It sure helped Wiz if we gave him outlets for his energy. He loved soccer too. Not sure why, but this brings back a very old memory. iz an husband were at a parent meeting of the local soccer league back when Wiz was six. It was his first or second year playing. The league president was blathering on and Wiz got onto the floor and was rolling around. The league president first got a bit miffed and then realized that NO ONE was paying any attention to him. they were not paying attention to Wiz, they were just bored. The president made the mistake of asking the audience to tell him what he had just said.
Wiz repeated several minutes exactly word for word. From his place under a couple of folding chairs, as he played iwth people's shoelaces.
husband was told that Wiz was welcome to play, but he didn't need to be at meetings. It was all husband could do to keep a straight face, esp after Wiz had repeated the man's tirade against 'buttinsky parents making calls and rules'.
Soccer was also where we first realized what could be done if Wiz could focus. We gave him his first dose of a stimulant shortly before a soccer game. The other kids and parents liked Wiz, but he was NEVER paying attention to the game. That day? WOW! Even the referee and other parents were impressed wtih him. It was a truly awesome thing.
I often end up at the party supply store looking at the little party favors. If I provided Wiz with things to fidget with, he concentrated and read easily. At one point I found a pencil with a plastic nut and bolt at the other end from the point. Another had a little ball you guided through a maze that was on the end of the pencil like a fancy eraser. His teachers all commented that when using those pencils, he took better notes, made better comments, and was easier to get along with. It was as though it siphoned off that leading edge of the energy. Party supply stores have all sorts of things to fidget with, and often they are vastly cheaper than Occupational Therapist (OT) supply houses. I often got enough of anything with a very low price so that each kid in class could have one. That way it wasn't a special thing to set Wiz apart, it was something they all had.
I don't know if your schools do this, but for decades here the students would not be allowed to go play on recess if they didn't behave in class or didn't finish work. Teachers here had FITS when our legislature said that EVERY student would go to recess every day unless a doctor said they could not or the temps were in certain ranges. Temps too high or low meant recess in the gym, and everyone participated. This was largely in response to the growing obesity problems iwth kids.
It had unintended side effects. The behavior problems decreased. The kids had an outlet to let the 'wiggles' or extra energy out. It made HUGE differences in the kids who had trouble learning or behaving appropriately. Teachers had been frustrated at not being able to 'punish' the kids though. One principal started 'Walk and Talk". I have mentioned it before here. the kids walk the perimeter of the playground field while waiting for the bus before and after school. they walk, they chat, and there are much fewer fights. When the new laws happened, kids who were in trouble got to do Walk and Talk at recess rather than sitting on the side the way they had before. Other kids could walk with them, or not, and they could not be made to run. Grades at the first quarter were interesting, and the overall tone of the elem school had changed in many ways. By the end of the year there was a very clear and significant decrease in the number of discipline problems AND a clear increase in the school test scores. Teachers at this elem school were thrilled when they realized that the change to Walk and Talk rather than sitting out of recess was the only real change that had happened. No other changed impacted all of the kids, and this trend was repeated in other schools as the staff adopted the policy.
If you don't channel the energy, it finds ways to explode anyway. Sports provide the outlet and direction, they also teach a lot of valuable social lessons. This clearly works for J, so run with it! I am glad it is helping him and other kids.