While my friends back in the States are just starting to gear up for baseball season, our season here in Malaysia is coming to an end. Just a few more practices, one more friendly game, then the end-of-the-year get-together and that's all she wrote.
Youth sports when you are abroad do not have the same intensity that they do in the U.S. (I'm not going to give my opinion on whether that is better or worse. In all honesty, I'm able to see both sides. Some days I miss the intensity and others, well, not so much.) Here in Malaysia, my kids don't practice every day...they don't even practice three days per week. Most of the time it's once, maybe twice, per week. And right now, it works. My kids are happy, healthy, and enjoying what they are doing.
They continue to learn from their sports - and God knows, we've done a lot of sports this year. Baseball, soccer, basketball, cross country, track and field - and now they want to take golf lessons. Each sport has offered them lots of learning opportunities - in regards to the individual sports and about themselves as little growing people.
With baseball coming to an end, I reflect upon the lessons that I want my children to learn.
1. Sports are a choice that you (my child) makes. You decide what sports you want to play, not me, not Dad. If you don't want to play soccer next year - no worries. You want to try out for the National Frisbee Golf team?! Yup, we'll support you. But, I'm not going to push you into a sport that you don't want to play. It needs to be your decision.
2. When you commit to a team, you will fulfill your commitment. Once you have chosen the sport you want to play, you have now committed to your team. There will not be any quitting. A team depends on you and you will remain on the team...through the good times and the bad. We struggled last season with this commitment from Grayson. He lost interest in baseball 3/4 of the way through the season, but we continued to make him go to practice and let him know that once we returned for the 2014-15 season that he did not have to play baseball again. (He did choose to play again. His choice. Not ours.)
3. Sportsmanship above all else. I need my kids to know about good sportsmanship. When the ump makes a call that you don't like (or one that you know is wrong - as in Caleb this past weekend being called out at home plate - which the ump later apologized for), you suck it up and move on. There will be no whining. No arguing. You can get in the car later and complain to me and your dad, but on the field, keep it together.
Additionally, you show sportsmanship to your teammates and to those you play against. This was so rewarding to see by my kids and their teammates this past weekend, when they played against a young Malaysian team. They encouraged each other and gave the children on the opposing team high fives and shouts of encouragement as they played in their very first baseball game ever! It was so gratifying to see this in the kids on our team.
4. Learn to be coached. Coaches are teachers and you need to listen to them. They are not perfect. They make mistakes. But, coaches want to help you be better. Learning to listen to coaches will go a long way to help you as an athlete and as a person.
5. Have fun! Sports should be fun. I know when you are losing, it may not seem like that much fun. But, I hope you experienced some sort of fun every time you walk off the field. It doesn't matter if it's just a laugh over tripping on the first base bag or watching a friend snort Gatorade out of his nose or an awesome hit in the 3rd inning. Make sure you're having fun!
As the season ends, I know that my kids have learned these things. And, I know that not everyone may agree with the lessons I want my children to learn. That's okay. Maybe this will help you think about what you want your own children to learn. Youth sports is a lot more than wins and losses. It's about shaping a child for his/her future. What do you want your child to learn? What do you want them to become?
No comments:
Post a Comment