As the city gets its first sports school for pre-schoolers and children below the age of nine, parents, physical training teachers and coaches are excited. They say in unison that the earlier the start the better it is for sports. Stating the adage that the early bird catches the worm it seems that the toddler is in fact ready for structured sports instruction enabling a sound foundation that helps in future to take up serious sports.
Amee Sampat who has started Sporty Beans, a Pune based franchisee, in Panampilly Nagar, says that the idea is to catch the kids early and train them for the “open field”. A concept researched and jointly collated by brothers Kapil and Karan Sareen, the school has 27 centres in 13 cities in a matter of four years. “There was a demand for a sport-based activity space,” feels Kapil who conferred with professional coaches, child-health specialists and educationists to design a curriculum. They then researched on child-safe and child-size equipment, which is sourced from five countries.
Amee displays the foam-covered small bats and racquets that help the kids handle the equipment easily.
The one-hour sessions, twice weekly, begin with a warm-up followed by agility exercises. A game is then introduced to the child from the nine different games that are in the curriculum – hockey, cricket, baseball, tennis, rugby (non-contact), volleyball, golf and soccer.
“Early childhood is the best time to learn and acquire new skills. Sport is an activity that requires maximum team work and this is best initiated in the early years. Children learn to play fair, fight fair and the concept of sportsmanship. Besides, most families these days are nuclear. In such families the concept of sharing and team synergy hardly exists. Therefore inculcating sports in children early exposes them to healthy competition. Also this is an age of electronic games that limit physical activities, therefore, sport activities are a better option for raising children,” says Jessina Merchant, a parenting consultant.
Reiterating the opinion Hritika A., a mother of two, says that the kids get used to playing with other children, they learn to handle a racquet, connect the ball and such basics that is bound to give them an edge.
Jayi Johan, mother of four-year-old Jacob is happy to have such a venue in the city. She says that her son being a single child is happy to engage in games and be part of a team. “Besides he is not in front of the TV watching cartoons,” she quips.
Sporty Beans is a picture of colour and delight with children concentrating on netting the ball and the likes. The instructors, called Beanstructors, are busy readying to begin the game. Amee informs that the coaches are trained in Pune to take the children through a set curriculum.
The syllabus is divided into three for the different age groups–Juniour (2.5- 4), Mighty (4-6) and Mega Beans (6-8). The curriculum is designed to include fun in an otherwise serious sports instruction that will help the child improve eye-hand coordination, to learn to keep the eye on the ball, connect with the ball, make good returns, engage in a volley, dunk the ball, tee-off and such. For more details contact- 9847990099.
