Have youth sports become too much for our children?
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How much is enough? The question I just asked can be asked about a lot of things but this time it’s about sports, parenting, and kids just being kids. No, I’m not going to start bashing sports!
As a father, we want our children growing up to be the best they can be..
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I was and still am a sports nut, and I think that that playing sports are a paramount part of a child’s life. It helps teach them hard work, responsibility, discipline and more! It also help them to learn to be a part of a team and that their job is imperative on each play, whether they are carrying the ball or blocking on the back side.
Sports helps give them the competitive drive to become a better athlete and as they get older, a better person. As a father, we want our children growing up to be the best they can be and lead better lives than what we did, don’t we? I know I do!
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I grew up playing little league baseball, football, and basketball in junior high and high school. I worked hard at it, learned a lot, and most importantly had fun!
In more ways than one we live in a different world now, and that is what I’m worried about. As I mentioned earlier, the most important part was having fun! Even when we lost, yeah it stung, but we still enjoyed the playing the game.
They should be going out because they enjoy it!
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I worry now that we are taking youth sports way too seriously. I teach my family three priorities; 1) God ALWAYS comes first! 2) Family comes next, and 3) The rest just falls into place. We now have traveling leagues with tournaments every weekend including games on Sunday mornings, which destroys priority #1 right away!
Next, if you’re going to tournaments every weekend, is that the best way to bond with your family? While it may be fun, I can think of some more meaningful ways to bond with my family.
Finally, I have noticed that a growing number of our young people who participate in these “serious” leagues are getting so burned out by the time that they reach high school. They’re either not going out or just going out to please their parents and mainly their father. Is that the reason we want our children to go out for sports? They should be going out because they enjoy it!
My oldest son is now going to high school and while I realize that this is and should be an entirely different level, are we allowing this to become more of a job for them? Or, are they doing it because they enjoy it?
They just got out of school a few weeks ago and right from the beginning of summer he has several camps, summer leagues, and weightlifting for football and basketball that they are expected to be at which will last all summer long.
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It raises the questions again, “How much is too much?” and “When does it cross the from being an extracurricular activity into an unpaid job?” Now, as I am writing this, I don’t want to paint the picture and criticize our local school district and our coaching staffs as being a big ugly machine. And, that all they care about is getting victories because nothing could be further from the truth!
Our district is very family oriented, and our coaching staffs are among the best in the world as far as I’m concerned, but I also realize that some districts may not be as fortunate!
I am NOT discouraging any fathers from letting their children participate in sports.
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In closing, I know I will probably receive some flack about this so I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea about this article. I am NOT discouraging any fathers from letting their children participate in sports but to encourage our children to do different activities while keeping our family priorities in line.
The way I see it, nothing except for God should consume our life but each different thing that we do should be an integral part of it helping us grow into better people and for us men, better dads! I wish you all the best!
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Flickr/ Herald Post
“I think that playing sports are a paramount part of a child’s life.” Shouldn’t children be given a choice as to whether they participate in sports or not? Should nonathletic boys be stigmatized and bullied for having no interest in sports (as has so often been the case)? Are sports the only way to be physically active? Obviously, not. IMO school sports have been overemphasized to the point of ridiculousness. “Sports helps give them the competitive drive to become a better athlete and as they get older, a better person.” I have known guys with athletic backgrounds who were great… Read more »