Well, it looks like we’ve made it through another winter. Daylight savings is now in place, and the official start of spring is right around the corner.
Spring marks the beginning of so many things, but one thing in particular is the start of the Little League baseball season. Oh yeah, Tanner is on a team this year, and we have already had a few practices. The game and practice schedules are out, and it looks to be a busy few months.
(Let me stop here for a moment and tip my hat to all of you parents out there with multiple kids playing sports. Frankly, I don’t know how you deal with all the sporting schedules and get your kids to all the places they need to be on time. Great job to all of you!)
So, I was at the field the other day watching Tanner’s team practice. There were other teams practicing as well, and I switched my focus from team to team noticing the different coaching styles. I helped out with Tanner’s team last year and have thought about getting more involved from a coaching aspect. So I’m intrigued by how these coaches go about running a practice and getting the kids ready for the season.
Back in the days when I played for the Hawks (pee wee), the Cubs (minors) and the Royals (majors), it was all about learning the game and having fun while doing it. We practiced once a week and the games were always held on a Saturday. After each game, my folks would give us a dollar and have us head up to the snack bar for a hot dog and a drink. The whole process of playing ball was quite simple.
It seems as if playing ball as a kid is a lot more intense these days and certainly not as carefree as it was.
I'm on the bottom row, 2nd from the right.
First off, the “fun” aspect of the game seems to have been pushed to the side just a bit and replaced with a more serious, competitive approach to learning the game. I watched a coach — on another team fortunately — berate the kids on his team for a good 30 minutes straight. He wasn’t happy with their throwing, their catching or even the condition of the field they were playing on. He went on and on in a negative manner throughout the practice, and I was close to walking up to him and telling him to cool down. There was no fun being had by those kids that day, and I really felt sorry for them.
Now, I don’t want to generalize and claim that all coaches are like that, because they aren’t. But, more and more, in all types of youth sports it seems as if winning is the primary goal with the best players always on the field. When I played Little League, all the kids played, no matter their ability. If your folks paid money to sign you up for the team, then you played. If the team lost, it wasn’t a big deal because we were just happy to be out there.
The parents also have a lot more to do these days. There are the mandatory days required to work the Snack Shack. There is the “after-game snack schedule” where each parent has to provide snacks for the entire team after a specific game. When did we start this and why? Can’t each parent just bring his/her kid a snack or let them hit the snack bar? I’m not against providing the team with snacks, but the following was included in the after-game snack schedule email and frankly it just makes things that much tougher.
One of the mom’s wrote “Also, Thomas is severely allergic to peanuts and also allergic to milk, so we would appreciate your help in providing a safe environment for him. Please read ingredient lists. If food is processed on the same equipment as peanuts, it is NOT safe. If food is processed on the same equipment as milk, it is OK.”
Oh great, so now I’m freaked out a bit by the possibility that I’m going to poison this kid. If he is so severely allergic, maybe his own folks should get him a specific snack just to be safe. Am I right or do I just have a bad attitude? I feel bad saying it out loud, but I don’t want to take any chance setting this kid’s allergies off. It’s straight fruit and yogurt sticks for all these kids when it’s my turn to provide snacks!
Lastly, we now play games on Saturdays, Sundays, and in a number of cases we will play a game on a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. To me, it just feels as if one weekend day should be reserved for family plans and other activities.
No worries though. Tanner and I will be at all the practices and games as long as he is having fun. I will work my Snack Shack duties happily and will be precise in my after-game snack so Thomas is taken care of as well.
In the end, the most important thing is that Tanner is encouraged and happy. I’ll be watching for that negative coach throughout the season. If I observe him giving his kids a hard time again I think I will slowly stroll over to him and simply say, “Isn’t this supposed to be fun?”
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{ 11 comments }
About the kid with the peanut allergy: I think you are right. The child's parents should bring his snack in. Granted, there are kids who are so allergic that breathing too close to peanuts can send them into anaphylactic shock, but this doesn't seem to be the case here. This mom shouldn't have every parent worried that they will poison her kid when the more responsible thing would be to just pack him his own snack.
I agree applepolice. My cousin is severly allergic to quiet a few things, and instead of worrying everyone, my Aunt always packs his lunches or snacks. He participates in sports and school activities, and the coaches are aware of his allergies and have his meds if they need them.
It is much better for a kid to be able to feel like they fit in, instead of having everyone look at them with worry or treating them differently.
Too true! I know that every parent wants his/her kid to succeed, but taking the fun out of sports robs them of an important experience.
It really breaks my heart to see so many kids PUSHED to do sports they don't even want to do. That only results in them resenting their parents! If your child is into sports then go for it but don't push them too hard, let them take it at their own pace & don't make them love something they don't love! When i see parents screaming at their 7 year old kids at a soccer/basketball, etc. game it breaks my heart!!!
Sports are suppose to teach how to be a good sport. It really is not about winning but about sharing the love and joy of playing that sport. It is about building confidence in yourself. It is about trying your best, win or lose, you are a winner. It is about enjoying the exercise of the sport. It is how to play nice with your teammates and the other team. How to be a GOOD SPORT.
This lesson in sports should teach us and our children to become better people.
Yet, too often…
…and few professional sports have good role models. Or at least the good ones are not praised enough for ourselves and for our kids to learn that good behavior will be rewarded.
There is LOTS to learn from sports, when played and shared for fun, confidence building, and health reasons.
lol…so many of us say – yes – too competitive and that ALL should play for fun.
Now let us do something about it to make the game fun for all again.
Hmmm… Isn't it tough?!?!
See… I'm a piano teacher… So I think that not only have kids sports become too competitive and crazy busy… they also take away from another important aspect of children's experiences – music lessons or other arts.
It's really discouraging to me when kids quit their piano studies because sports + school + whatever else = too much! I think that while sports are a fun and enjoyable recreation, music and the arts are actually good for the brain and helpful in life…
It's tough…
And now I'm a mom…
What to do!?!?!?
We just started soccer this year w/ our 8 and 6 year old and I'm slightly concerned about the competitiveness of it. It makes sense in our society where we are constantly told that the end goal of everything (work, mothering, cleaning, cooking, being a friend, sports, etc) is to be the best. In reality we ought to teach what past generations taught that it's about the growth and maturing in all aspects of life. I think too this mentality speaks to the fact that parents are less involved w/ their kids, so they prove they're "good" parents when their kid excels. Welcome to a world where everything is about the external!
Sorry to say, i slightly disagree here:
Competitiveness especially in games and sports teaches kids the game of Life.
I think kids that struggle should be encouraged by the Parents to keep on trying!
And show the love and support through the home and family~
although i do agree Amy has a wonderful point.
The arts are SO important and where a child doesn't succeed in sports? Music can express their strengths & help them achieve!! Aww budget cuts really do suck.(they always cut the arts first!)
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