I Don't Care Whether My Kid Is Good at Sports
Submitted by daddytips
To say I wasn't very good at sports as a kid is like saying Britney Spears isn't very good at mothering. Regardless, I was a rabid Yankees fan growing up and played Little League for several years. I started out terrible, got a little bit better, but never really achieved any sort of sporting greatness—or even sporting above-averageness.
And you know what? I'm doing fine. I have a job, a wife and two terrific kids. As a bonus, I have only experienced one serious sports-related injury: I broke my knee the one and only time I went skiing.
So when I see my older son struggling on the baseball field, I don't cringe. I smile and cheer and hoot and holler just as much as the parents of the kids who really can play.
I know we're all supposed to want our kids to succeed at sports ... but really, why? Have we learned nothing from years of John Hughes movies? The jocks are always—always—annoying. Even if they eventually end up being nice to the geek/nerd/unpopular kid, they're never smart or destined for intellectual greatness.
While I don't expect my kids to excel at sports, I do expect them to participate. They're going to have to play in gym class, so they might as well get used to it. That means no whining, no crying and not caring too much about winning. Sure, it would be nice if my kids were great at everything they do. But I'm not likely to spawn a Derek Jeter or a LeBron James. So I take the coaching platitude of "Let's have fun out there!" seriously.
And if anyone has a problem with that, I'll see you out on the field. How will you know who I am? I'll be the guy cheering—even though my son just struck out. Again.
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