Crying 6 year old

[FarmersWife1]

We have a 6 year old boy who cries uncontrollably at hockey practice.  He has wanted to play hockey since he was 2 years old, and we allowed him to play for the first time this year.  He enjoys the games and is very enthusiastic about them.  At practice he becomes quite easily frustrated and if there is a skill that he doesn't immediately master he is in tears.  If there is a task he cannot complete (a drill, a new skill) he cries uncontrollably.  He spent the last 10 minutes of practice tonight in uncontrollable sobbing because of some perceived inequity of the "cops and robbers" tag game played at the end of practice.  Really, I think he was just crying because he was "tagged" and not made free.  His Dad is on the ice for practices as an assistant and has tried reasoning with him in a gentle way, but our son is so out of sorts that nothing seems to help.  We do not set high standards for his performance-we just want him to do his best and have fun, but there is no fun to be had when these crying jags set in.  Actually, upon reflection, this also happens in other areas (playing piano, reading) that if his performance isn't perfect the first time he tries something, there are tears.
He is well nourished, sleeps well at night, and generally healthy.  These crying jags are really over the top, and we don't know how to deal with them to help him not to behave so.  He is quite unreasonable and gets very distraught.  We are afraid that he is going to start being teased by the other children at some point if he can't get his emotions under control.

[jdtm]

Margypops has given you some excellent advice.  One book you might wish to read is "the highly sensitive child" by Elaine N. Aron.  It gives ideas to parents on helping children who are overly emotional and sensitive (which is not necessarily a bad thing).  If you google the title of the book, you should be able to find out more information.  Hope this helps  ....

[margypops]

Possibly too much 'reasoning gently' he sounds as if he is under pressure, so I would lighten up a bit, seems some anxiety is being created by a natural 'do his best' attitude from his family. Dont feed into them make less of it not more and it will cease, in my opinion .good luck