Hits and Misses During a Pandemic

Do you miss paying fees for club sports? Didn’t think so. 

Do you wish for a weekend of sitting in the bleachers burning two full days, while your son or daughter is playing a sport that they may not even really like? How about having a game on court 1 at 8am and the next one at 2:45 pm, 30 miles from home? How about the coach not playing your kid after you saw the fees pulled out of your account on direct deposit for the 8th month in a row. Do you miss the ride home from the games where the headphones are put in, so they won’t have to hear you ask questions or verbally beat them up for not playing up to your expectations?  Do you miss being charged an admission fee at each gym on Saturday’s and Sunday’s?  How about the kid who quits your team and jumps over to another an hour later? How about the parent who screams from start to finish at the 16-year-old ref, who MIGHT be getting $20 for the game. Do you miss the 17-year-old scorekeeper who’s talking with friends and forgets to change the score? Or the parents who are screaming “SCORE, CHECK THE SCORE”!!!!!!!!!!! What about the parent who follows the refs out of the facility to their car, berating them the entire way. Maybe you miss dropping  your kid off for a “skills camp” and there’s only one coach who show’s up for 50 kids. How about the parent who asks “Where is our gear?” Has your son come to you and said, “Hey dad, when can we start playing 7 on 7’s again?” Or, are you the one that has to remind and grind on them to put in the work? Is it about you or your kid? 

I miss driving my son and his buddies to strength training. I miss having his friends over to the house and hear what’s going on in their worlds. I miss having a high school coach text about a kid who’s making big strides in the weight room and class work. I miss going to a spring football at Arizona State. I miss being on the deck at a water polo tourney in Mission Viejo and hanging out in the hotel sports bar with parents after a day of competition. I don’t miss having a parent tell me how awesome their 7 on 7 team did. I REALLY don’t miss someone complaining that their kid isn’t rated high enough on a website with stars(mind-numbing) 

Sit down and think about this whole sports world that you’re in. You have time right now to do it. On the backside of the pandemic, you’ll weed out some of the nonsense that comes with sports for your kids. There’s more good than bad, but there’s certainly room to weed out some of the nonsense during this down period…