Managing children's fitness
HEALTH and fitness for children is one national issue being addressed by government agencies as well private and concerned agencies who provides services to help curb this problem. The Philippine Sports Commission in its grassroots program for example provides adequate sports training programs aimed to enhance involvement of the youth in sports.
Aside from school institutions that provide learning sports education many fitness centers in the locality also do their part in helping to promote sports as a medium enhancing children’s health and fitness. However, are offered programs for children’s fitness effective?
Managing sports programs and activities for children is not child’s play, because the success of any sports program depends on the trainers/coaches managing performance, hence the role of sports fitness and health directors is crucial.
Aside from a trainer/coach, or sports director’s qualifications as to educational degree, seminar and training certifications, important things that a sports director must have is the experience, skills, and a good personal characteristics.
Experience does not connote his experience in sports training or teaching only, but experience as a children’s fitness director or experience in working with kids like leadership roles and group exercises for better implementation of programmes and the kids fitness curricula.
Another is personal characteristics. Trainers/coaches or fitness directors must be intellectually flexible, because children are the most demanding of any niche market any sports trainer/coach or sports director will serve. And as Kids won’t put up with anything less than fun programs,
thus their experience in the training is what they will evaluate at the end of the program.
Passion working with kids pushes a trainer/ coach or sports director to make children fitness programs a lot of laugh and fun which is an important skill not for just working with kids, because it is both entertaining and educating the kids.
Most important is skills, as trainers’/coaches or sports directors must be equipped with fresh ideas and abilities like; teaching, organizational skills, creative, professional-interpersonal communication skills, a good promoter, good written and verbal skills, and a lot of stamina to work with co-trainers’/coaches or sports director and specially parents and the children, to be successful in children’s fitness programming making the programs fun, group-oriented and easily accessible.