Comments on: If You Let Me Play Sports

By: jodifur

jodifur — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:36:04 +0000

I was born in the 70s and I played soccer. Everyone I knew played soccer.

I liked your 5 year olds have the attention spans of a pancake comment.

By: Battynurse

Battynurse — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:04:29 +0000

I played organized sports for two years (5th and 6th grade) and even though I wasn’t great at it, I loved. The schedule however got in the way of church too much and my mom quit allowing me to play. After that I wasn’t allowed to participate in much of anything like that as it took too much time away from church and I would have spent to much time with non-believers. I look at it now and it’s kind of sad and wonder how something like that or simply just a matter of deciding for myself what I wanted to do would have changed who I’ve become. I hope so much that if I ever do manage to have children I can let them be their own person instead of pushing them to become what I think they should be.

By: LJ

LJ — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:04:11 +0000

I always played organized sports, being born in the mid-70s. When I was old enough to play ball, I wanted to play baseball because “softball is for girls”. If the boys did something, I wanted to do it too, just because I could. I loved every minute of it. And I wore pink stirrups under my uniform to keep it real.

By: Kir

Kir — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:44:16 +0000

I was born in ’70 but was never into sports. I like to watch them and would rather go to them if I have to. Baseball being my favorite. Hockey is too hard to follow (but John LOOOOVES it) and mostly I know scores to impress boys. Even today.

I tried Karate and Softball..I even tried Video Games, I was good at none of it and looked ridiculous. I hate working out to this day but I danced from age 3 to college. I was a cheerleader from grade 8 on…I was never very good at the gymnastics of it ..but the dance and cheer part, I held my own. I was naturally happy and bubbly with made things like Tap and cheerleading good for me and fun.
I wonder what the oodle twins will like. Often. I am not an outdoorsy type of girl (we didn’t even play in the snow these past few snowstorms) so I worry that they will like to camp and hike etc. John doesn’t really like those things either, we’re really hoping they will like to travel and visit museums , like dinasours or something. I kid…sort of. I guess we’re just waiting for them to decide their path and we’ll follow, as long as we comfortably can do so.

By: Calliope

Calliope — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:39:03 +0000

I never played a team sport. ever. But I do have a mom that totally let me follow my bliss. I loved theatre and she totally supported that and never pushed. I do worry that I will fail W in the sports world…

By: Bea

Bea — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:23:09 +0000

Do I have to say when I was born? Ok – it was the seventies. I was allowed to do kind of whatever, but it was also kind of assumed – in the absence of input from me – that I would want girlish sports. So I got ballet and gymnastics (and swimming, but where I’m from that’s a given regardless of gender), but then luckily I got taken to Girl Guides and then I could do orienteering, canoeing, sailing, hiking, rockclimbing, etc. Also, we had bikes.

So that answers the question you asked but to answer your broader point: I think you are spot on. Emphasis should be on the word “let” – it is not “make me play sports”. Although I’m sure some of those stats do have at least something to do with physical activity rather than (in addition to, more like) exploration of self (exercise should help with breast cancer, self-image – all those endorphins! – and mild forms of depression – but that could be something like dancing, rather than sports, as such).

Bea

By: Susie

Susie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:08:31 +0000

I was born in ’71. Being a pretty focused nerd in all things, I became very competitive in elementary school with those Presidential Physical Fitness tests — anyone remember those? I became obsessed with getting the patches (which my mom sewed on the arms of a blue terry cloth jacket with red trim… I can still see that awful jacket in my mind… at least I knew enough to not really wear it out anywhere, LOL!) and I also took great pride in seeing my name in the local paper when they published the names of the kids who excelled in the different events. My dad even painted lines on the garage floor so I could practice the broad jump. I was a really serious, determined kid! Having some athletic ability helped build my confidence in a big way.

I finally discovered my sport — volleyball — in middle school. I played Varsity for four years in high school, went to summer camp, coached summer camps, and dreamed of playing in college. It was such a great experience. Being a bit of a nerd, playing volleyball helped me become friends with girls I otherwise would have never gotten to know. My team worked so hard together and we were practically undefeated for four years. I still remember how I felt one night after a game my team won — so completely happy, like I was on top of the world and nothing could top that. Did that help keep me on the right track? Absolutely. I am so grateful for those experiences.

By: Liddy

Liddy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:03:39 +0000

Knowing where you live, even though ChickieNob fast forwarded Apollo, the speedskating skating club in your area is awesome. They were just featured on the NBC Nightly News last night. I am going to write about why I returned to speedskating at a later date. But my speedskating family, I’d never trade them.

By: JC

JC — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:24:53 +0000

I was “forced” to do balet and tap and some other dance stuff when I was little. I hated it (except tap) and I HATED performances! HATED IT! I remember the first time I went to a basketball camp one summer with my brother and his friends, I felt so cool. I later played softball on a co-ed team (I think I was 9) and LOVED that. My bro was on a different team. But after that one basketball camp I was hooked on team sports. I played basketball, volleyball, and golf all throughout high school. Played club vball after season, and played vball in college. I had great experiences and the most fun with those teams. It’s like having 15 sisters. I would definitely encourage it but I’d listen to what they like, want to do, or enjoy doing. I was forced to play a sport every season of high school to keep me busy and out of trouble. But I’m glad I had to. (oh-born in the 81)

By: Sunny

Sunny — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:15:29 +0000

Did you play organized sports, and if so, which ones (and were you born in the sixties, seventies, or eighties)? I was born in 1980. As a little girl I got very involved in dance and competed until high school. Then I ran cross country and track.

Did you want to play on an organized sports team but had no opportunities? My parents let us decide what we wanted to play/do, whether it was a sport or music lessons. They always believed that we had to do SOMETHING, but whether it was a sport or another activity didn’t matter.

And what do you think you gained from being on the playing field if you were an athlete? I learned about the benefits of hard work — you practice more, you perform better. I gained confidence in myself and really loved being part of a group/team.

I do hope my boys play sports, for their physical health as well as learning confidence, accepting a loss, teamwork, and sportsmanship. But I believe they can still learn those off the field, too, through other activities. If they are following their interests, I will be happy.