With all the Olympics coverage, my kids are really interested in sports right now. Unfortunately, Robert would like to take up rowing. I'm not really sure where he can train in the middle of the desert, but I'll look into that. They're liking beach volleyball too, but I don't think there are any beaches nearby. Xander thinks gymnastics look fun and judging from his dance skills on Fourth of July, he's a natural!
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The funny thing is that when they're young, sport sound fun and exciting. And the practices aren't demanding and every gets a trophy, YAY! But, as they get older, they find out what sport are REALLY like. And that it's work and dedication. And sometimes you're not that good or at least not the best. And sometimes you make errors and sometimes your team looses. Right around that time, they decide they don't want to play anymore. It's not FUN anymore.
But, we don't let them quit. Call us mean. Call us heartless or unfairly motivated. But, we require each child to play A sport every year. I don't care what sport it is, but they have to play an organized sport every year. They can change sports every year. They can pick an individual sport or a team sport, but they must play something.
I have a lot of reasons why I feel this way. First off, I never played sports. Not for my lack of wanting to, but it wasn't really encouraged in our house. By the time the decision was mine to make (high school) a lot of the kids had already played sports for years. And when I tried out I sucked, BIG TIME. And I missed out on the camaraderie of the team and the feeling of competition. And I'm really sad about that as an adult now.
Also, I think it's obvious that this country has serious health issues. And I want my kids to know sports as an everyday part of life. So that they stay healthy. And that it's not such a struggle as an adult.
Thirdly, I think kids learn a lot of life skills from sports. They learn about teamwork and dedication and discipline. They learn to push themselves to the limit. They learn to deal with teammates they may not like, but have to work with toward a common goal. They learn that they won't always be the best and they learn to deal with defeat.
For these reasons we stress sports as an important part of growing up. Over the years Carissa has played: soccer, Tball and gymnastics. This year she tried out for the middle school volleyball team and made team B1 (out of 66 girls)! Finally it seems as though she's found something she likes. She doesn't complain or beg not to go to practice. I think she's finally seeing what it's like to be part of a team and she likes it. She's also going out for Track in the Spring because she's got legs a mile long and is always beating her teammates when they warm up. I think it's great that she's doing one team sport and one individual sport. I hope that she sticks with it and appreciates all those years that we made her do SOMETHING. Because until now, she's hated going to practice and hated every minute of it.
Robert has already found his niche. Baseball. It's the only sport he plays and he likes it. He's played since he was 3. He shows no interest in anything else and that's just fine.
Xander is starting soccer in a few weeks. It'll be interesting. He says that "the Pittsburgh Steelers are my team, but soccer is my sport". Don't know if he understands, but he's excited. And if he doesn't like it we'll try something else. Maybe he will end up doing gymnastics.
So, how do you feel about sports?