my husband coaches softball for our daughters 6&U team, my son goes to all of her practices and games and seems to enjoy himself, we decided to sign him up for tball and we would coach and team mom his team also-we first found that this is much more competitive than softball and also that our son has no interest in playing the game, that is, until i am upset and we are on our way home from yet another missed practice--what can we do to encourage our son to want to play the game?

Trust me when i say this .(I have a degree in sports psychology) From what you have described your son has no interest right now in playing T-ball. The attention span of a 4 year old in something like baseball is much less than a 6 year old. Your son sounds quite content just going to his big sisters practises and games being a spectator and playing around the diamond. I am a firm believer that even kids at this age should be asked if they want to play. Not being told that they "will" play. Let your son have his fun time at your daughters events. When he's ready he will tell you he wants to play. My oldest son who is 14 didn't want to play organized sport of any type. He was content coming to my hockey, baseball and lacrosse practise's and games and was our team mascot lol. He then expressed an interest in hockey and lacrosse at about 7 years old. He now plays AAA hockey and AA Lacrosse and captains both teams and will be trying out for Team Ontario this year for lacrosse. He has his sights set on a Lacrosse scholarship in the USA and wants to play pro. This is all his hopes and dreams. Not mine or his mothers .ALL his. All we can do is guide him, help him and most of all , support his dreams. I know if he doesn't make it that he tried his hardest and that's all you can ask of anyone you want to see succeed. Sorry for going on but i hope this helped you. Studies have also proven for kids aged 4-5 that soccer is the best participation sport. All they focus on is letting the kids run around kicking the ball. no rules, just getting use to running and kicking the ball around. Best of all is your kid will be out like a light at bed time :) good luck!!!

play in the backyard and give him ice cream after games

you cant force a child to love a game if he doesnt want to play it. try another game, i personally love hockey, played it since i was 5. also, when he or she gets older, they may find intrest in the sport another way. so be patient