Teach them the Love of the Game

Only the most vile of parents doesn’t want better for their children than they had it. That’s especially true for sports.  Any responsible parent wants their child to be as good or better than they were.

That’s pretty much a given. I’m not talking about living vicariously through your children. That happens a lot. But that may be because you want your child to have opportunities that you didn’t have.

I’ve seen some really great athletes that never played a sport but were accomplished athletes as adults—adults that maybe didn’t have opportunities when they were growing up. Often called “late bloomers,” it really has more to do with the fact that maybe they didn’t have someone to take them to Little League practice. Or to gymnastics. There wasn’t somebody around to teach them how to shoot a free throw or run a race. Or kick a ball.

Maybe mom and dad worked all the time and didn’t have time to teach their child how to swim or ride a bike. Too busy trying to make ends meet. Maybe they couldn’t afford private coaches and personal trainers.

There are lots of reasons that aren’t excuses at all. It just is what it is.

I’ve often heard it said that if you want to be a standout athlete, that you should pick your parents well.

Don’t misunderstand me:  A young athlete can be much more athletic than their parents. They can become a much more accomplished athlete than their parents. It can be done.

It’s hard to overcome that gene pool but through early movement education (think learning how to run, throw, and kick), lots of opportunities to play sports and games, and participating in a variety of things, anyone can become better as an athlete.

I played football but I was never even remotely as good as my son was. I played a little volleyball but my daughter was way better than I ever could have been. The parent that has a problem with that is the parent that I talked about in my first sentence.

So, what is the number one way to guarantee your child’s sports success? Teach them how to love the game.

Let them learn the joy of movement. And success. That doesn’t mean that you make sure that they are on the right team, a team of all-stars that plays every weekend and wins every game. It doesn’t mean that they have the “right” pitching coach or that they focus on one sport.

Goodness knows that last one is a mistake. Up until high school, kids should play everything that interests them. No, they’re not going to become the next four sport superstar but sports specialization has been clearly demonstrated to not work.

The kid that loves a game is going to be better. And if they stay with it, they’re going to be good.

You may recall me telling about a grandchild that is learning tennis. He’s struggled to find his “thing” but he has fallen in love with tennis. I’m there to help gently guide him in these early days but he will quickly exceed my ability to teach him the game.

Maybe he’s a “natural,” maybe he’s not. But if that love persists, he will be a good one.

I’ll say it one last time—the best thing you can give your child is love. Love of a game. Love of life. Love for each other.