Not only are the Olympics always a great time to root for a country and its powerhouse athletes of citizens, but it always feels like a good time to examine our own views on sports and success and goals. It’s no secret that Olympic athletes have to be driven and persistent (and have a village that fully supports them), but it turns out, how they experience youth sports might also be part of the secret sauce.
Norway is currently holding the most medals in Milano-Cortina, following a pattern as they also won the most medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics — and author Brad Stulberg took to Instagram to share that the country’s approach to youth sports could be part of the reason why. Obviously Norway and winter sports kind of go hand-in-hand, but Stulberg points out that the country does things a lot differently than countries like America or Canada, where youth sports often feel more like minor league tryouts than kids learning sportsmanship, athleticism, and skills.
The don’t keep score
For starters, Stulberg says that in Norway, youth sports don’t even keep score until the kids reach the age of 13. This is mind-blowing enough when you consider that even t-ball teams of kids ages 5 and under are known to end in parents arguing with umpires (who are usually teenagers) over the amount of runs scored. Without the pressure of winning or losing, kids in Norway can just focus on the game itself and the joy of participating, Stulberg says.
A staggering 93% of kids play
The New York Times reported on this very thing back in 2019. According to the piece, because travel teams aren’t a thing until kids are fully teens and because sports costs are low, a whopping 93% of children grow up playing organized sports in Norway.
The country had a population of just 5.3 million during the 2018 Winter Olympics, yet won 39 medals — more than any other country.
Kids try tons of different sports
Norway also encourages kids to try out multiple sports, according to Stulberg’s post, whereas in America, there seems to be pressure for kids to choose something and focus solely on that even in their first few years of playing.
They have a Children’s Rights in Sports document
Norway has managed to keep sports fun for kids. And this model obviously works for creating elite athletes. The New York Times reported that Norway has an eight-page statement, introduced in 1987 and updated in 2007 by the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, called Children’s Rights in Sports. This statement declares that children in Norway should be offered any chance to play a sport, but also focuses on the joy of the sport — giving kids the option to opt out of games they don’t want to play, and to try and find a sport that speaks to them and makes them want to play.
Championships only come later
Competition is healthy and pushed, but there are no regional championships in Norway before kids are 11. Kids are allowed to switch teams in the middle of a season, to quit, to try something new. And there’s a theory that letting them try as many things as they want builds an all-around athleticism that makes them even better at whatever sport they eventually want to focus on.
Norway has adopted a “joy first” type of policy when it comes to sports, and it’s something the entire country is passionate about.
Obviously, that energy doesn’t seem to be what drives American kids in sports. Even in my own metro-Atlanta city, there’s a push to join “clubs” and pay an exorbitant amount of money so that your kid can be the best on the best team. There’s a push to find the sport they’re going to play throughout the rest of their childhood, and there’s this icky vibe of, if you’re not good enough, you might as well quit.
And listen, our athletic prowess globally? Well… it kind of shows that may not be working.
The Olympics are full of joy, but knowing that the athletes from Norway have been feeling this kind of joy — and of course pressure and stress and resilience — since they were kids playing hockey or skiing or snowboarding or whatever? It makes it even more fun to watch.
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