Life Lessons and Sports

So I was a sports mom. Not a soccer mom, probably more a softball mom – but if anyone ever asked me what my favorite team was, I would say, “whatever team my kid is playing on.” Nothing gave me greater pleasure than watching my kids play.

My oldest son, Artie, played hockey, football, and golf. Joey loves to bowl and ran on the high school track team. My girls played softball, field hockey, and basketball. All five participated in our local little league. I even coached or managed my girl at softball with a career span of about 12 years. Those were admittedly my glory years. Coaching taught me many life lessons, but that will be another story.

Having the kids involved in sports was a big part of my parenting philosophy. A large reason for that was trying to keep them out of trouble and away from drugs. My mom wasn’t able to be home because she worked hard as a single mom to support her family. She commuted daily down to the city, and I was left to my own devices or should I say vices. When I went home after school, all I did was get high and maybe have a beer or two. I didn’t want that for my kids. They needed to be busy. Idle hands and idle minds are the devil’s workshop.

Besides keeping a kid off the street, playing a sport has many health benefits. We know in this country that obesity is at an all-time high, but there are so many other invaluable life lessons taught through participating in a sport or on a team.

Life Lesson #1: Hard Work and Commitment

When you get to a certain level of competition, you have to work hard to earn a position on a team. This is one of the biggest life lessons. Nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter. Well, maybe for some kids it does, but not for mine. If you want to start at 3rd base, you need to earn that position. Do you want to graduate from college? Then you have to study and make good grades. Do you want that promotion at work? Then you need to show your boss that you deserve it by proving yourself.

When I was a coach, my preference for a position was the kid who worked harder, over the child who had talent but took it for granted. If they were eager to learn and showed 100% effort, that meant more. When a child works hard to achieve a goal, whether big or small, he or she also learns pride in themselves. Those are the kids who will succeed in life, the ones who work hard.

Another big lesson in life is commitment. I never let my kids quit a team. If you made a promise to be a part of a team, then you have to see it through. My children didn’t always start, and sometimes they may not have even gotten in the game, but they didn’t quit. Just because you don’t like something, doesn’t mean you can walk away whenever you want. Life doesn’t work that way.

#2 Confidence and Not Giving Up

The ability to believe in yourself is so important. My Isabella played travel ball for many years. At one point, she had a particular coach that ridiculed her and didn’t make her feel good about herself. Did she sit on the bench a lot? Yes! If she made the tiniest of errors, she would come right out of the game and be benched. My child who didn’t cry when her hand got smashed by a ball while holding a bat, was sitting on the sidelines crying. She wanted to quit.

She committed, so quitting was not an option. When the season was over, she could be done. At one point, I went with her to talk to this coach and had her question him why he treated her this way and ask what could she do to get more playing time. She was only 12 at the time, but kids need to learn to speak up for themselves.

It became so bad, she wanted to quit softball completely. I couldn’t let her do that. We started going to see a friend of ours and a wonderful man who has dedicated his life to playing and coaching baseball and softball. He gave her batting lessons while bringing back and instilling the confidence she had before this coach – and then some! It’s amazing what effect a little praise and a pat on the back can have on a young person. The life lesson here is don’t let other people knock you down – rise up! You are going to come across people like this your whole life, don’t let them win. A year later, she was playing varsity softball as a 9th grader.

#3: Being a Team Player Is a Life Lesson

When a child is part of a team, they learn to work with others in a united effort. Whether you are at work or home with your family, you need to be a team player. A mom may make dinner, and a Dad will do the dishes, but a kid can still put the dishes in the sink. That is being a team player! Everyone has a job, and if done together, it can be more fun and efficient. It can make for a happier home and then maybe the family can watch a movie together. Have some team bonding time. At a job, home or on a basketball court, better teamwork leads to more success.

#4: Sportsmanship & Leadership Qualities

Nobody wins every game – not on a field and not in life. There are winners and losers. You aren’t always going to be the guy who gets the homer to win the game, and you may not always be the person who gets the promotion, but be the person that congratulates the one who did! Being gracious and a good sport will come back around to you one day. Shaking hands at the end of every game, win or lose, teaches good sportsmanship and the life lesson of humility.

Even if you aren’t the best person on the team, you can still be a leader. Cheer on your teammates! Take the initiative to high five for the good times and be supportive during the bad times. Nobody is always going to be number 1, but keeping spirits high, makes everyone want to try harder. Team captains don’t have to be the best player on the team. Sports can teach leadership no matter what level of athlete you are.

#5: Time Management

So many times when I would interview kids for a sports scholarship in our school, they would say one of the things they had to learn was time management. These student-athletes would have to balance homework, sports, a social life and sometimes a job. That never occurred to me until all these kids kept saying it – but that is a lot to juggle and be successful at all of it.

I should have played sports because my time management skills are horrendous!

A Different Kind of Life Lesson & Sports

Whenever my kids would fall or trip, I had minimal sympathy and would tell them to get up and walk it off. I know that sounds mean, but it wasn’t. I knew they weren’t physically hurt, maybe a little embarrassed, but again – that’s life. It’s important to get back up and keep moving – that’s what perseverance is all about.

So when my Roberta was going into 9th grade, she tried out for JV basketball. She didn’t make the team and was heartbroken. But do you know what my girl did with that? Roberta started the school’s first dance team!

Instead of being on the team, she recruited several other students, choreographed and they performed at halftime of those basketball games. She really was a dancer at heart and didn’t let it get her down. Even getting cut from a sport taught her leadership, perseverance, confidence and to not give up. She learned that age-old life lesson; how to turn lemons into lemonade!

Sports and Disabilities with My Kids

My Joe can’t play on a competitive varsity sport like football or soccer, but he can run track and he does! On the track team, you really are only competing with yourself and trying to improve your time in a race or your height in a jump. Kids with Down Syndrome have a high rate of obesity and are usually inherently lazy. Being on the track team for Joe has kept him involved in an afterschool activity and on a sports team, while keeping him in shape and healthy.

Artie who had his own issues with ADD and Isabella, with her ADHD, needed the sports to learn strategies on focussing and to burn up all that extra energy at the end of a long day sitting at a desk.

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Final Thoughts

Is everyone going to play sports? Absolutely not! But these lessons can pertain to being in the school orchestra or in the school play. Kids should be involved in extracurricular activities. Besides the wonderful life lessons they will learn, these activities look great on a resume, will help them get into college and succeed in life … Trust me on that, I know from experience!

For more perspective, read this follow up lessons learned through sports Part 2.

Much love to all of you and a Happy Sunday! God is good!

Sandy

#enlighten #empower #inspire #educate and please always #BeKind