Make sure your daughter or son is having fun...

[BottleCap]

I wish my parents made me play golf and tennis when I was younger, but instead my dad made me play baseball and football.

Baseball and Football are the most useless sports, you can't play either after high school unless you're going to be a pro.

[Shipwreck]

> @BottleCap said:

> I wish my parents made me play golf and tennis when I was younger, but instead my dad made me play baseball and football.

> Baseball and Football are the most useless sports, you can't play either after high school unless you're going to be a pro.

 

Excuse me, but the Thursday night beer softball league begs to differ!!!! ??

 

It always made me laugh when guys (who were obviously former HS or college baseball players) showed up to play as if the Yankees were scouting for their next HR stud. My team had 2 bats amongst the entire team, and each player on their team had 3-4 bats with them.

[dpb5031]

> @BottleCap said:

> I wish my parents made me play golf and tennis when I was younger, but instead my dad made me play baseball and football.

> Baseball and Football are the most useless sports, you can't play either after high school unless you're going to be a pro.

 

Tell me about it ?! I played practically everything as a kid, but not golf. Certainly now I wish I had, but at the time, no access, no clubs, no money...lol! Started in my late 20s. I do think my athletic background helped tremendously in becoming a decent player in a relatively short period though. I had never played at the time, but I remember watching the '86 Masters with my dad and uncle, and it made a huge impression...even if I didnt fully know it at the time.

 

My daughter was often self-motivated, but there were also plenty of times during those awkward early teenage years where things could have gone haywire had I not intervened. She didn't even play HS golf because she preferred lacrosse (same season) with her friends and was good at it. I let her go. Still, it was golf that got her the full-ride and today we just learned that she was named an academic all American. I know she's extremely proud of being a college athlete, and appreciates that I kept her in the game.

 

One thing I'll mention about dealing with the little ones; if they're struggling in practice or on the course and getting frustrated and upset to the point it's not fun, you've got to discreetly redirect. Get 'em outta there and go do something different. If they're cruising along having a blast, ride it out. Try to make every golf experience a positive one when they're little.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

> @Shipwreck said:

> > @BottleCap said:

> > I wish my parents made me play golf and tennis when I was younger, but instead my dad made me play baseball and football.

> > Baseball and Football are the most useless sports, you can't play either after high school unless you're going to be a pro.

>

> Excuse me, but the Thursday night beer softball league begs to differ!!!! ??

>

> It always made me laugh when guys (who were obviously former HS or college baseball players) showed up to play as if the Yankees were scouting for their next HR stud. My team had 2 bats amongst the entire team, and each player on their team had 3-4 bats with them.

 

Gotta have your USA(ASA) bats and your USSSA bats in single and double wall versions to account for the league rules being used and the ball.

[Forged4ever]

> @BottleCap said:

> I wish my parents MADE me play golf & tennis when I was younger, but instead my dad MADE me play baseball and football.

> BASEBALL & FOOTBALL ARE THE MOST USELESS SPORTS, you can't play either after high school unless you're going to be a pro.

 

Hey BC, I hope you’re having a nice season?

 

I notice ya used the wording “made me play,” and that’s a d@mn shame. While there are certain things that I believe that a parent should “make” a child do, participating in sports in general, and any particular sport in particular, aren’t one of em, at least in my book, though that’s an individual thing with no right or wrong choiceQ.

 

Ya left a level of Play out for both football ? & baseball ⚾️ that separates a HS Player from a Professional, with that being the college level, at least here in America. Having Played college football & lacrosse, and looking back I would say that while I initially learned most of my lessons in Junior High and High School, college was “finishing” school. However, had I never Played a down of college football or a play of college lacrosse, my life lessons were already learned & ingrained, along with incredible lifelong friendships and memories forged from those JH & HS experiences. My closest Friends to this day were my HS teammates. To think of my HS years without the experiences, memories or friendships would leave an immense void.

 

Having started both golf & organized football at 7yo and lax one year later, while golf is my fave sport today, & obviously one that would last a life time, or at least at a Player’s level, until my first bout of cancer and a subsequent stroke, it was football & lacrosse in general, and team sports in particular, that taught me many many more “life” lessons and gave me many many more “tools” in the toolbox, especially mentally & in dealing with, communicating with and motivating others, which would go on to contribute to whatever future success that I would enjoy, first as an employee and later, as an employer of my companies.

 

Do I feel that one really NEEDS to play a team sport to turn out to be happy, productive, successful adult?

 

Absolutely not!!

 

It’s just my opinion that participating in a team sport(s) gives the individual an edge, potentially making the road a tad easier and their travels more consistent, because I would say that easily, 95%+ of the situations that I’ve encountered professionally & socially as an adult, I encountered previously or the lesson learned was learned from experiences from my 17 years of Playing football & Playing lax, which I continued to Play at the National Club level until I was 42yo, and like anything, with repetition came improved performance and outcomes.

 

We have Ava in youth soccer & lacrosse & she came to me last year and said that she wanted to start playing golf (she was 7yo). Playing soccer and lax has been great for her as it has integrated her into a group/team setting, shown her that the world does not revolve around Ava & shown her that just because she works hard, gives her all along with her teammates, that she/they don’t always win. Her team lost the championship 3-2, with Ava getting the two goals, & at the league awards banquet, Ava got the league MVP trophy, & when she was called up to get her trophy she asked if she could say something & I know that that took the emcee by surprise as the other little girls just went up, got their trophies or plaques, shook her hand & went back to their seat. She laughed, said “sure” & took the mike off of the stand as she was 5’10” + heels and Ava was 4’10”, lol. Ava, who was sitting with her teammates at a table to her left on stage while we were seated at a table to her right with other parents, looked to her teammates, looked at the trophy, which I must say was a sweet lookin trophy, then back at her teammates & said that that the only trophy she wanted & the only trophy that meant anything to her was the championship trophy for her & her teammates, she then turned, looked behind her, thanked the coaches from all the teams, who had voted for her, & walked back to their long table, carrying this trophy that was over waist high on her and set it on their table, turned & again told her teammates that “we will get that trophy next year,” & she walked back to their table, the girls sitting around her stood & hugged her as she got to her chair.

 

Madison was staring daggers at me as for some reason at this stage, Ava tends to confide in me more than Maddie, and I know that she thought that Ava had told me prior about her planned action if she won the award as it really was only between her and another girl, though I mouthed “I swear” and was shaking my head in the negative as in I had no idea of her plans. Neither of us had ever spoken to her about something like that and She had said nothing to me, only talking of feeling that she had let her teammates down as she felt that it was on her to have converted a penalty kick that she had stubbed her toe in some grass and should’ve stopped, regrouped and then taken the kick, though she learned a valuable lesson that I am confident that she will never ever forget. I, along with her coach, as she said this so often that I had Madison ask her to please not say it again and that was that this team’s season would have ended with the regular season if it were not for Ava’s play. While this may be partially true, she had two other teammates, that while most kids their age, boys or girls, cannot dribble a ball 20yds without either tripping over the ball or losing their dribble, these two girls have excellent ball/feet skills, well beyond their years, and they set Ava up for many of her goals, well over half of them. Obviously, if she didn’t Play a team sport, she wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to experience her failure, much less what occurred on stage afterward. So it was a team effort, and I while I dote over Ava off the field and away from athletics, I am different with her when it comes to athletics.

 

One, I never want her satisfied and I always want her striving for that next goal, in this case, that championship. If she and her teammates get it, then they have to up their game and repeat, which is difficult no matter the age.

 

I also want her to put her teammates in front of herself, and know that by doing this, and preparing as best that she can, and performing to the best of her ability come game time, well, this will instill in her the greatest values that TEAM sports have to offer!

 

One, no matter your talent, ability level or performance, sometimes, that’s just not enough.

 

You lose~

 

You lose with dignity and on the flip side, you win with grace.

 

A team sport will also teach her to be accountable to her teammates, her coaches and ultimately to herself. You cannot learn this in an individual sport, be it golf, tennis, swimming and I could go on but the sport is irrelevant. You’re accountable to no one but yourself, which is great in its own right, as the one thing that I loved in golf was when I made the shot or ran the putt, it was ME that did that, not me and 10 other guys.

 

The other great thing about team sports and I know that Ava has already experienced this as she told me so, and that is that when it’s just you or me competing for ourselves, and we are having a bad day, maybe we’re not finding the fairways, we’re missing greens and we couldn’t make a putt if we gave it to ourselves, well, we can mentally shut it down, go through the motions if you will, or simply, QUIT, however when you’re Playin on a team, at least ANY team that I ever Played on, you gave/give everything that you had to give that day, because me and 9 other guys were depending on you. Sometimes you may only have 80% to give, or you’re “flat” and have been caught flat footed, missed a tackle & lost some confidence, that happens, but the self pity and “shut down” ain’t gonna happen. We went til the final whistle.

 

Again, I am accountable to you and those other 9 guys as you are to us. For better or worse, we’re in it together.

 

Also found ONLY in team sports is the act of learning to follow and hopefully learning to lead. One will never be worth a d@mn as a Leader if they were not a good follower. Please don’t mistake managing, coaching or “command and control” coaching style with Leadership.

 

The latter types of coaching/managing styles will rarely, if ever, cause someone to reach deeper than they believe that they can, when all they’ve had to give that day is 80%, & you ask them to please focus, forget the past 45 minutes, day or month & just focus on this next play, meeting or action and give you EVERYTHING that they got, & your look tells em both that you know that they’ve got more inside em to give & that you believe in them and will be right beside when they give it!

 

THAT cannot be learned on a golf course, tennis court or in a swimming pool!!

 

Oh yea, it sureTF ain’t learned at the Professional level of ANY sport!!

 

It’s learned, ingrained & instilled in Junior High and High School!!

 

It’s just refined in college.

 

I just happen to believe that with the appropriate parental support, if a child expresses an interest or asks, team sports are the single greatest teacher, tool and instrument to teach a child the most critical mental, psychological and behavioral traits to succeed as an adult.

 

Oh yea, for me & most of the guys that I knew, it wasn’t an “either/or” situation. Three of us Played HS football, one also Played HS baseball, and we all three Played varsity HS golf

 

I’ve always believed that it wasn’t the sport, it was the Man?

 

You guys that Played team sports in HS, would you trade the experiences, lessons learned, bonds forged & Friendships for anything???

 

Golf has been great and as I’ve shared, I’ve got memories for a few lifetimes, but they don’t touch those from football.

 

As always, just my .03 worth?

 

Have a nice weekend BC?

RP

[bladehunter]

> @Forged4ever said:

> > @BottleCap said:

> > I wish my parents MADE me play golf & tennis when I was the experiences, memories or friendships would leave an immense void.

>

> Having started both golf & organized football at 7yo and lax one year later, while golf is my fave sport today, & obviously one that would last a life time, or at least at a Player’s level, until my first bout of cancer and a because I would say that easily, 95%+ of the situations that I’ve encountered professionally & socially as an adult, I encountered previously or the lesson learned was learned from experiences from my 17 years of Playing football & Playing lax, which I continued to Play at the National Club level until I was 42yo, and like anything, with repetition came improved performance and outcomes.

>

> We have Ava in youth soccer & lacrosse & she came to me last year and said that she wanted to start playing golf (she was 7yo). Playing soccer and lax has been great for her as it has integrated her into a group/team setting, shown her that the world does not revolve around Ava & shown her that just because she works hard, gives her all along with her teammates, that she/they don’t always win. Her team lost the championship 3-2, with Ava getting the two goals, & at the league awards banquet, Ava got the league MVP trophy, & when she was called up to get her trophy she asked if she could say something & I know that that took the emcee by surprise as the other little girls just went up, got their trophies or plaques, shook her hand & went back to their seat. She laughed, said “sure” & took the mike off of the stand as she was 5’10” + heels and Ava was 4’10”, lol. Ava, who was sitting with her teammates at a table to her left on stage while we were seated at a table to her right with other parents, looked to her teammates, looked at the trophy, which I must say was a sweet lookin trophy, then back at her teammates & said that that the only trophy she wanted & the only trophy that meant anything to her was the championship trophy for her & her teammates, she then turned, looked behind her, thanked the coaches from all the teams, who had voted for her, & walked back to their long table, carrying this trophy that was over waist high on her and set it on their table, turned & again told her teammates that “we will get that trophy next year,” & she walked back to their table, the girls sitting around her stood & hugged her as she got to her chair.

>

> Madison was staring daggers at me as for some reason at this stage, Ava tends to confide in me more than Maddie, and I know that she thought that Ava had told me prior about her planned action if she won the award as it really was only between her and another girl, though I mouthed “I swear” and was shaking my head in the negative as in I had no idea of her plans. Neither of us had ever spoken to her about something like that and She had said nothing to me, only talking of feeling that she had let her teammates down as she felt that it was on her to have converted a penalty kick that she had stubbed her toe in some grass and should’ve stopped, regrouped and then taken the kick, though she learned a valuable lesson that I am confident that she will never ever forget. I, along with her coach, as she said this so often that I had Madison ask her to please not say it again and that was that this team’s season would have ended with the regular season if it were not for Ava’s play. While this may be partially true, she had two other teammates, that while most kids their age, boys or girls, cannot dribble a ball 20yds without either tripping over the ball or losing their dribble, these two girls have excellent ball/feet skills, well beyond their years, and they set Ava up for many of her goals, well over half of them. Obviously, if she didn’t Play a team sport, she wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to experience her failure, much less what occurred on stage afterward. So it was a team effort, and I while I dote over Ava off the field and away from athletics, I am different with her when it comes to athletics.

>

> One, I never want her satisfied and I always want her striving for that next goal, in this case, that championship. If she and her teammates get it, then they have to up their game and repeat, which is difficult no matter the age.

>

> I also want her to put her teammates in front of herself, and know that by doing this, and preparing as best that she can, and performing to the best of her ability come game time, well, this will instill in her the greatest values that TEAM sports have to offer!

>

> One, no matter your talent, ability level or performance, sometimes, that’s just not enough.

>

> You lose~

>

> You lose with dignity and on the flip side, you win with grace.

>

> A team sport will also teach her to be accountable to her teammates, her coaches and ultimately to herself. You cannot learn this in an individual sport, be it golf, tennis, swimming and I could go on but the sport is irrelevant. You’re accountable to no one but yourself, which is great in its own right, as the one thing that I loved in golf was when I made the shot or ran the putt, it was ME that did that, not me and 10 other guys.

>

> The other great thing about team sports and I know that Ava has already experienced this as she told me so, and that is that when it’s just you or me competing for ourselves, and we are having a bad day, maybe we’re not finding the fairways, we’re missing greens and we couldn’t make a putt if we gave it to ourselves, well, we can mentally shut it down, go through the motions if you will, or simply, QUIT, however when you’re Playin on a team, at least ANY team that I ever Played on, you gave/give everything that you had to give that day, because me and 9 other guys were depending on you. Sometimes you may only have 80% to give, or you’re “flat” and have been caught flat footed, missed a tackle & lost some confidence, that happens, but the self pity and “shut down” ain’t gonna happen. We went til the final whistle.

>

> Again, I am accountable to you and those other 9 guys as you are to us. For better or worse, we’re in it together.

>

> Also found ONLY in team sports is the act of learning to follow and hopefully learning to lead. One will never be worth a d@mn as a Leader if they were not a good follower. Please don’t mistake managing, coaching or “command and control” coaching style with Leadership.

>

> The latter types of coaching/managing styles will rarely, if ever, cause someone to reach deeper than they believe that they can, when all they’ve had to give that day is 80%, & you ask them to please focus, forget the past 45 minutes, day or month & just focus on this next play, meeting or action and give you EVERYTHING that they got, & your look tells em both that you know that they’ve got more inside em to give & that you believe in them and will be right beside when they give it!

>

> THAT cannot be learned on a golf course, tennis court or in a swimming pool!!

>

> Oh yea, it sureTF ain’t learned at the Professional level of ANY sport!!

>

> It’s learned, ingrained & instilled in Junior High and High School!!

>

> It’s just refined in college.

>

> I just happen to believe that with the appropriate parental support, if a child expresses an interest or asks, team sports are the single greatest teacher, tool and instrument to teach a child the most critical mental, psychological and behavioral traits to succeed as an adult.

>

> Oh yea, for me & most of the guys that I knew, it wasn’t an “either/or” situation. Three of us Played HS football, one also Played HS baseball, and we all three Played varsity HS golf

>

> I’ve always believed that it wasn’t the sport, it was the Man?

>

> You guys that Played team sports in HS, would you trade the experiences, lessons learned, bonds forged & Friendships for anything???

>

> Golf has been great and as I’ve shared, I’ve got memories for a few lifetimes, but they don’t touch those from football.

>

> As always, just my .03 worth?

>

> Have a nice weekend BC?

> RP

 

My goodness what a great post Richard !

 

And I echo the sentiment on team sports. I played basketball and ran track. Track was actually my favorite sport and what I excelled at. I ran 400m 4x4 relay and did high jump. I was district champ 5 years ( started in 8th grade) in the 400m. But. The best memory I have from track and field are all from the 4x4 relay. The 4 of us were joined at the hip. And I Was the anchor leg. And like you said , if I run into one of the other 3 to this day it’s instant smiles and hugs. Brothers for life. Just something about going into battle with someone else that you cannot learn elsewhere. And it’s absolutely true that you will dig deeper and try harder for someone else vs just yourself. I bested my best 400m times by nearly 2 seconds one night after our first leg guy had tripped and fallen. I remember thinking “ just get me the baton , I’ll make it up “. Why ? I wanted to help my guys. And I did. I ran down a guy who had a full 2 turn lead when I got the stick. He was flat shocked when I came by him. And after the race he laid on the ground and cried. ( true story ). And we went and picked him up.

 

My split that night was 47.53. Nearly 2 seconds faster than I’d ever gone or ever Would go again. Why ? Team motivation is the only answer.

[Forged4ever]

> @bladehunter said:

>

> My goodness what a great post Richard !

>

> And I echo the sentiment on team sports. I played basketball and ran track. Track was actually my favorite sport and what I excelled at. I ran 400m 4x4 relay and did high jump. I was district champ 5 years ( started in 8th grade) in the 400m. But. The best memory I have from track and field are all from the 4x4 relay. The 4 of us were joined at the hip. And I Was the anchor leg. And like you said , if I run into one of the other 3 to this day it’s instant smiles and hugs. Brothers for life. Just something about going into battle with someone else that you cannot learn elsewhere. And it’s absolutely true that you will dig deeper and try harder for someone else vs just yourself. I bested my best 400m times by nearly 2 seconds one night after our first leg guy had tripped and fallen. I remember thinking “ just get me the baton , I’ll make it up “. Why ? I wanted to help my guys. And I did. I ran down a guy who had a full 2 turn lead when I got the stick. He was flat shocked when I came by him. And after the race he laid on the ground and cried. ( true story ). And we went and picked him up.

>

> My split that night was 47.53. Nearly 2 seconds faster than I’d ever gone or ever Would go again. Why ? Team motivation is the only answer.

 

Hey Brother, how goes it? Thanks for the kind words, though I gotta figure out a way to condense a novel to a short story??

 

I would say that where “Team Think” most affected me was in Playing through injuries to stay on the field with my teammates, which while I wouldn’t change a decision that I made, it would cost me dearly down the road, and to show me that my bar was much higher than I previously thought it was and that has allowed me to compete against, both on the football field, lax field, golf course and in the professional world, with individuals that I had no business competing with or against. In football and lax, I won more of these match-ups than I lost, in golf I lost more than I won, though I never embarrassed myself(at least Playing wise. As a person, I was a constant embarrassment)and a few times emerged victorious when I rose to the occasion and my competitor had a “meh” day/round.

 

I know that before one can “achieve,” they have to 100% “believe,” and “Team Think” allowed me to believe this every single time.

 

Not wanting to let my teammate down transferred easily to not wanting to let myself down, though in my thoughts, even in an individual sport like golf, after a certain incident following, ironically, one of those unlikely victories, I always visualized those around me who were responsible for any success that I might enjoy, from my Grandmother to Pete, and from my Mother to later Madison, as my “team,” and where this really helped me was in my behavior as into my 30’s, I was a d!ck as a competitor cuz all that I had ever known and ever did was to build a huge dislike for my competitor and visualize him as tryin to humiliate me in front of my teammates, coaches, family and fans and this drove me to Play With a level of almost “hate,” and I don’t mean like the “hate” that these kids throw around today evertime someone says something negative, but a feeling of physically wanting to inflict pain and injury on a football field, and no I’m not proud of that and back then there was no way that I’d admit that even though even my closest friends on the team asked me more than once, “WTF’s wrong with you,” however that didn’t transfer too well to the golf course, lolol. Minus the physicality, my looks, words, body language and actions were there and in extremely poor taste.

 

I’ve never spoken of this story before and though I always have credited Pete for my personality change, it was my Mother and it was actually after a victory in the Inter-Club matches against Fox Chapel GC in 1992(I was 32yo) and I had actually won my match, which gave us the point to defeat them by 1/2 point and move on to face Oakmont and I was on cloud 9 however when I went over to hug my Mother, who had walked with us the whole round, she started crying and buried her head in my shoulder and I pulled back and asked “what’s wrong?”

 

She put her head back on my shoulder with her mouth to my ear and she replied, “your Baba(My Grandmother, who introduced me to the game and raised me my first 14 years) would be so disappointed in you today.”

 

It hit me like a kick to the ?!!!

 

My ability to visualize & separate Richard Jacobs the competitor from Richard Jacobs the man, thus becoming a total dbag was only surpassed by my ability to compartmentalize, bury and forget my behavior when I either left the locker room or walked off of that last green, which allowed me to rationalize that the Richard Jacobs on that golf course WAS NOT the “real” Richard Jacobs. Well, Pete didn’t buy it, My Mother didn’t buy it and my Grandmother sureTF didn’t buy it(she passed in late 1974, that’s another story for another day) and my ability to compartmentalize my behavior and lock it away allowed me to move forward.

 

Until that day!!

 

Long story short, I remembered being deathly afraid that if I didn’t work myself into this control frenzied a**h***, especially on a golf course where Pete had to that point in my life described me as a “football Player masquerading as a Player,” and he wasn’t speaking to Playing ability or lack of it, that I would not have been able to compete against Elite Players, because I was not an Elite Player by any stretch. You know the importance that I place on the mental game and in my mind, the ONLY reason that I could compete was because my mentality was superior to 99%+ of the Players out there, and obviously that included the Elite Players. Was this true?? Who knows, though I believed it so and it allowed me to compete against and occasionally beat, like that very day, Players that talent wise and cap wise(I was a +2.7 at the time and the kid from FC was a +4.8 87th nationally ranked mid-am), I should not have beaten. I was wholeheartedly convinced that my acting like a dbag was a major factor to putting myself in the proper(proper only to me?) frame of mind.

 

Well, from that day forward I looked at those that I loved in my life as my “team,” which they most certainly were, and I looked to the sky following a poor swing, shot or outcome, too many times to count and to the point that my caddie once asked what I was looking at when I looked up, and smiled on a cloudless sunny day, lololol. After a poor swing, shot or outcome, I would look up, picture my Grandmother sitting there in her white izod shirt, white bermudas and white golf shoes and telling me, “it’s one shot Richard, forget it,” which was her mantra(She was a 4-Time State Am Champion & Pete’s former Pro/Am mixed BB Partner). I guess my point is that even when my team sport years were over, my experiences of never wanting to let my teammates down allowed to to apply “team think” in making the single biggest competitive change that I’ve made in my life to this day and hopefully to become a better person.

 

Sorry to ramble Brother, though I have gone from a novel or a novella???

 

Have a great week?

RP

 

 

 

[dpb5031]

I have zero problem with parents "making" their children get involved in sports. Kids only know what they know, which really ain't much when they're young...lol. Some will have a natural interest, some may want to play because their friends do, and some will have absolutely no idea and will never express an interest or may even say that they do not want to play without having a clue. I MADE my kids (both girls) play all the team sports and several individual sports when they were young. After a season or two, if it wasn't their thing, no big deal, we moved on...but initially, I thought it was important to give them an introduction, and to this day I think it's especially advantageous for girls in terms of self-esteem, confidence, toughness, etc. Heck, most kids nowadays don't play ball at the schoolyard or in the street like we did as kids, and their outdoor activities and socializing are typically limited to organized sports leagues, school, or play dates...but hey, that's a different discussion.

 

In the end, although one of my daughters was much more of a natural athlete than the other, I'm certain they both reflect back and are glad they had parents who insisted they got involved in athletics. My older one rowed crew and is getting married in Oct. to a fine young man who was an All-Ivy rower. They met through their sport. The younger one is playing collegiate golf, but just as easily could have played lacrosse. So many great lessons learned, great people met, troubles (from idle time) avoided, and cherished memories made. Nothing wrong with a little parental push IMHO, and you don't have to be a nut-job like the Trackman guy with the 6 year old in the OP LOL!

[Forged4ever]

> @dpb5031 said:

> I have zero problem with parents "making" their children get involved in sports. Kids only know what they know, which really ain't much when they're young...lol. Some will have a natural interest, some may want to play because their friends do, and some will have absolutely no idea and will never express an interest or may even say that they do not want to play without having a clue. I MADE my kids (both girls) play all the team sports and several individual sports when they were young. After a season or two, if it wasn't their thing, no big deal, we moved on...but initially, I thought it was important to give them an introduction, and to this day I think it's especially advantageous for girls in terms of self-esteem, confidence, toughness, etc. Heck, most kids nowadays don't play ball at the schoolyard or in the street like we did as kids, and their outdoor activities and socializing are typically limited to organized sports leagues, school, or play dates...but hey, that's a different discussion.

>

> In the end, although one of my daughters was much more of a natural athlete than the other, I'm certain they both reflect back and are glad they had parents who insisted they got involved in athletics. My older one rowed crew and is getting married in Oct. to a fine young man who was an All-Ivy rower. They met through their sport. The younger one is playing collegiate golf, but just as easily could have played lacrosse. So many great lessons learned, great people met, troubles (from idle time) avoided, and cherished memories made. Nothing wrong with a little parental push IMHO, and you don't have to be a nut-job like the Trackman guy with the 6 year old in the OP LOL!

 

Great point DP, and if I’m honest with myself, had Ava not asked us to take her to sign up for soccer and lacrosse, though especially soccer as Maddie Played that along with golf in college, we both would have insisted that she give it at least a season, lol.

 

Nice post?

 

Cheers?

RP

[bladehunter]

@Forged4ever

 

Goodness Richard. I hang on every word.

Iunderstand exactly what you’re saying. The “ hate”. I have that. I too changed my thinking when I. Took up this game , but it will Creep back when you are facing a true jerk on course. But I usually can handle it enough to use it to my advantage.

 

But I get you. On the basketball court. I owned you. Not in the “ I’m going to beat you “ way. In the you better not stick your nose in when I pull down a rebound , or let me get position down low. You will catch an elbow or shoulder at some point if you do. It’s a very rough game if played properly.

 

I had a similarly embarrassing event. Played a rival school in varsity ball. Kid gets off the buss running his yap. I pointed him out in warmups and declared him my guy. Good player but more mouth than anything. We exchanged several touch fouls , and then somewhere in the second half he gets the ball on the wing and goes up to shoot. I come across and go airborne and take out ball and him. I mean he flies 20 feet and down. Hard foul. He pops up and is instantly nose to nose with me. Now that’s a pet Peeve of mine. Personal space. In less than a second I grabbed him with both hands and threw him to the first row of the stands while shouting “ get the ef off of me “ at the top of my lungs.

 

We were both ejected. I was suspended for another game. And just as you said. The reaction from everyone was like a kick to the jewels. I somehow expected support. But I learned that day. In hindsight I instigated that incident from warmups. I wanted to shut him up. But it was that hate that you describe that fueled it. In basketball and track I literally wanted to cause physical harm. It wasn’t fun. It was always war. And that’s a hard truth to admit in a way. I’ve never really had “ fun” playing sports growing up. I just enjoyed winning. Nothing else. I’m painting myself as a bad sport. But that’s not entirely true either. Certain people could earn my respect , and like you said. As soon as it was over id flip the switch and shake their hand and be as polite as pubch. But give me a tiny reason to dislike you and it’s on.

 

That “hate” is why I’m the silent guy at my kids games. Literally. I try to never engage. And I certainly cannot coach. I can’t completely turn off the reflex to want to crush an opponent. And I know exactly where that comes from. But like you said. That’s a story for another day. Maybe another life. Lol.

 

I enjoy your novellas more than i can tell you pal. I hope you’re doing well !