We chose this name because its meaning carries guidance and direction within it. Our goal is to show the way towards regular physical activity and a healthy lifestyle, as well as to help children find the sport in which they can derive the greatest joy based on their personality traits.
WHY DO WE DO IT?
We believe that in Hungary today, the system of children’s regular physical activity and sports does not have the best approach. Even from a very young age, the emphasis is primarily on performance, results, and achievements. Unfortunately, it is quite common to see parents or even coaches confusing children’s sports with “entertainment-industry” elite sports. This includes situations where during a competition or match, adults (parents or coaches), carried away by emotions, shout at the child due to a mistake or argue with referees in a less than respectable manner in a questionable situation. Meanwhile, they forget something incredibly important: sports should be all about the children, it is for them, it should serve their development and joy.
Furthermore, we consider the performance-oriented approach to be flawed because only a very small fraction of children will become competitive athletes in adulthood (even at the regional level).
Based on our experiences, it is unnecessary to start sport-specific training at a certain age or when fundamental coordination skills are lacking, as children lack basic skills and primarily require general agility development. (Practical example: giving a child a tennis racket only when they have reached an adequate coordination level or when their sense of rhythm and spatial awareness is sufficiently developed for hitting a ball; otherwise, practicing would be meaningless flailing.) We do not believe that early specialization in a sport provides any irrecoverable advantage. Of course, there are exceptional talents who are subjected to very serious training programs from a very young age and turn into super athletes, but this is just a drop in the ocean, and for a coach or parent with good instincts, it is more absurd than exemplary.
Moreover, children often spend many years in a sport that does not match their abilities, skills, or even their personality, resulting in finding less joy in sports. Therefore, as adolescence approaches, they easily give it up, and in extreme cases, they may even come to dislike their sport or sports in general. They abandon regular physical activity essential for a healthy lifestyle.
Furthermore, a 4-6-year-old child rarely knows which sport is truly suitable for them. They are much more likely to want to meet their parents’ expectations, to make them proud, which generally causes no problems until adolescence. However, at that point, they may easily question the purpose of the sport and why they are doing it. Abandoning the sport can be a form of rebellion. Seventy percent of teenagers stop regular sports between the ages of 13 and 17! We suspect a serious correlation between these two phenomena.
We believe that with a small shift in perspective, these phenomena can be changed. We believe that during childhood, the emphasis should not be on performance compared to peers, achievements, or success, but rather:
- discovering the joy of movement
- fostering a love for play
- developing an internal desire for movement, thereby laying the groundwork for a healthy adult lifestyle
- acquiring and developing versatile coordination and conditioning skills and abilities
- creating a fundamentally important general agility for everyday life
- focusing on the intellectual and personality development offered by exercises and games involving physical activity.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We aim to provide a sports selection system where children can first develop the general skills and agility necessary for sports and everyday life. Additionally, they can try out and experience the characteristics and elements typical of various sports, making it easier for them to find something they can truly love later on and discover strengths that can fulfill them in the future. We want to assist in this through our recommendation based on objective and subjective measurement procedures.
Our primary goal is for children participating in our activities to find as much joy in movement as possible and to develop into more versatile and skillful individuals.
Furthermore, after our long-term program, we guide towards a sport that truly suits them, based on their feelings and impressions as well as our system’s recommendations, one that aligns with their physical abilities and personality. This increases the likelihood that they will persist in their chosen sport into adolescence and even adulthood, free from parental pressure. Our ultimate goal is to create opportunities for a healthier, more committed generation towards physical activity.
WHAT DO WE DO?
We offer a longer, multi-year sports foundation and selection process where children go through general, versatile, comprehensive skill and ability development, become familiar with certain sport-specific elements and exercises (e.g., handball, basketball, etc.), followed by objective and subjective evaluations.
Our system is based on coordination tasks, rhythm exercises, and general strength and endurance development, all embedded in a series of playful tasks suitable for children’s age. Our methods draw from traditional Hungarian games and dance culture as well as the latest physical education tools and techniques.
Following this period, we provide sports recommendations based on objective and subjective tests, learned skills, specific abilities, and recognized personality traits.
WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS AND WHY?
The child,
- primarily because their general agility develops, laying the foundation for a healthier, easier life
- because they can more easily discover their strengths and interests, allowing them to choose a sport or sports they can truly love later on.
The parent,
- because they receive thorough, professional assistance in making a potentially lifelong decision about which sport(s) to choose for their child
And perhaps Hungarian youth sports as well,
- because clubs can start working with children who, on one hand, have participated in a general skill and ability development program, so they are generally skillful, and on the other hand, have passed a kind of (1-2 year) filtering process designed to assess various abilities and personality traits, making them more capable.
- because they can work with children who are genuinely interested in their chosen sport(s), not just going to practice at the urging of their parents.