When you
sign your kids up for team sports like soccer or little league, what is the
reasoning behind it? I only ask because what I observe from parents is not
consistent with how I think most parents would answer that question. We’ll
start with my assumptions about how you might answer:
Teamwork
We want our
kids to be able to get along well with others. By putting them on a team, the
hope is that they learn how to work collectively toward a common goal. The
lesson for kids is that it takes everybody doing their part for the team to
function at its best; everybody matters.
Exercise
Perhaps you
want your kids to do something besides watch television and play video games.
The best incentive for exercise you can conjure is a team sport. They get to
play with friends and run off some of that excess energy at the same time.
Michelle Obama would be proud.
Fun
Your home
may be like my home, where kids begged their parents to sign them up for a
sports team. We loved being outside and playing games. There was no ulterior
motive; we found sports fun.
Sportsmanship
There are
morals that can be learned by playing team sports as well. Children can learn
how to play by the rules, how to be good winners and losers and what it means
to treat other people (even the competition) with respect.
Competition
As kids get
older, they become more competitive. It may start off as “My dad’s better than
your dad. He’s in charge of Austin air conditioning service,” but it can easily progress to
more hurtful words. There is nothing wrong with a little competition, but
sometimes it’s good to have an outlet for such a mindset as a means of curbing
the banter off the field. Wanting to win pushes kids to be better, to try
harder and to achieve their potential.
Unfortunately,
what I have observed is that team sports for kids become more about the adults
than it does the children who are actually playing. Here are some of the things
I’ve observed that concern me:
Recruiters
I understand
that recruiters have to scout players before they graduate in order to have
some idea about their skill level. What I don’t understand is why my friend’s
granddaughter is being scouted by college scouts while she’s still in middle
school. Where is the line that says, “No. She’s just a kid. Let her stay a kid
as long as she can. She doesn’t need this extra pressure; she’s still figuring
out how to navigate adolescence”?
Hostile parents
If parents
claim they sign their children up for team sports for the reasons I mentioned
in the first section, what is it that changes in their minds and causes them to
be so obnoxious on the sidelines? Grown men have no good reason to get into a
fist fight at a pee-wee football game, no matter how bad the referee is or what
little Johnny did to little Benjamin in the way of a foul.
In it for the money
Another
friend of mine has pushed her daughter to play soccer since she was three years
old. The kid loves the sport and is good at it, but she didn’t have the freedom
to stop playing throughout her school years. The reason: her parents expected
her to get a soccer scholarship to help pay her college tuition. Wanting your
kid to get a scholarship is not unusual. Pushing a child her entire life for
that sole purpose is just wrong.
It’s not
just parents that are in it for the money. Varsity coaches are pressured by
school administrators to win or lose their jobs. Can you imagine your
livelihood resting on the performance of teenagers?
So my
question is this: why do your kids play sports, and do you (and their coaches)
exhibit that same motivation on the sidelines?
Tiffany
Marshall is a freelance writer who writes on behalf of many different
companies. If you’re looking for air
conditioning repair, Austin is home to Blue Air AC. Give them a call, and keep your cool.
