He’s tried football and baseball. She’s tried softball, soccer, and tennis. And you have watched and inwardly wept with him when these sports didn’t work out for one reason or another. Your child wants to be an athletic success, and you know that it is possible if you can find the right activity. With more than 35 million kids in the United States participating in organized sports, according to Statistic Brain, you know there has to be a sport your child will love and enjoy. Then your child says the word, “motocross,” and you wonder if this could possibly be the key to turning a corner in sports.
Motocross is a sport that can greatly benefit both boys and girls. While it is not a team sport like softball or basketball, kids will still develop character and discipline while participating in motocross. There are many benefits to motocross, and the following seven traits will help your child in every aspect of his or her life.
Responsibility
Motocross is not a team sport. If a child doesn’t do well, there is no one to blame but him or herself. If a mistake was made in technique or following the moto rules, the child can’t point a finger at someone else. Learning to take responsibility for his or her own actions and resolving to do better in the future will be useful throughout life.
Mechanical Skills
Most motocross riders learn to work on their own bikes. Changing the oil, repairing a flat tire, and tuning up an engine are typical tasks that passionate dirt bike riders learn. Motocross riders learn the value of installing high quality dirt bike parts. Both boys and girls need to know basic mechanical skills, and riding motocross will help develop them.
Confidence
When kids participate in motocross, they will be riding at high speeds and performing jumps that may frighten them at first. Learning to take a calculated risk will give your child the confidence to step out even if he or she may at first be uncertain about a decision or outcome. If a mistake is made, your child can try again next time.
The Importance of Attitude
Without a positive attitude, riders will not do well in motocross. Motocross takes mental preparation that demands riders focus on the positive. Riders never know how a race will turn out. Sometimes the best riders will have an issue that keeps them from competing well. If other riders are mentally sharp and positive, they will be prepared to take advantage of unforeseen circumstances to win the race. Having a good, positive attitude even in difficult circumstances will help kids get ahead in school, work, and life in general.
Family Closeness
Motocross racers need lots of family support. In general, kids need their parents to buy their bikes, get them to races, and help them handle wins and losses. As a result, motocross becomes a family event. Even aloof teenagers end up excited about their younger siblings’ motocross events because most events include a wide range of ages. Motocross is a sport that will draw the whole family together and provide prime opportunities for amazing family memories.
Safety and Rules
Motocross is a sport that can be life-threatening if riders do not pay attention and follow the rules. For this reason, most race organizers always enforce the rules of the race and give penalties for not following them. Kids who have a hard time following arbitrary rules can understand that motocross rules have safety in mind. Because safety is so greatly emphasized in motocross, this sport develops a kid’s sense of what is safe and what is unsafe.
Mental Toughness
Mental toughness can take your child a long way. Motocross teaches kids that a loss or a wreck is not the end of the world, and they should get back on the bike and try again. Motocross gives kids opportunities to keep trying even when things aren’t going well. Kids who can try hard without whining about difficulties are more pleasant to be around in school and at home.
Sports Techie, If you like to ride a bicycle, you might like motocross just as much. My Seattle area friends that ride motorcycles include a few that are my age and have been riding since they were kids. They love it and post fun pictures and videos on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram year round. My Father grew up in the Detroit area and had a Triumph motorcycle in the 1950’s that he loved to ride around Wyandotte. His passion for motocross skipped a generation since my brothers and I are not so into moto but my 17-year old nephew and our nine-month old baby are. I love to bike whether that be mountain or rode bikes but have not motocrossed. I am willing to try though at a moments notice like many of our young readers are as well.
Over 35 million youth play organized sport in the U.S. and that number is growing. If your teen is looking for a new activity, hobby and exercise that will fill his days with character building goodness, motocross might be it. Understand however that the costs of equipment, repair and insurance, plus gas and race entry fees is not cheap but on the other hand, it does not have to be super expensive either if you are patient and spend wisely.
Motocross does have an air of awesomeness because of the mechanical beast riders try and master while racing on challenging racecourses against opponents who have the same eye of the tiger as you. The fact that motocross is gender friendly gives girls and women the same opportunity as guys to learn new skills that molds nerves and raises sports IQ unlike any other sport on the planet. The technology in motocross can be a major competitive edge and difference maker if you can afford to buy from cutting edge brands.
The seven life lesson traits are fundamental to all sports. The dangers that exists in motocross are not something to be taken lightly. Wearing a helmet at all times is a no-brainer because without it, you may in fact lose your brain and the rest of your head if you ride like the main movie character in Night Rider. For me, that makes Safety and Rules the most important trait of them all.
A Sports Techie mind is adapt at learning mechanical skills and because of this motocross riders can be at ease when they practice and race knowing that if anything comes up they are equipped to deal with it until a better fix is available. The nice things about having about family and friends that are into motocross is that most likely someone will be available to go riding with you, or help work on the complicated Japanese engine, and act as a mentor to younger riders when needed.
I have the mental confidence to be a champion motocross rider and bring home a medal although I have never actually done it. Is that enough to not crash or understand how a fuel pump works, not even but without that kind of moxie, you are cruising for a bruising if you go into it timid and weak minded. The real benefit before I even ride for the first time of having the confidence that I can get it done is that I am already forming the kind of mental toughness required to be a responsible and even a gifted rider, if I choose to make that so.
The same kind of attitude can help kids get through the rougher lessons in life like divorce, disease and death. Shoot, breaking up with a significant other hurts too so just know that with time, it will all pass just like I will on the moto course straight away if we were racing against each other.
May this Ash Wednesday open up new opportunities such as motocross or volunteer work for Sports Techie kids in your community.
If you moto or want to, please let us know why you like it as a blog comment or at our social media network links below.
I will see ya when I see ya, THE Sports Techie @THESportsTechie – http://twitter.com/THESportsTechie
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Comments
6 responses to “Motocross Can Teach Kids Valuable Life Lessons”
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I actually had no idea that motorcross could be something that involves a lot of family closeness. That’s really nice, especially since there is nothing more important than family in my opinion. You could also probably get the family closer by visiting pro motorcross races with your kids. That’s a great way to help build a bond with them!
I like how you said that kids learning about safety and rules is a really important thing that kids get from racing motocross. That would definitely be something that my son could stand to learn a little more about. Recklessness and disobedience are kind of in his nature so doing something that would force him to follow the rules would be a good way to get him to be a little more rigid in the way he lives.
I like that you mentioned that finding the courage to ride at high speeds and perform high jumps will help a child build confidence. My son loves to ride bikes, so my wife and I have been talking about getting him a dirtbike now that he’s a little bit older. Giving him something that he will not only enjoy, but that will help him grow as an individual would be great. Thanks for the information.
Thank you for pointing out that motocross can teach kids safety and rules. My husband is wanting to start taking our son to watch motocross. I think I should try and find them jerseys to wear so they can get the full experience. I’ll have to look into different online shops.
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