My son loves Basketball! He is blessed to be 6'10" and playing at a high major D1 university. But when he was young, his father and I both agreed that we
wanted our son to ‘choose’ basketball on his own and never feel forced to play.
So, in an effort not to push our son into playing basketball, I spent many years
driving him to a variety of sporting events, activities, summer camps and tryouts,
encouraging him to try any sport he wanted to try. By 5th grade
he had participated in soccer, karate, baseball, ice skating, street hockey, roller
hockey, bicycling (even completed a century with me. That’s 100 miles!)
track, football, swimming, ballet (I convinced him that Michael Jordan actually
took ballet), and of course… basketball. He usually made it clear that he liked
basketball the most. I coached his first three basketball teams. Then, in 7th
grade, His dad had a talk with him about the seriousness of the game and
how highly competitive it was. He told our son that we would completely support
his efforts and that if he really loved it and practiced hard, he could get a
scholarship to college and possibly play in the NBA and overseas someday.
By 7th grade, he was a one-sport athlete - Basketball.
It was important to me that my son,
who I knew would be very tall, didn’t feel pressured to play basketball. Yet, I
also wanted him to know that whatever he decided to try, he should give it his
best effort and I would be there to cheer him on. It was also important to his
father and I, that he try many extra-curricular activities so that he never
had regrets that might come with putting all his efforts into one thing too early.
With year-round sports, it’s very difficult to help your child have fun
participating in many sports at a young age, while waiting to choose that one
sport that they may actually want to commit to training for12 months of the
year. It is my opinion that children need the opportunity to try many sports
before they can know what they like and where they will succeed. I even had
my son take ballet, piano, guitar, and acting. He really wanted to learn
saxophone as well, but I after I bought a used sax for $250, I could not afford
to get it tuned or pay for the lessons needed. Acting, dance, piano, and guitar were
offered during the after-school program for a nominal fee. Acting was affordable through the local community center and dance, piano, guitar, and chess were taken in after school programs. Sports and other
extra-curricular activities can be expensive at times, but I quickly learned
that if I volunteered to help out and if I let those in charge know that I
could not afford the full cost, there was usually a scholarship available or a
discounted price given.
As your children grow up, keep them active and sign them up for many different activities. One at a time is more affordable and allows them to focus in. And most importantly, encourage them, cheer them on and ultimately let them choose the sport they love, then cheer them on every step of the way!
Our family motto: Pursue Excellence, Cheer for Others, Do what's Right.
