I’ve always enjoyed sports. Playing them first, watching them second. However, over the last 5-7 years, my interest in the spectator-side of sports has started to wane. I find myself wondering how sports managed to go wrong. Not with me, but just in general.
I’m a parent. I watch how parents push their child athletes to excel – at any cost – and I’m stunned. The desire to win can become all-consuming, and the value of the effort even children put into the game gets lost. We see the fruits of that behavior played out in sporting venues around the world, at all levels.
There was a time when athletes were role models.
Where Did Sports Go Wrong?
I remember being a kid, attending a high school basketball game with my Mom and Dad. I was probably around 10-years old, and had gone to the snack stand to get some popcorn and a Coke. I was walking alongside the court, carrying my stuff, when I was plowed into by one of the players. There was nothing intentional about it. He was focused on the game, and was trying to save a ball from going out of bounds.
I ended up drenched in soda, but what was worse in my mind was the fact that I was embarrassed. Completely. Totally. Humiliated.
Don’t laugh. This is a big deal to a kid.
That guy came looking for me the following Monday just to say he was sorry. To the best of my knowledge, no one made him do it — he just thought it was the right thing to do. And truth be told, it really wasn’t his fault — I just happened to be standing in the wrong place.
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Fast forward some 25-30 years to the recent story about the 22-year old man who was recently arrested for masquerading as a 16-year old basketball phenom at Permian High School in Texas. ESPN writers describe Permian High School as…
…the rabidly competitive West Texas high school that inspired the movie “Friday Night Lights”…
Now people are coming out of the woodwork, scratching their heads and wondering what possessed this guy to lie to school officials.
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As a 10-year old baseball coach, I witnessed two mothers get into hair-pulling, knock-down fist-fight over a Little League Baseball Game.
Both of the women were arrested and banned from the baseball fields for two years.
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For the first time in its history, the Associated Press held a re-vote of its 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. The move was prompted by a positive test for performance enhancing substance by winner Brian Cushing. Although he lost more than half of the original votes, he retained the title.
That seems rather hollow to me.
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As a 5th-grade boys basketball coach I had mothers yelling at me from the stands that I shouldn’t shake the hand of the opposing coach after a loss.
What were they teaching their kids?
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Around the world, we put athletes on a pedestal. Basketball, football (however you define it), cricket, and baseball. Athletes are paid and prized above nearly all other professions. Our children idolize them, as do adults. Remember the slogan “I want to be like Mike.”
I’m coming to believe that’s a flawed line of thinking.
I still enjoy playing sports. My favorites happen to be basketball and tennis, and I don’t plan to quit anytime soon.
But as a parent, I see the dark side of competitive athletics, and with my kids asking about baseball this summer, I find myself questioning the value of letting them play.
There are a number of positives learning experiences associated with team sports. I know from my own experiences as a kid. Athletes learn team play, cooperation, the value of hard work and effort. But I’m seeing more and more how those things can be tainted, and its not pretty.
I’ve been on a bit of a rant here, but its because I’m wondering what to do as a parent. Personally, I enjoy playing sports, as long as it can be kept in perspective, and I see a great deal of value in them. Playing team sports teaches teamwork, the kids get active, which promotes fitness. They learn about fair play, hard work, and reaping the rewards of their effort. And that’s just it. Kids sports should be about the effort and the experience. They should help child athletes learn to be better people. Not just about getting the win.
I worry that the behavior of others will taint that experience for my kids.
