Love this post Marc. Partially because it was easy to see it "lit a fire" under the level-headed one and partially because it immediately caused me to want to jump in also.
My take is that each of us are maturing to a point in our lives where we are developing our own "good ole days". We squealed and squirmed when our Mom and Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles talked about how things used to be and described their personal accounts of the good ole days. Well, we are now reaching that stage. Yikes, right?
Second, my personal impression of the good ole days relative to little league baseball isn't that dissimilar to your own. It involves one very important word that I believe is being lost in the sports our kids participate in at early ages. It's called RECREATION. In the increasingly hyper competitive world we live in the word recreation has been removed from youth sports and activities in general. It's not about learning the game, getting exercise, social opportunity, learning to play as a team, etc. It's about winning, and looking the part if you're not winning. That's kind of what I read from your post.
Brad will be reaching that stage with his beautiful daughters soon, if he hasn't already reached it. I'm currently in the throws of it with my kids. And I'm competitive and like to win as much as anybody, ANYBODY. Haley is well into the competitive portion of her activities - school, sports, etc. - it's very competitive. Alex is on the brink, and Luke should still be in the recreational phase of his activities but in reality is already being pushed to be more competitive. Like he needs that push!
I still think there is a place for recreation in youth sports today. They'll have plenty of time for tryouts, competitiveness, and winning/losing in their adult lives. There is no need to rush them into this when they are seven year olds. So when is the right time? Ten years old, twelve years old, or high school? I don't know, but preserving it until a natural desire develops in your child is the right point for me. It's my good ole days.
In the interest of inspiring more dialogue, what is the right point for you two? And, did either of you feel pushed into being competitive at too early of an age? Or do you feel that push was too late for you? Would be great to solicit these same questions to our parents, but I suspect the trend (as with most things in our kids lives today) will be that this phase is coming earlier and earlier in the lives of our kids, driven mostly by parents.
Not me, when I retire (at age 80) I'm starting a not-for-profit recreation league. Can I count on tax deductible donations from my brothers?
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