Due to construction happening at one of our town schools we are only a week into 6th grade as of this writing. If you asked my daughter for one word to describe how things are going so far that word would be : long.
They’ve been long days. It’s not just that it hasn’t been a completely easy transition back to 6 AM wakeups, although that is definitely part of it. There have also been soccer tryouts, starting on day one and now onto day six, one rainout in between but other than that an extra two hours tacked onto the end of her day.
It’s her first time trying out for the school team, a big step up from the rec league that she has been playing all these years. Like her sister before her Alaina is a capable defender, grit and determination much higher on her list of aptitudes than speed or dexterity. She could have easily continued playing for the team that she had been, a few nights of practice a week with low stakes Saturday morning games coached by her friend’s mom but instead decided to challenge herself. She is competing against girls several years older than her for a roster spot and knows that practices are probably going to be just about every day for the duration of the season.
That was supposed to be what this post was about, whether she made the team or not. I was going to talk out how proud we were of her for putting herself out there, link back to this one from seven years ago about participation trophies, my little league days and the girls’ soccer careers up to that point. It was going to be great.
Instead you are getting a post about the unrealistic expectations that school athletics may have for parents. I don’t remember where I came by this information but my expectation was that there would be three days of tryouts. After school pickup is at 4:30, doable for us but I’m guessing a hassle for many families. Every day she is packing not only for school, but an extra outfit and gear for afterwards. Apparently we will find out on Monday whether or not she has to show up at the first game – on Tuesday. This is the only communication that we’ve had on the subject.
Listen, I’m not here to bash on anybody that is willing to give their time and effort to coaching youth sports. I have nothing but gratitude and respect for you. My work schedule makes it impossible for me to volunteer but I’m fairly confident that those that have been in charge of my kid’s activities over the years have known that whatever limited assistance I could provide, I would. I think that they all have known that I appreciate them.
It’s that schedule, and I’m sure the schedule of others, that makes this so frustrating. As of now I’ve taken two nights off of work for games that I’m not even sure my daughter will be playing in. I’ve rescheduled an evaluation for the winter basketball league she started playing last year. We have grandmothers that need to know what’s going on.
School hours are tough enough already, based on some times that probably worked a lot better when only one person in a household was going to work every day. Nowadays both parents work and they work hours that don’t necessarily correspond to the hours that school and sports practices are in session. We’re trying our best here. Just pick your team and let me know where I need to be a few days from now. If we don’t need to be anywhere, that’s fine too. We’ll get over it. We just need to know.
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Previously Published on thirstydaddy.com and is republished on Medium.
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