Day 4… November 4
Late posting but still getting it done!!
Today I am thankful for organized sports.
We have been a sports family for a long time.
I started participating on a track team when I was around 8 or 9 years old. It was a major part of my life for the next decade plus into college. I also ran cross country, and played volleyball and basketball.
My husband started around age 7 with little league baseball, playing baseball until he graduated high school. He also played flag football. His love was and is basketball playing in college and even a stint as a semi-pro basketball player for a season at age 40. He didn’t start playing tennis until around age 21.
We have both continued to participate in sports in various ways throughout our lives, still finding ways to participate including coaching our kid’s teams.
Our kids started playing soccer around age 4 or 5 so we have been soccer parents for the past 24 years. They have all also played basketball, baseball, wrestling, football, ran track and cross country, summer and high school swim teams, softball for our daughters, volleyball for our boys. Most often our kids were playing on multiple teams at a time. (Think high school football team and competitive soccer team at the same time.)
In fact, I am writing this post on my phone while waiting for tonight’s football game to begin. Our youngest daughter is a high school junior and is the varsity place kicker. (She was 2 for 2 on PATs tonight!)
I know there are some who think maybe we allowed sports too large an influence for our kids. There I times I may have thought the same thing myself. The fall where we had 6 different soccer teams with up to 10 practices and a game each week, and 3 high school football games (Freshman on Wednesdays, JV on Thursdays and Varsity on Fridays) every week were “fun” for sure! But I am grateful for what our family has gained and feel it out weighs the drawbacks.
There are many reasons I am grateful for organized sports and the things it has taught me and my kids. Responsibility… cooperation… dedication… prioritization of time and energy… communication… success… failure… leadership… sportsmanship… disappointment… joy… frustration… acceptance… growth……..
I could go on and on.
I am grateful to so many coaches and “team moms” that made it worth it. So many opportunities were given to our family. I am especially grateful for the friendships made not only for my kids but for me!
I have loved being able to watch my kids compete. All the soccer matches, basketball games, little league games, track meets, volleyball games and football games. I have loved being able to see the growth from “swarm ball” (think 5 on 5 soccer with 4 and 5 year olds :)) to the NIRSA National Men’s Soccer Championship match or first attempts at pole vaulting to WAC Championship Track and Field meets.
My heart has broken when there were injuries that seemingly stole the dreams of the season ahead. A broken arm at the beginning of a baseball season; a broken leg the week before the soccer tournament season began; back pain that made playing so challenging but didn’t stop him; foregoing a season to rest and recover from injuries in one sport so that it didn’t stop the season of a different sport 3 months later; the torn ACL that was a 10 month plus recovery.
I have loved the determination, resilience and team spirit shown by kids who had to sit on the sidelines for months and months due to these broken bones and surgeries only to go right back to the teams they love.
Sports and organized teams have definitely come at a cost, financially and in time and energy. But the cost were and will continue to be far out weighed but the return on our investment.
Sports and organized teams have definitely come at a cost, financially and in time and energy. But the cost were and will continue to be far out weighed but the return on our investment.
There are many reasons I am grateful for organized sports and the things it has taught me and my kids. Responsibility… cooperation… dedication… prioritization of time and energy… communication… success… failure… leadership… sportsmanship… disappointment… joy… frustration… acceptance… growth……..
I could go on and on.
I’m Michelle. I am learning how to minimize my overwhelm, perfectionism, and people-pleasing and I am ready to help you do the same. I’m a certified Life Coach and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Come with me and learn how.
I have loved the determination, resilience and team spirit shown by kids who had to sit on the sidelines for months and months due to these broken bones and surgeries only to go right back to the teams they love.
Sports have been a very real time lesson of the 50-50 of life. When your team is winning the emotions are great!! But when you are losing it feels awful.
The mental strength it takes to get injured and go through lots of painful recovery time and still keep fear at bay when you choose to go back into the circumstance where you were injured is REAL!!
To learn that in team sports one person isn’t responsible for winning the game and one person isn’t responsible for the loss can be hard to internalize. Brains tell us lots of things that are only partial truths. Especially when you are the kicker and your football team loses by one point or you are the keeper in goal for your soccer teams loss.
These are just a few of the pieces that I am grateful for in organized sports. I hope my kids are grateful as well.
What are you grateful for? “Contact Me” and send me a quick email. If you prefer, you can “Schedule a Conversation” for a free session to discuss what you want to work towards and how to get started.
The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!
And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!