Kobi Shaw 7 January 2010 Stories and Appreciations 858 views One Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Sports evoke passion in people of all ages. They love to play them. They love to watch. Some people even base their identities on their favorite sport teams. Where I live, sports enthusiasts go so far as to paint their barns and outbuildings with their favorite team logos. Theater intermissions are often referred to as “half-time.” You can even purchase a casket in your favorite team colors.

A few years back our local team narrowly missed making it to the Super Bowl. Fans were so devastated, the radio station offered counseling to help people cope with this loss. The counseling was not for the players, mind you. It was for the fans.

With such emphasis on athletics, many kids want in on the action. However, while they may have the enthusiasm of a “Price is Right” contestant, their talent is raw. Their skills have yet to be honed, and many early sporting attempts can be less than stellar. As a matter of fact, most of these beginnings can be very, very humble. If you have a young aspiring athlete in your life, whether you are a parent, guardian, relative or sitter, there are some sports scenarios for which you need to be prepared. I have two children, and I can assure you from experience that all of these examples are completely plausible.

One of the earliest athletic endeavors a child can try is swimming. In many cases this involves parent/child classes, which are fine unless the water temperature is unacceptable to a youngster. In this case, expect the toddler to climb up your rib cage until he is perched on your shoulder like a very pale and shivery parrot. This action is often accompanied by the phrase, “No! Cold! No! Cold!” repeated, over and over, directly in your ear at a very high decibel level.

Soccer fields can appear large and daunting to children with short legs. At first, little ones may enjoy chasing that black and white ball up and down the field. Actually it may even be difficult to even see the ball, as young players tend to swarm around it, ignoring any actual positions. However, given time, sitting down in the middle of the field and pulling out large fistfuls of grass usually proves more interesting. At that point, it becomes all too easy to spot the ball, especially for the parents of the child tossing tufts of grass high in the air.

Make sure you explain to a child how each sport works and what can be expected during play. If you don’t, your child will be shocked to discover that everyone will chase him when he catches the football in flag football. The child may run, but it will be out of sheer panic rather than athletic ability. Being unprepared for such attention can be pretty disconcerting to someone who is on the fence about football in the first place.

Knowing where to run can be especially confusing in sports like kickball or t-ball. All those bases can look the same to newcomers to the sport. So adults, be prepared to station yourself at any and all bases. Direct the runner where to go. Encourage them to come to you, and then point them off to where they need to go next. This will eliminate much confusion. For both teams.

Regarding bowling: Realize that tiny arms are not always strong enough to propel a ball all the way down the lane. And even if the ball does make it as far as the pins, it may not have the speed or power to trigger the automatic reset button. Make friends with the shoe guy as he will probably make multiple trips down the alley on your child’s behalf.

Every child likes to score points and is anxious to do so. In basketball, realize that dribbling a basketball simply takes up precious time. It is much easier to just hold the ball (much like a football) while running down the court at full speed. And no matter how far a child is from the actual basket, accept that they prefer not to waste time with a middleman. With a little luck, throwing blindly at a basket five times taller than they are just may work.

So remember, while beginning athletes may lack finesse, the seeds need to be sown somewhere. Encourage and support these youngsters, without too much pressure. Enjoy their hapless charm and try not to think about where they might end up. True, they could be the next World Series champion or Olympic gold medalist featured on a box of Wheaties. But with all the steroid using, tantrum throwing, philandering athletes out there, let’s just keep things simple for now.

- Kobi Shaw

PHOTO BY SMELLYKNEE