As the country begins to open up and schedules begin to fill once again, kids who love sports will be ready to jump back in.

Once leagues and school teams get the go-ahead from local governments, and it is safe for your child to resume team sports, it may feel almost like your child is coming out of “retirement”. Unless your young athlete was very intentional about working out and staying on top of their skills during the quarantine, it might be a good idea to resume normal sports life with some care.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as life returns to “normal.”

Ease back into training

If your child has not been doing any training during the stay-at-home season, they should not expect to be at the same level of performance they were before Covid-19.  You might compare it to returning to play after an injury, except not as cautious. Incremental training will prevent injury.

Be patient with progress

Even as kids are easing back into sports, encourage them to be patient with their progress. They may not have the same batting average or free throw shot percentage as they did a couple of months ago. They may grow frustrated and your job is to encourage their progress and help them learn to be patient with themselves.

Set and track goals

Encourage their come-back progress with goal-setting and goal-tracking. This will help them see tangible improvement and push them to keep working. It will be exciting for them to see the huge steps they take from the first day out of retirement to getting back up to their pre-Covid19 levels. They may even want to make goal-setting a habit in their youth sports pursuits for good.

Be picky

Just because your child was playing sports all year round or playing two sports at the same time before Coronavirus does not mean they need to do it again. I’m a fan of kids trying out as many sports as they’d like when they are young, just not more than one at a time. And honestly, they don’t need to be playing the same sport all year, or any sports all year if they want to take a season off.

Be very intentional about your youth sports choices. Don’t just fill up your calendar for the sake of keeping your kids busy. That mentality will lead you right back to the chaotic life you had before and wished you didn’t.

Janis Meredith is a family life coach who wants to help all parents raise champions. You can find out more at rcfamilies.com.