Parents Great Read: The 'Less Athletic' Kids

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Interesting that (as a dad)... I am now reading mom blogs?

I Dont Care Whatever GIF
 
I feel that sports is like many other areas in life whereas it is a great place to teach the social constructs that our society is so very lacking in - inclusion, diversity, and compassion. At the same time, I feel it is the parents' (and the communities') responsibility to place their children in environments in which they will be successful. In school, this means fighting for the extra supports needed to be successful in a traditional classroom. In sports, it means finding the right sport AND league for your child's level. Leagues are not all the same. If you find yourself in one that focuses too much on scores and winning, look for a more relaxed one.
 
I feel that sports is like many other areas in life whereas it is a great place to teach the social constructs that our society is so very lacking in - inclusion, diversity, and compassion. At the same time, I feel it is the parents' (and the communities') responsibility to place their children in environments in which they will be successful. In school, this means fighting for the extra supports needed to be successful in a traditional classroom. In sports, it means finding the right sport AND league for your child's level. Leagues are not all the same. If you find yourself in one that focuses too much on scores and winning, look for a more relaxed one.

I feel you worded that very well.
 
What’s funny is we tend to experience both sides of this in a single meet - the coaches expect to count her bar score for the team score, and they tell her in advance that it’s expected (this is a different issue - she does not work well under that kind of pressure), and also, she’s the kid who will fall twice on beam. 1st place bars, last place beam - always. We count 1 fall as a small victory! So at every meet, we see both the athletic, naturally talented kid… in one place, and the kid who is just trying to make it through the routine in one piece on another. It’s like watching two completely different people
 
In sports, it means finding the right sport AND league for your child's level. Leagues are not all the same. If you find yourself in one that focuses too much on scores and winning, look for a more relaxed one.
I think what this article is also saying is its getting increasingly hard to find a right level because some of these crazy parents are infiltrating sports at every level. I have seen some next level BS at a U10 Little League baseball game (not travel ball basic rec ball). I saw a grown *** man be completely rude to my 10 year old that was just trying to have fun with him after a game. If little league isnt for everyone then we as adults are doing something wrong. And yes its more fun to win, and sometimes you may (internally) be like uh oh here comes little Johnny who can't figure out to run to first base instead of third but ultimately 99%+ of athletes will not be professional athletes and every kid can benefit from organized sports. Parents need to grow up.

Also my general snark and anger in this post is absolutely not directed at gymgal its just a general frustration with parents ruining sports and ruining their kids in the process (just worried it would read that way since I was quoting that post).
 
I think what this article is also saying is its getting increasingly hard to find a right level because some of these crazy parents are infiltrating sports at every level. I have seen some next level BS at a U10 Little League baseball game (not travel ball basic rec ball). I saw a grown *** man be completely rude to my 10 year old that was just trying to have fun with him after a game. If little league isnt for everyone then we as adults are doing something wrong. And yes its more fun to win, and sometimes you may (internally) be like uh oh here comes little Johnny who can't figure out to run to first base instead of third but ultimately 99%+ of athletes will not be professional athletes and every kid can benefit from organized sports. Parents need to grow up.

Also my general snark and anger in this post is absolutely not directed at gymgal its just a general frustration with parents ruining sports and ruining their kids in the process (just worried it would read that way since I was quoting that post).
I agree that the lines have blurred and that is causing problems. In terms of Little League, when I was growing up, it was not a "fun" league. It was a middle ground between rec and travel. You had to try out at each level and prove you had the skills to be successful at that level. If you didn't, you went to a developmental league that was much more rec and fun. I was very surprised when my kids did little league and that was no longer the case. It had become much more inclusive and blurred those lines between competitive and rec. I see that in other sports as well and it is becoming much harder to find truly rec leagues where the kids can enjoy the sport. There are still options in many towns' parks and rec departments but that depends on where you live.

Complete agreement that parents' behavior has become atrocious. Shouldn't be happening in any league from rec to travel.
 

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