I will be the first to admit that I love sports as much as my husband. I enjoy watching a good baseball, basketball, or football game. My passion for sports even extends into watching golf, bowling, car racing, and horse racing. Growing up sports were a huge part of our family time. It was very easy for me to register Selena for T-Ball. We looked at Softball but WOW! they want an arm and a leg just for registration alone and then that does not include uniforms or any equipment.
While Selena is the only girl on her team, she enjoyed her first practice very much. She did complain it was cold, and her little cheeks were very red when we finished. She however, worked just as hard as anyone else to learn the game and had a lot of fun.
One thing about organized sports I do not like is some of the attitudes of the parents. While we encourage, and build up everyone on the team, as does most parents, there just always seems to be the one who goes beyond encouraging to tearing down. During practice I overheard one such parent tell his son “Do you want me to take you down and enroll you in dance? I will you know!” My heart sank very deep and it was all I could do to not walk straight over and have words with this father. I think the saddest part of it all is he is the coach for our team.
Papa and I discussed this situation and have concluded that should we hear more remarks like this from him, we will place a formal complaint with the Little League Organization. We sure hope that any parent who volunteers to be a coach would at least agree to the code of ethics that they ask all of us parents to adhere to. It is sad that it only takes one parent to make you question team sports.
The important part now is that Selena is enjoying them and having fun!
Before her practice she did get a hold of my camera, which is a huge No No and took a picture of herself ready for her first day of practice.
I admit that I am NOT a big fan of team sports and neither is my husband. I think that focus on athletic abilities in the United States is almost pathetic. However, I do acknowledge that sports are great in leading healthy lives. I hope Selena enjoys her baseball team!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big sports fan and neither is Jeff (at least of watching them), but I do enjoy playing them, especially with my kids.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be hard with him being the coach, but it sounds like you're handling it the right way.
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ReplyDeleteI used to play on the soccer team and the tennis team in high school. I enjoyed the soccer team much more because of its team aspect. We had a great group of girls and the coach was super supportive. But we weren't the highest ranked team. The other teams from the suburbs had private coaches, nice uniforms, and they were really aggressive about winning. Just imagine a bunch of girls tripping the other team even though it was illegal. I think if we were in one of those teams, I would have not enjoyed the experience as much. While K likes to play soccer with her dad, we haven't sign up for soccer yet. We might try volleyball when she's a bit older. That tends to be less aggressive and it's easier to notice if there are illegal moves. K loves swimming so we may continue with that until then. There are great benefits playing on a team. Lots of bonding and working together for a goal.
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