Should I encourage him into football, or dance?

Question

My 10 year old nephew

Football:

Pros:

Accepted as more masculine

More social recognition if he's good (Could attain a certain fear/respect from peers)

Cheerleaders (Need I say more?)

Cons:

10 hours a week of a sausage-fest

Dance:

Pros:

Close (possibly physical) contact with females (Can never start too young)

Cons:

Considered more feminine

Any input? Perhaps add to the pros and cons?

Answer 1

Well I would say football. Football is a more manly sport and he is more likely to get made fun of in dance. But let him decide.

Answer 2

lacrosse is better then both you can hit people with sticks!!!!

but not dance you don't want a g*y nephew do you

Answer 3

Let him try both. I am personally leaning into dance, but football is kind of like, violent. Dance's only real risk is that you can fall from a leap or turn. But you should probably let him do both: it's good to try new things.

Answer 4

I know he could not take both, I do know that football requires practices everyday, no time for dance. Give him more options instead of the 2 he has. There is karate, Cub scouts, baseball. My son was in cub scouts for 3 years and I was a master for the scouts. He loved it, so did I. He interacts with other boy's and fathers and seems to be what he needs. Have lots of camping trips which you can go on.

My son also plays football, he likes it, but tires easily and has to hurry and do his homework because of practice being EVERY NIGHT, It wears me out. Games on sat. so, If you have plans in the evenings, football will cut in. All my boys were in baseball, that was fun. Practices twice a week and games on Sat. They also played soccer and liked that. My friends boy's do karate now for 6 years, They are stronger and have so much respect for themselves it teaches them to have respect and discipline. It's very important to give more options for him to choose from. Let him make his own decision.

Answer 5

why are you making the decision?

both i say

if one then ask him

Answer 6

Football. Hes A Man Not A Girly Guy.

Answer 7

do you have custody of him? you must have something to do with him if you are asking such questions.

firstly who cares what you think, what does he think? let him do whatever sport he wants.

Answer 8

Why don't you ask your nephew what he wants and go from there?

Answer 9

I'm not sure I understand how you think you can influence your nephew. I believe any decision he might make would be addressed by his parents.

Answer 10

What about both? As his "male role model", he needs to know that you accept him doing either one. Unconditional attention/I-still-think-youre-cool.

Tell him to try both, and then see which one he likes better.

Answer 11

Could not he take both?

Answer 12

You need to find out which one he is more into.  If he loves into football or other sports then just support him in that but if he really wants to dance then support him in that.  It is basically about being supportive of which ever choice he makes.

Answer 13

First have you ever looked at a professional male dancer?

They have muscles, stamina and coordination that no NFL pro can match. See how many NFL pros can pick up a 100 pound girl and throw her across a stage or carry her over his head and do that 6 nights a week for a 2 hour show.

  Bottom line I agree to let him decide but if you are trying to encourage him to go into something that can become a life time activity stay away from football. Now if you want to encourage sports I would consider soccer. Much better exercise and less chance of lifetime injury.

Just a few thoughts. The average NFL player has a shorter lifespan by about 10 years. Few players actually reach the 10 year playing career time to be eligible for NFL retirement. Most die before they reach retirement age and never collect their retirement.

  There are more academic scholarships available in colleges than sports scholarships and a male cheerleader can write his own scholarship at almost any school, consider how close they get to those cute college cheerleaders. Who wants to be knocked around by a bunch of big linemen when you can be on the sidelines surrounded by cheerleaders in short skirts.

  I would encourage him to try soccer and maybe martial arts but academics need to be first. No one can take an education away from you and even if you are disabled you still have your mind. Consider Stephen Hawking.

Answer 14

I think that you should look past the quite shallow pros/cons that you have listed. You should encourage him in whatever he wants to do, after all it is his life, not yours. I am actually quite offended by your list, and think that you encouraging him into just one of these sports isn't helping him at all. Encourage him in whatever he would like to try, whether it's ballet or wrestling. It really is his life, and nobody knows what he likes and is good at than him. So, personally, I think that you should let him choose and support him.

Answer 15

If he is stuck between the two, let him try both and see what he likes to do.  This is what I have done with all three of my kids when they were stuck on two activities/sports and couldn't decide.

With my 6yo daughter this year she was stuck between both t-ball and soccer... we let her try both and she choose t-ball (along with gymnastics/tumbling). My 8yo is pure football and only football, lol.  My 11yo has tried baseball, soccer, football, basket ball and hockey.  He now plays baseball in the spring/summer and hockey in fall/winter.

Whatever your nephew choose to do, encorage him and have fun!  Good luck!

Answer 16

I would say don't show any favourtism towards either, just let him choose which he would rather do. Kids change their interests so quickly anyway.

Last year my 7 year old son wanted to do dancing, fine, he did. This year he decided he didn't want to anymore, and is now doing football. Each have their pro's and con's, however it is important not to "stereotype" sports, most if not all are for both males and females and should be encouraged.

Answer 17

BOTH  LET  HIM CHOSE IT IS  LIFE ENCOURAGE HIM IN ANY THING HE WANTS TO DO!