When families look into getting their children involved in sport and physical activities, there is often a lot to consider. For some, this means choosing between clubs and activities. For others, cost, transport or availability can make organised sport harder to access. But there is another question we might rarely ask. What will my child actually experience and learn when they get there?

Picture a familiar sports session. Children arrive, warm up, and then the coach sets up a drill. They form a line. One child goes. They perform the skill, perhaps retrieve the ball, and go to the back of the queue. The next child goes.

There is nothing inherently wrong with practising skills this way. Repetition has a role in learning. But children’s sport has become remarkably good at the art of queuing. Children can be busy and apparently engaged, while having little to think about. The coach tells them where to stand, what to do and how to do it. If they make a mistake, the coach corrects them. Then they try again.

Match play rarely works like this. When children actually play, the situation is constantly changing. A teammate moves. An........

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