Primal Sports

I witnessed sports in its most basic form last week.  I saw 5 year olds playing basketball.  Oh, I've watched soccer for kids that age and younger but this was different.  It was almost primal.

It was a grandkid thing and for a couple of reasons, it all fell on me.  Grandkid #3 was playing basketball for the first time ever and had only practiced once.  Grandkid #2 was supposed to be on the same floor but she was sick.

My wife stayed home with the sick ones.  I took the player and Grandkid #4 with me.  Mom and dad were  out of town.

I'm not even sure how they ended up there.  Playing basketball seemed to come from out of the blue. 

Let's put it in context a little bit.  My daughter's sport was volleyball.  My son-in-law's sport was soccer.  Both became strong bikers later on and both are quite athletic.  My daughter played a lot of basketball in her day and my son-in-law surely could have (he can jump out of the gym) but I'm pretty sure that neither  pushed their children toward basketball.

All four grandkids have played soccer, a sport readily available to young children, but their parents have never seemed to push one sport or the other on them.  They seem perfectly willing to let them find their own way, providing them with activities and opportunities that should give them a good foundation of motor development. 

Just like the rule that I had for their mom, they have to play something.  What they play doesn't matter that much.  That's good.  Let them find their own sport, their own way.

Maybe that was what prompted the basketball sign-up.  Mom is 5'11" and dad is 6'4" so it seems a pretty good chance that there's gonna be some height in the bunch. 

They do a lot of other things too.  Like hike in the mountains, swim, ride bikes, and play actively all the time.  At least one of them is a Lego Master but none are expert at video games.

But let me tell you what I saw on that basketball floor last Saturday. 

I saw kids that probably won't have long and storied basketball careers.  I saw kids that might never play a minute of varsity sport.  Of any kind. 

But I did see kids that were having fun.  Kids that were doing something active and physical.  Some were awkward and obviously lost out there but I didn't see any that didn't have a smile on their face.

In this league, the score wasn't kept--only the time appeared on the scoreboard.  There were no referees to yell at and the coaches were out on the floor with the players.

The emphasis was on everybody having fun and maybe learning a little bit about basketball but mostly about moving. Everybody in the gym that day seemed there to provide the kids with a positive sporting experience. 

Oh, there were a couple of parents that were coaching hard from the stands but I'm quite certain the kids on the floor never heard them.

I looked around the crowd and saw about an equal number of parents and grandparents and most cheered whomever scored (the team didn't matter).  More than a few needed a bit more physical activity themselves but they are to be admired for trying to provide their child with the active lifestyle that eluded them.

It all demonstrated the value of youth sports when the focus is on the kids.