Comprensió escrita B2
Task 1
Read the text and select T (True) or F (False) for each of the statements:
HOW TO GET YOUR KIDS INTO SPORT FOR LIFE
( Adapted fromThe Guardian)
Few parents go as far as Richard Williams, who began shepherding his daughters Venus
and Serena towards Wimbledon glory by writing an 85-page plan and coaching them on
the public tennis courts of Compton, Los Angeles, every morning before they had even
started school. For the rest of us, mums and dads can still play a crucial role in nurturing a
love of sport and exercise in their children from a young age.
“Parents and guardians play an absolutely fundamental role in children’s introduction to
sport, with their encouragement behind the child’s persistence and progression,” says
Claire-Marie Roberts, psychologist and head of coach development at the Premier League.
All kids benefit physically, emotionally and socially from staying active, so here’s how to
get them moving.
Pre-schoolers
Start ASAP, but focus on fun
“Getting children into activities at the earliest opportunity establishes a pattern … you
can’t start too early,” Roberts says. For infants, root it in fun by going to the park, pool or a
play centre. Greg Rutherford, former Olympic long jumper and father of two, agrees:
“Throwing and catching is great for developing hand-eye coordination, and we make up
silly games, like getting out pots and pans and trying to throw a ball into them. It gives
children a healthy association with fitness.”
Make sport a normal part of life
Roberts also recommends keeping kids active in daily life: “A buggy is the most expedient
way of transporting a child from A to B, but if you make the time to walk or scoot, you will
all reap the benefits.” When they get older, if they want to see their friends they’ll think
nothing of cycling. Some research published in the Sport Journal, which found that
physical activity in early childhood is positively correlated with physical fitness in
adolescence.
Teenagers
Help them overcome disappointments
Sport often becomes more competitive for this age group, and one bad experience can
discourage them. For Roberts, the idea is to identify the positives, focusing on effort and
improvement.
For Hoy, the drive home used to turn things around. “If a competition hadn’t gone well, I
would be quiet and grumpy, but Dad never forced the issue, he waited until I started
talking and would say ‘Why do you think it happened?’ … I never felt really pessimistic
after a little chat with my dad.” Adlington’s parents took a similar approach: “I would get
annoyed or go quiet, but my parents would give me space and talk it through with me
when I was ready.”
Roberts says “encouraging children to reflect and explain that everybody experiences
disappointments – including the most successful athletes”. Rutherford agrees: “I had a lot
more bad days than good.”
Let them be teenagers
Being a teen is hard, so cut them some slack. “By not letting them go to parties
because of training, we do them a disservice,” Roberts says. Houghton agrees: “It’s
important to have normal teenage experiences.” But, she says, “if you really want to
do something properly, you have to make sacrifices. My parents saw that I needed
a spell where I was growing up and learning who I was but if there was training
Sunday morning, there was no way my dad was letting me out Saturday night! If
I’d tried to make those decisions without them, I probably wouldn’t have been as
successful as I have been. It’s about having balance.”
Let them quit if they want to
“At this age, their increasing autonomy is really important,” Roberts says, so accept
if your child wants to stop a certain sport. At 14, Hoy told his dad he wasn’t
enjoying BMX any more: “He said it was fine. I told him I fancied trying mountain
biking, so we hired bikes together. He could have pushed me and that could have
been enough for me to never ride a bike again.”
Houghton was also allowed to drop a sport: “I didn’t have the same drive for
taekwondo, so I told my mum and dad I wanted to focus on football. I’d given it
everything I could, and they respected that.”
1. R.Williams planned to train his 2 daughters accurately.
2. Parents are rarely relevant in their children’s choice for sport.
3. Children would better feels sport as something entertaining.
4. G.Rutherford is not on the same page.
5. Teenagers often associate sport with driven physical activities.
6. Parents should not talk through bad days in competitions.
7. Somebody else remembers discussing a bad day at sport in his childhood.
8. Disappointment in sport belongs to any sportsman’s life.
9. Give a teenager enough rope because they need it.
10. Robert and Houghton do not get to an agreement so as to a denial to a
teenager.
11. Children need to feel free to halt any time.
12. Do not give them a chance instead.
KEY
1.T 2. F 3. T 4. F 5. T
6. F 7. T 8. T 9. T 10. T
11. T 12. F
