Is there any help available for sports coaching for a gifted child?

krissy08

Hello All,
My Son is four and has a deep love and affinity for Tennis. We do watch a fair bit of it and he took to it straightaway. From the age of 3 he would stand in front of the Telly shadow swinging along with the players. Some months ago I took him to a tennis open day and was quite surprised at how well he seemed to be hitting the ball and getting to them. I thought I was in my usual deluded mom world but 2 of the instructors came to me after the day and said he is really good...(my daughter who is 4 years older was there giving it a good go as well). I was told to enrol him for proper coaching and that whilst it would be expensive to start, if he became very good in years to come there would be some funding. Problem is the lessons are not cheap..about £7 an hour.

I took him to a different open day and the feedback about him in particular was pretty much the same.

Is there any help out there for parents like me? Will child tax credits which I receive, consider this at all?
Any advice welcome. Thank you

GlasweJen

Child tax credits are a set rate depending on income, not on the child's sporting prowess.

You are extremely unlikely to get help for such a young child who hasn't even had a lesson yet, funding usually comes when they start entering leagues and doing well.

Amanda65

I would have thought that the tax credits are to help financally with things like extra curricular activities !

If you have taken him to open days and coaching staff have commented on his ability, that would probably be the best place to start as they may know of schemes available. Either that or try the LTA and see if they can give you any guidance - the sport itself may have funds to encourage young talent, although at 4 your son might be too young

mrs_sparrow

£7 an hour is cheap. I pay £9 for 30 minutes swimming lessons as an example, £15 for half an hour piano/other instruments, I've been quoted £25 an hour for singing lessons just this week. If he has a talent then just swallow the money and pay it. However, it will only get more expensive the older he gets so if he is good, now is the time to start budgeting.

You should not really be thinking about how much money he will be making in later years though as very, very few sports people make loads of money and rely on people sponsoring them to be able to give up their day job so they can train/play full time - most of them work during the day and train for hours in the evenings and many of them coach for extra money.

angie_baby

If he enjoys it why not just pay the £7 a week for a lesson and see how it goes after a couple of months? I'm not an expert but any funding im sure won't happen until he knows the basics and has competed in several competitions etc. I know if you don't have the money it's hard, but maybe you can cut back somewhere for that extra £28 a month?

DylanO

£7 an hour is incredibly cheap for one-on-one coaching. There isn't much, if any help out there for a beginner like your son - especially at four. My parents funded my brother until he was 15, and then (after winning several youth tournaments) he attracted sponsors. He couldn't have done that without the coaching and the experience gained from it.

Even if he never makes it nationally and doesn't attract a sponsor - £7 or £14 a week is a cheap price to pay for what he will get out of it, and if the various child-related benefits you are given aren't for something like that, then I'm not sure what they should be used for.

Poppy9

If money is really tight could you run to a lesson every other week? If his coach truly believes he has exceptional talent I'm sure they would know how he could be mentored.

Remember though that children develop at different rates and often to progress rapidly constantly while others just suddenly seem to take a leap forward.

I noticed this when DD was swimming that suddenly some swimmers just surged forward after months/years of plodding along.

jenhug

I wish, then my daughters ice dancing wouldn't hurt the bank balance so much!
We pay £10 for a 15 min private lesson, £10 for a 30 min group lesson, and extra for dance club. Skates need regular sharpening, and don't even ask how much dance skates are when they start competing! I would happily pay £7 for one tennis lesson per week!

kingfisherblue

You won't get additional tax credits to pay for your son's coaching, but you can spend the money you already receive on his lessons if you want to.

gilly1964

As everyone has already said, unlikely to be any funding until he gets noticed then it will be sponsorship.

£7 is very cheap

DS plays badminton - his coaching is £95 every 4 weeks, then tournament fees approx £20 each one (sometimes 3 in a month), gym fees to improve all round fitness, new racquet strings up to £30 per month, new racquets as required about £150 each, new badminton shoes about £80 every 8 weeks - not to mention kit and the amount of washing, drinks, travel to tournaments

I wish your son all the best but you will be in this for the long haul and it won't get cheaper

Person_one

Four? A deep love and affinity?

I wouldn't get over excited.