People think we are crazy! They really do, there are days when I must agree with them. My children are active in sports, dance, lacrosse, soccer, ice hockey. One of my children has decided to make a career of her "extracurricular activity", she is studying dance in college. She is crazy too! Now my son, a high school (rising) junior is determined to follow his dream of playing hockey in college. I am supporting that dream. Why? Believe me when I say it would be a lot easier to discourage him from making this committment. It is a lot of work, a lot of heartache and a lot of money.
Why then do I move on? Why do I encourage him? He will face more heartache, injuries, politics then any mom can ever want for her son. It is simple really, he gets so much more out of it then anybody outside of the world of competitive sports will ever know. I watched my daughter go from a shy, insecure college freshman to a mature, confident woman. Her confidence in her ability is awesome. She said to me one day "LIFE is a series of No's, how can I let one "no" from an audition stop me from moving on?" Indeed!
How many kids out there are growing up sheltered from all competition? Tag in school? Oh no, we cannot allow it, some children are slower, let us be kind to the ones that can't keep up... ARE WE?
Sports that will never cut a child, teams that allow all children on the same level? Why? Are we teaching them life lessons? Or are we setting them up to fail when life will get hard?
In addition, organized, competitive sports like ice hockey have some amazing role models. People that have been there, dealt with it all, succeeded and perservered. Why would I not let my son be part of such a group? Are there bad apples, yes of course, but the good outweighs the bad, by far.
My son took part in a showcase recently, I had no expectations. I really did not know what to expect. However, just a day into the showcase I realized that this will be one of the defining times in his life. He is facing many obstacles right now, some created by the bad apples of the sport, but he was able to listen to men that know what it is like, that have been there. He is gathering life lessons and will undoubtedly apply them, some sooner or more often than I would like.
So in the end, we ARE crazy, but crazy people will play hockey in college, dance on world stages and shine in life and I am here to join them on that ride.
Why then do I move on? Why do I encourage him? He will face more heartache, injuries, politics then any mom can ever want for her son. It is simple really, he gets so much more out of it then anybody outside of the world of competitive sports will ever know. I watched my daughter go from a shy, insecure college freshman to a mature, confident woman. Her confidence in her ability is awesome. She said to me one day "LIFE is a series of No's, how can I let one "no" from an audition stop me from moving on?" Indeed!
How many kids out there are growing up sheltered from all competition? Tag in school? Oh no, we cannot allow it, some children are slower, let us be kind to the ones that can't keep up... ARE WE?
Sports that will never cut a child, teams that allow all children on the same level? Why? Are we teaching them life lessons? Or are we setting them up to fail when life will get hard?
In addition, organized, competitive sports like ice hockey have some amazing role models. People that have been there, dealt with it all, succeeded and perservered. Why would I not let my son be part of such a group? Are there bad apples, yes of course, but the good outweighs the bad, by far.
My son took part in a showcase recently, I had no expectations. I really did not know what to expect. However, just a day into the showcase I realized that this will be one of the defining times in his life. He is facing many obstacles right now, some created by the bad apples of the sport, but he was able to listen to men that know what it is like, that have been there. He is gathering life lessons and will undoubtedly apply them, some sooner or more often than I would like.
So in the end, we ARE crazy, but crazy people will play hockey in college, dance on world stages and shine in life and I am here to join them on that ride.
