What a Shame

"What a shame that this has even come to be. I didn't grow up here and I was shocked when I first moved here with my young children. Where I lived, sports were for recreation and education in the elementary ages. During the middle school years, probably everyone made the team - but it started to be a little more obvious who was meant to be playing and who didn't have what it took to play. That is when kids started to sit on the bench. In high school, it was competitive. Some kids didn't make the team and the talented kids played most of the time. This was the case for all sports. It worked well because kids could learn the game and as they matured physically and mentally, things got tougher.

When I came here - I could immediately tell that if you were not completely committed to a sport by 2-3rd grade, you would never make it. I struggle with that because a child changes so much as they grow. A very naturally talented kid could really be missed in this type of atmosphere because maybe he or she was lanky and fumbly in grade school.However, that was only part of what turned me off with sports. The other thing was the fact that with some sports (primarily baseball and soccer) if the entire family did not commit their entire life to the sport, the kid didn't stand a change either.

One of the problems with society right now is that parents get too involved with some of their kids' activities. There are some things that are obvious about this problem - rowdy, rude, controlling parents spawn from this. But in addition to that, the poor kids never get to experience things that are 'THEIRS'. Their parents are part of everything they do and they can never be an individual. I think parents should be spectators and help with team parties - etc. They should make sure their kids' uniforms are clean and that they have all the tools they need. Parents don't have to be at every practice and team meeting. Parents should not typically coach.

That made it clear to me that the best difference between where I grew up and here was that most sports were organized by the schools once you got into the competitive ages. It really is a much better way to handle things.I am sure people will slam me and say that society needs parents to be MORE involved. Well, sometimes, yes. But, being involved in your child's life doesn't mean LIVING your child's life.I think my kids have some natural athletic talent - which was never discovered by sports organizations here. The activities we chose for our kids were those that were more life long and those where they could thrive and grow as an individual. There was room for us to be involved as parents - but if we weren't, the kid wasn't on the out list. Our family has been able to be a family with many interests - we haven't had to focus our entire existence on one sport.