{"id":215,"date":"2009-07-16T12:56:23","date_gmt":"2009-07-16T17:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breakthroughbasketball.com\/blog\/?p=215"},"modified":"2009-08-26T18:50:21","modified_gmt":"2009-08-26T23:50:21","slug":"when-did-steve-nash-start-playing-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.breakthroughbasketball.com\/blog\/index.php\/when-did-steve-nash-start-playing-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"When Did Steve Nash Start Playing Basketball?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to an interview posted by NBA.com<\/a>, Steve Nash did not start playing basketball until he was 12 or 13 years old<\/span>. Yes, a 2-time MVP of the NBA did not start playing basketball until he was nearly a teenager.<\/p>\n

There seems to be this myth circulating among parents and coaches that you need to start a child early in \u201cOrganized\u201d sports in order to be successful. The sad thing is that the complete opposite often happens, because kids:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Lose interest, because sports aren\u2019t fun anymore.<\/li>\n
  2. Get burned out.<\/li>\n
  3. Get injured \u2013 play too many games.<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t get enough playing time.<\/li>\n
  5. Get too much pressure placed on them to win.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The list could go on and on.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019m not against organized sports. I think with the right approach, it can be very beneficial.<\/p>\n

    Here are some things I guarantee that occurred during Steve Nash\u2019s childhood:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Played multiple sports<\/strong> \u2013 This helped him develop into a great overall athlete. Did you know Nash was a very good soccer player? I believe he still plays some during the offseason.<\/li>\n
    2. Developed a passion himself<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 I can almost guarantee he wasn\u2019t forced to practice by his parents. Do you think you would be passionate about something if you were forced to do it?<\/li>\n
    3. Plenty of free play<\/strong> \u2013 played sports in the backyard or playground without adult supervision and instruction. Don\u2019t you think it would be beneficial for kids to solve problems and socialize without an adult instructing them how to do everything? We\u2019re not developing robots, are we?<\/li>\n
    4. Coaches made it fun<\/strong>. When I say fun, I\u2019m not talking about hosting practices where the coaches and players skip around together singing Kum-Ba-Yah.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I\u2019m referring to coaches:<\/p>\n