My daughter has been playing ball since she was 5. It wasn't until she reached MS that she started to go from the fun level to the competitive level. She is a sophomore now and plays HS volleyball - was playing HS basketball but has decided to focus on one sport. She is extremely competitive (only sophomore to be a starter and made All-District in
VB - yea I am a little proud
)
My son plays MS football and is fairly good mainly because he is big. He is in the 6th grade and is 5'10" 185 pounds but doesn't have the competitive drive my daughter has - he may develop that or he may not - time will tell
Had I forced the competitiveness of my daughter when she was younger instead of letting her do it on her own schedule I think she would have dropped out of sports all together. Let kids be kids - plus not every kid is cut out for sports anyway. I hate seeing parents push their kids into sports when the kid really isn't the athletic type.