Extreme Sports
Nobody can deny that the newest crazes with kids are extreme sports. The phenomenon has reached all the way down to kids as young as early elementary school. Is it a problem, or is it a blessing? Much of it depends on whom you ask, but a deeper look will shed a little bit of light on the entire matter.
Why Choose Extreme Sports
The TV in your living room is starting to collect dust and burn less electricity while the video game system sits in the corner doing the same. It is exactly what you may have wanted all along, but it does mean that your child is likely deep into the fun that is extreme sports. Don’t let the name fool you. YOu can use extreme sports to describe some activities, but for your child, it is likely BMX biking, skateboarding, or trick blading (tricks on roller blades specially made for the job).
Trickblader
Essentially, a trick blade will use a special type of rollerblades with smaller, thicker wheels, wider boots, and a ground plate that allows them to slide across surfaces when so desired. The blades are made to perform many of the same tricks that skateboarders do; only now you will see them on roller blades, more or less.
BMX Bikers
BMX bikers are a different sport altogether. These are special bikes with pegs on the wheels for tricks, pads on the places where the impact will most likely occur, and no front brakes. The bike is made for racing and tricks but primarily used on dirt or certain types of urban setups.
Skateboarding
As for skateboarding, it is the sport probably most closely linked to extreme sports. For quite some time now, boarders have been hitting half pipes, grinding, and grabbing their board. Though you may associate the sport as a boy sport, many more girls are starting to get involved in these extreme sports and are having a great deal of success along the way.
Extreme Sports Advice
Watch your kid working on his new extreme sports might scare you. The first time you see your child “getting air” off of a ramp or pipe, you will be clinching with each landing. The important thing, though, is to make sure they have the right equipment and are as safe as any other sport. In fact, one national safety organization performed a study and found that more injuries per participant occur in hockey, football, basketball, and soccer than in skateboarding. So you can breathe a little easier.
One important thing you can do is make sure your child is wearing the right kind of safety equipment. Helmets, elbow pads, and kneepads are musts for the sake of safety. Most skate parks, in fact, will require kids to wear such protection before they are allowed to ride on the property. Falls are a part of the sport, but with proper protection, your child will be in no more danger than on the football field or basketball court.
One problem that extreme sports kids have is finding a place to practice their new love. Many parks no longer allow extreme sports in the area, but the children need places to jump, grind, and try new tricks. One solution that many cities have adopted is to erect extreme sport skate parks. In these facilities, ramps, half pipes, and even stairs and rails are provided so that kids can jump, grind, and get air all they want in an area free of traffic and pedestrians. This makes it safer, and in many ways, more fun for the kids overall.
Summary
The future of Extreme sports is the wave of the future. Though you may not always understand these new sports your kids are into, they are still active and healthy sports. Competition is alive, but children may perfect them without 9 others or even one other kid around. A trip to the skate park alone can end in the perfection of a new trick or technique. The idea is to support your kids and allow them to compete how they want to. Get them the right safety gear and the right facilities, and before you know it, you may have a world-class competitor on your hands.
