Screens and highly pressurized, politicized environments have robbed them of the notion.
“At their root, youth sports should be fun & growth oriented.
You know what isn’t fun?
Hanging out with adults who think it’s acceptable to cut 11-year-olds.
You want some real fun?
Grab a few buddies, fishing poles, and a bucket of chicken livers, & go catch catfish all night.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
I’m all about competition. I’m all about playing at high levels. I’ll never be for not keeping score or participation trophies, either.
But I do understand the importance of fun.
In all honesty, most don’t even know how to have fun anymore because they are locked onto their cell phone screens when and if they’re not stuck in a regimented school or practice setting.
Theme parks and water parks are visited less and less every summer, because ya know, that 4th midweek tournament crammed into an 8-week summer is a “must.”
In most parts, gone are the days of riding bikes around the neighborhood, hanging out at the pool all day, eating the sandwiches you packed (that slap after hours of swimming), & playing manhunt at night.
We are so damn structured and rigid that it actually makes our kids far more physically and mentally fragile than if we were to let off the gas a little bit.
I’m not condoning kids to go out and do cocaine, but dropping a few baseball tournaments to build shoddy skate board ramps out of old plywood and cinder blocks, does the mind, body, and soul, good.
Despite being “frowned upon” you know which kids typically have the most fun?
It’s the kid’s paying church league basketball and rec baseball.
No more than a few night’s of commitment each week, they get to play sports they love, have a hell of a lot of fun in non-pressured environments, and oh yeah, they get to be like an actual kid most of the time.
Where is there anything wrong with that?
I’ll tell you where.
It’s the notion that if you’re not getting lost in the sauce trying to keep up with the Joneses’ you’re not doing it right.
If “not doing it right” is associating with grown adults who feel it’s acceptable to ‘cut’ and overcrowd 11 year old’s with politicized athletics at the expense of fun, hell I aim to not do it right.
Go get a bucket of chicken livers and a spinning rod. Let the bait sit on the floor of the pond, set the hook after the 3rd bump.
You’ll have a lot more fun and a lot of time to reflect on what life is all about.
