When Jessica Altieri was in 1st grade, she decided basketball was her favorite sport.
“My dad played (on his high school varsity),” said Altieri, who is now 12 and a 7th-grader at St. Mary’s in Buffalo Grove. “I thought it would be fun.”
Her father, Pete, is no overbearing youth sports parent. He encouraged Jessica’s interest, even got involved in starting local Amateur Athletic Union basketball skills camps for younger girls during summer break, but waited to set up a basketball hoop in the driveway until 4th grade. He didn’t want his daughter to feel any pressure.
“What really made a difference was taking Jessica to Stevenson High games,” said Pete Altieri. “She watched great teams (back-to-back state champions) and met players like Katie Coleman (now a star at Illinois) who became role models. She has also talked to pro and Olympic players like Rebecca Lobo and Dawn Staley at camps.”
Jessica Altieri’s choice of sports came easily and naturally. Other girls may find it more difficult. It can require some trial and error.
“Soccer might be the answer for some girls and not others,” said Judy Mahle Lutter, president of the Melpomene Institute for Women’s Health Research, an organization based in St. Paul that encourages and celebrates physical activity among girls and women. “Whatever the sport, there should be one consistent message to girls: Have fun.”
Lutter said physical release and positive socialization are important factors in fun, but that perhaps the most direct route is experiencing some success.
“That doesn’t mean your daughter has to be the best player or even win most of her games or events,” explained Lutter. “A better measure is whether she is learning skills. Does she kick a soccer ball or swim laps better at the end of the month than the beginning?”
Natalie Lacuesta, a 17-year-old junior at New Trier High School who transferred this fall from Loyola Academy, certainly qualifies as a success story. Many of her new classmates may not know she is the national individual champion in rhythmic gymnastics and that a trip to Sydney, Australia, for the 2000 Summer Olympics is a distinct possibility.
“I get a chance to compete around the world,” said Lacuesta, who lives in Wilmette. “I have a lot of fun.”
Is it stressful?
“I have learned to cope with the pressure of competition by focusing on what I need to do during each part of my routine,” she said. “There are times when I am so mentally involved that I don’t even notice or hear the crowd.”
Lacuesta had her own role model as a little girl. Her sister, Tisha, was an elite-level figure skater. Lacuesta started ballet lessons at 3, then followed her sister to the rink as a 5-year-old. At 7, a friend’s parents invited her to a rhythmic gymnastics event, and Lacuesta was hooked by the “dance and artistry”–especially the flowing ribbons waved during certain routines.
Both Lacuesta and Altieri (who has played on state champ AAU teams) have achieved enough success in their respective sports to seek the specialized training of Arkady Koltun, who operates Sports Select in Buffalo Grove. Koltun spent years as a sports physician and exercise scientist with various Olympic teams of the former Soviet Union.
Sports Select, which opened earlier this year, doubles as a health club in a large office tower. The less conventional but intriguing part of Koltun’s enterprise is his sports testing program for children. He runs them through 10 sets of drills and skills assessments. One of the more futuristic machines requires aspiring athletes to move laterally and diagonally between large dots on a platform while a computer screen records foot quickness.
Other tests include jumping ability, strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and muscle stability. Koltun also requires his young clients to have an electrocardiogram to ensure good heart health.
“I see too many kids who are 15 and 16 that have never had their hearts checked with an EKG,” he said. “This is not a good practice.”
Koltun said it would be irresponsible to designate only one sport for a girl who is younger than, say, 8 to 10.
“Some parents have big plans for their children,” Koltun said. “They might be thinking basketball or baseball no matter what we might find. We are testing for what sports the child is best-suited, and you have to understand that most kids won’t begin developing completely until about 10.”
Koltun said track and field is an excellent sport for younger girls and boys, because it allows children to match their own skills to the different individual events. He also discouraged picking just one sport for a child unless she tests as exceptional in all areas and wants to dedicate herself.
Lutter agrees: “Whatever sports a girl might play, be careful to listen to what she is saying about her experience. Figure out if she is getting adequate playing time, feels challenged, is coached by someone who favors boys on co-rec teams.
“Always reinforce the effort and not the performance. That way you can consistently boost the child’s self-esteem without worrying about who wins and loses.”
