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The happiest occasion in a family is when a child is born. Even though, no one is certain about what this child would want to do when it grows up? What will it like or dislike? The only concern the family has is to offer the best to the child, be it the care or the education. Especially when it comes to higher education, we cannot leave a stone unturned, since that will define the career and financial stability of the child. However, what if your child has a sport bent instead of classroom education?
You may be aware of the challenges and the celebrity status of sportspersons, but what most of us struggle to deal with is how to support such kids.
Given below are simple steps to nurture your child's sports persona and spirit, and prepare to support them financially until they can become the professional sportspersons they are born to be:
1. Help Your Child with A Schedule
Children often find it hard to strike a balance between academics and sports. However, it is not an impossible task; many athletes have achieved success on both these fronts. As a parent, you must help your child in planning the right schedule.
For doing so, make use of calendars for school and sports activities. Write down all due dates for schoolwork, including papers and projects. Similarly, write down all games and sports practices. Make your child revisit this calendar every week and make corrections if required.
2. Chart out a Growth Path
Enroll your child in classes that can further enhance his skills. Meet experts or coaches and learn how they can help build your child’s career.
Apart from this, indulge in activities to build a positive career path for your kid. It can be as simple as encouraging activities that build broad, general movement skills like running, throwing, balancing, agility, coordination, rhythm, and speed.
3. Look for Schools with Good Sports Facility
The importance of sports in school encompasses more than just the benefit of physical activity. Increases in mental alertness and self-esteem make school games and sports necessary for every school-age child. Especially if you are going to raise a sportsperson, it is essential to choose the right school for him/her which focusses on sports and physical activities.
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4. Take Care of Expenses in Growing Years
Once your child starts taking an active interest in a game, you will have to admit him/her to a reputed coaching academy where he/she can play and hone skills. It will require funds to cater to the needs and fees of your child during the growth years.
Expenses in the growing years will include the cost of coaching, nutrition, gear, and travel at the very least. Moreover, these expenses will multiply when your child begins playing outside your city since he/she must be accompanied by at least you or your spouse. You must be prepared to take care of such expenses as well.
5. Prepare Financially
You need to have a corpus to support your child’s sports career. Preparing a list of expenses, including the training budget will help you know the requirements in the coming years. Having a financial plan that can cater to your child’s dream of becoming a sportsperson would prove to be of much help.
If protecting your child's sports career is your first goal as a parent, then investing or saving in the insurance policy for a child is the right decision. Child insurance plans are designed to financially protect your child at every critical stage of his life (including education, coaching, training and so on). Moreover, you can select a plan with the maturity around a specific stage of your child's life and suffice his life goal.
Also, strive to build alternative income sources that can be of much help at the right time.
6. Know the National/International Sports Federations
Know about ‘National and International Sports Federations’, including the requirements and process to reach them. To start with, make your child participate in inter-university tournaments, which also makes him/her eligible for the Sports Talent Scholarship awarded by the Government of India, Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.
7. Buy/Increase Term Insurance Cover
A term plan is a necessity for every individual, and you cannot ignore the importance. These plans come with many benefits including- securing your family’s future, low premium charges, the high sum assured and different payout options, to name a few. Having a term plan in place will make sure that your child’s dream of becoming a sportsperson becomes a reality, even in your absence.
If you already have term insurance in place, it is a good idea to increase your cover at different milestones of your life.
Conclusion:
If you want to see your child as a successful sportsperson, encourage him/her, be supportive, go to games and discuss triumphs. However, most importantly, start investing in his/her future from now.
ARN:- 24072019/KC1
