t mean they aren’t good at running. It might just be that they haven’t had the chance to try different disciplines.
Throwing events
This usually includes javelin and discus. These events are often adapted for younger children – for example throwing something over a line or as far as possible. Javelin can be done by kids from around age 8 under supervision of course. Throwing events develop strength and need lots of core stability!
Get your child into athletics and you might find they are a throwing ace!
Jumping events
Of course the high jump and long jump spring to mind – these are old favourites at school sports’ days! Get your child into athletics and they might discover a love of the long jump pit or the high jump pole!
Pole vault is one for older children and needs a lot of practice!
Older children can also try the triple jump which is quite technical and skilful!
Hurdles are a combination of a running event and a jumping one, so speed and power are needed!
Cross Country
This is an event that most kids at school are familiar with! It involves running over rough ground and often through mud! This event needs lots of endurance and determination! Often kids who are good at cross country do these races during the winter months and track events in summer time.
Does your child enjoy the school cross country? Get your child into athletics and you might find they enjoy competing against other kids at local or even national level! The sky is the limit!
Heptathlon and Pentathlon
These are events that encompass several different disciplines that get the athlete points adding up to a total score. They are for all round athletes who can adapt to lots of different skills – running, jumping, throwing – they are all there!
Traditionally these events can be spread over several days but there are also kids’ events that don’t take so long to finish. Get your child into athletics and they might love this all round discipline!
There are lots of ways these core disciplines can be adapted for different ages and abilities so that everyone can enjoy taking part.
Introducing your child to a local athletics club is a great way in to the sport and also a fantastic way to make new friends! Clubs run events throughout the year and have coaches who can help your child achieve their potential.
The main thing is that your child enjoys athletics! A club can really help to make athletics super fun – and can also provide competition for children who want to push themselves further.
Clubs are for kids who just want to get involved and perhaps try an event – and also for those with big ambitions to get to the top! For help finding a local club, have a look at the Amateur Athletics Association’s website.
Getting your child into athletics will set them up with healthy exercise habits for life. Athletics is cheap – you just need trainers to begin with! It’s a fantastic way to meet new friends, and it’s superb for mental health.
Exercise in general can help relieve stress and give a child an outlet for feelings as well as something to pour their energy into. Athletics can build a child’s confidence and self esteem and can show them just what they can do when they try!
Don’t forget that our Personalised Bottle Bands are perfect for any sport. Bottles are far less likely to get lost or mixed up when labelled with one of our colour name bands – and they’ll be easy to pick our from a collection of water bottles!
Forget other kids handling your kids’ bottles at sports clubs and training – our highly visible Personalised Bottle Bands help you avoid the germs spread by touch when bottles get mixed up!
For Personalised Bottle Bands and our other products, have a look in our shop or on our Etsy page!
