I have so many thoughts that swirl about this. And for me, I like to disambiguate between elite individual sports and elite team sports. My brother was an elite team sportsman (baseball)- a pitcher; he blew out his elbow freshman year in college and frankly never recovered. He lost a major part of his self-identity, a major part of his s…
I have so many thoughts that swirl about this. And for me, I like to disambiguate between elite individual sports and elite team sports. My brother was an elite team sportsman (baseball)- a pitcher; he blew out his elbow freshman year in college and frankly never recovered. He lost a major part of his self-identity, a major part of his social life and a serious organizational structure for his college experience. He wound up dropping out of college after 4 aimless years. And then the slide really began. There are MANY other factors to us losing him at 40 to opioids and alcohol but this was certainly part of it. I worry for children that have spent their lives chasing elite athletic endeavors when the train invariably STOPS sometime in young adulthood (there is no next level, school is over, a major injury). At least with something like running or tennis or martial arts or golf, one can imagine a lifetime of enjoyment even when elite success ends. It also allows for continued lifelong care for one's physical body. I know too many ex football, baseball and soccer players who let their bodies go bigtime when the structure of the team sport was gone.
TL;DR: I have two sons- currently 4. I want them to be amazing physical stewards of their bodies their whole lives, I want them to enjoy pushing themselves physically, and I do want them to be a part of a team. But I am so scared to ever get on the elite train with them. Frankly, I kinda hope they are mediocre athletes- will make life so much easier!
I didn't keep up with the show, but I really liked this angle on Johnny as a washed up adult who never got over losing in a tournament. The background of how abusive Kreese was paralleled with the meditative karate taught by Mr Miyagi...and Daniel's attempt to balance Mr Miyagi's peaceful karate with his desire to win and gain status.
It feels important to remind kids to have fun. I only just introduced my daughter to basketball, my jr high and high school sport. I was terrible. Most of the kids on the team strove for high mediocrity. But we learned how to lose. Sometimes we did it better than others, but the lesson was reinforced relentlessly.
I want my daughter to learn to try things, have fun, and not feel bad for sucking at things. And there is always surfing, a sport where the worst day is a great day (in my extremely limited experience).
Jennifer, thank you for telling us about your brother. What a heart-breaker for all your family. We've seen something of this problem with the Olympic athletes who age out of their sports -- what do they do, who are they if they aren't training or competing? Always keep an eye on your own (self) identity, because life happens, things can change, and we need to be able to change with it.
Thanks, Carolyn and exactly right. Diversification of interests seems paramount to me, as I raise my sons. I'd rather they be polymaths than experts in something from the jump.
I have so many thoughts that swirl about this. And for me, I like to disambiguate between elite individual sports and elite team sports. My brother was an elite team sportsman (baseball)- a pitcher; he blew out his elbow freshman year in college and frankly never recovered. He lost a major part of his self-identity, a major part of his social life and a serious organizational structure for his college experience. He wound up dropping out of college after 4 aimless years. And then the slide really began. There are MANY other factors to us losing him at 40 to opioids and alcohol but this was certainly part of it. I worry for children that have spent their lives chasing elite athletic endeavors when the train invariably STOPS sometime in young adulthood (there is no next level, school is over, a major injury). At least with something like running or tennis or martial arts or golf, one can imagine a lifetime of enjoyment even when elite success ends. It also allows for continued lifelong care for one's physical body. I know too many ex football, baseball and soccer players who let their bodies go bigtime when the structure of the team sport was gone.
TL;DR: I have two sons- currently 4. I want them to be amazing physical stewards of their bodies their whole lives, I want them to enjoy pushing themselves physically, and I do want them to be a part of a team. But I am so scared to ever get on the elite train with them. Frankly, I kinda hope they are mediocre athletes- will make life so much easier!
I didn't keep up with the show, but I really liked this angle on Johnny as a washed up adult who never got over losing in a tournament. The background of how abusive Kreese was paralleled with the meditative karate taught by Mr Miyagi...and Daniel's attempt to balance Mr Miyagi's peaceful karate with his desire to win and gain status.
It feels important to remind kids to have fun. I only just introduced my daughter to basketball, my jr high and high school sport. I was terrible. Most of the kids on the team strove for high mediocrity. But we learned how to lose. Sometimes we did it better than others, but the lesson was reinforced relentlessly.
I want my daughter to learn to try things, have fun, and not feel bad for sucking at things. And there is always surfing, a sport where the worst day is a great day (in my extremely limited experience).
Jennifer, thank you for telling us about your brother. What a heart-breaker for all your family. We've seen something of this problem with the Olympic athletes who age out of their sports -- what do they do, who are they if they aren't training or competing? Always keep an eye on your own (self) identity, because life happens, things can change, and we need to be able to change with it.
Thanks, Carolyn and exactly right. Diversification of interests seems paramount to me, as I raise my sons. I'd rather they be polymaths than experts in something from the jump.
That is incredibly moving. I am sorry for your loss.
Thank you so much. 6 years he's been gone and it still sucks beyond words.
🙏