Inside the Cupboard
America’s favorite pastime is here and the sounds of bats swinging and oohs and ahs over every pitch can be heard. Jackson County survived tryouts and teams being chosen without a ton of negativity.
With that being said, let’s get some much-needed to be said and to be HEARD truths out here for everybody to be well-informed.
Children develop at various levels. Children do not inherit every one of their parents’ traits, characteristics, or personalities.
That’s the good side as far as I’m concerned. It lets every person in each new generation become their person. Allow your child to have the opportunity to make that choice and let it be their choice.
If they want to play tiddlywinks and excel at that rather than the manly sport of baseball or basketball, let them. If they want to beat the drums in a middle or high school band to support their school’s football team, let them.
I’ve talked with five parents in the last two to three months whose child has opted out of a sport and three of the five parents are 100% okay with it. Two were and are devastated, blaming this or that and saying what a great contribution they could make had they ‘stuck with it’.
At what cost to the player would ‘sticking with it’ be? We live in a competitive world today. We want our children to be the best at everything they do, make the best grades, be the pitcher that can throw the heat, or the quarterback that has the once-in-a-lifetime Hail Mary for the biggest win of the season.
What about the child that saves lives as a doctor, nurse, or paramedic; or designs a building that goes down in history as an architectural masterpiece; or leads a nonprofit organization to new heights helping others? Sports are a very valuable part of growing up and I will go to my grave saying that.
With that being said, they have to be kept in perspective. Michael played three sports in high school and excelled at all of them. He took a lot of ribbing for lack of a better word when he chose soccer over basketball as his third sport.
His junior and senior years, other classmates from his class and the class above him opted for soccer. As I watched all 25 games, I was amazed at the talent those ‘add-ons’ contributed on the field to the overall status of the Bulldog team.
The teams didn’t shatter any records but they got the attention of their opponents. Every ‘add-on’ was hesitant to play because of parental attitudes towards soccer.
I look at soccer in Jackson County today and am so thankful for the support it has. I’ve drifted in this cupboard but take it for what it was intended - let your child make choices and support them in whatever they undertake.
