Sports

I feel like I need to start this post with a bit of a disclaimer.

The following is in no way a judgement on you, your family, your neighbor or your cousin's dog. :) I am not a fantastic writer and sometimes I come across something that puts what I feel/think/believe into words so much more eloquently than I can. It seems often people make assumptions about why our family does or doesn't participate in certain activities. Others seem to assume it's because we have too many children, because Kent works too many hours, or because we can't afford it. Our core reasons to do or not to do something are far removed from money or time.

A few years ago Madisyn and Ty participated in organized sports. We quickly realized that it just wasn't for us.

The following blog post sums up how we feel and some of the whys behind our decision. I know we aren't the only people who feel this way and I wanted to share a well written post about the topic. Again, this is no slight to anyone who feels differently. We all have different goals and aspirations AND different ways to accomplish the goals we share. We aren't discussing salvation here so each person is entitled to their own opinion. ;)

As with anything written by a human, I would never say that our family puts a "100% agree " stamp on the articles published by the Boyer Family. I can say that we whole heartily agree with this post and hope you'll visit their site to glean more wisdom from them. :)

http://thelearningparent.com/

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Boys and Sports


Let’s be honest about it:
Sports have become a religion in our society.

Professional athletes are among the highest paid people in the country. I’m not objecting to their incomes; they are drawing millions of fans to the stadiums and so their commercial value is undeniable. My problem is with the widespread philosophy that propels so many people to spend their money and time watching it all happen. That attaches so much worth to the playing of games. What does it say about our culture that we so reward people who don’t serve us in any serious way, but only entertain us? Athletes, like movie actors and rock stars, are people whose services we could very easily live without, when compared to medical personnel, police officers and even grocery store employees. At the same time, the moral character of people in the entertainment business—of which professional sports are definitely a part—is generally known to be less than exemplary. Yet they are worshiped and everybody knows their names. They are paid big money to endorse products. What’s wrong with this picture?


We are rapidly becoming a society defined more by our play than our work. That’s a far cry from the America of earlier days, when we gave the world the steam boat, the locomotive, the telegraph, the telephone, the automobile, the electric light and the x-ray machine and still more importantly, the world’s first lasting republican form of government. We were known for accomplishments that made the lives of millions better. Now we’re the country that gave the world Tiger Woods.


Home school sports leagues are springing up all over the country these days and parents are having to decide how much time, money and inconvenience they are willing to expend for the value of having their children involved. The Boyers say no, thanks. With all respect to the motives and the sacrifice of those who organize these events, and some of those people are dear friends of mine, it’s just not worth it. Why? Because time, like money, is limited. Every dollar and every hour you spend on one thing ceases forever to be available for the purchase of something else. Let the buyer beware.


When our son, Josh contracted leukemia, he was admitted to the pediatric oncology unit at University of Virginia hospital. The first sight I recall seeing when we walked through the door there was a little boy of about seven who was out for his daily exercise. That consisted of walking around the halls rolling his IV pole behind him. The sight of that little guy, his head bald from radiation or chemotherapy, stuck a dagger in my heart. It was a poignant reminder to me that this life we’re in is no Sunday School picnic. Later, the nurses told me of special hardship cases. One example was the young single mom who had a child on the ward, perhaps terminally ill, who wanted Mom to be there all the time. But there was another child, or two or three, at home who needed Mom also. And usually, there was a boss who needed Mom back at work. If you’ve ever spent any time in a ward full of very sick kids, you have to wonder how much time and energy you can really afford to spend on amusements.


So, when deciding whether to put your time and your child’s time into sports, consider what other uses you could be making of that same amount of time. Maybe there’s a sick kid and a desperate mom somewhere not far away who would be a better investment than a chance at a gilded trophy. It’s not hard to find needs you can meet, that is, if that’s what you’re looking for rather than games to play.


But don’t kids need sports—especially boys?


Yes, I believe they do. Everybody needs some play, some recreation. The issue is how much of it we need, and how much of a price should be paid in time and resources to get it. There’s a big difference between an hour of pick-up basketball or a neighborhood baseball game and the ultra-organized sports leagues many parents and kids build their schedules around. Is there really that much value in uniforms and trophies?


Kids have always played and competed. But the cumbersome phenomenon of sports leagues is quite new. Read the biography of any American hero who lived a couple of generations ago and you’ll find that his boyhood recreation consisted of hunting, fishing, swimming, climbing trees and mountains, playing tag, shinny and mumblety-peg, exploring caves and hunting for treasure. Tom Sawyer didn’t seem to languish for someone to organize games for him. Boyhood play in the old days gave its satisfaction mostly through the use of creativity and imagination rather than meaningless competition.


But don’t sports build character? As Voddie Baucham points out, if sports built character very successfully, our pro athletes wouldn’t need drug testing and…too bad about Tiger. Ah, poor Washington, Franklin, Jefferson! If only they’d had Little League, they might have amounted to something.


But boys are after all, growing into men. Yes, I do think sports have some value. As did General MacArthur, who wrote of the value to future military leaders of lessons learned “on the field of manly sport.” But which sports? And how much time are they worth?


I’ll be the first to confess that I was a sports nut as a teenager. My junior and senior years in high school, I was in three sports a year. I wasn’t a gifted athlete, but I enjoyed it and I didn’t understand the value of the time I was investing and what other uses I could have made of it. I see it rather differently now. I’d do it differently if I could do it over, and my children have definitely done it differently. None of them have ever played in any sports league, though they have done a lot of playing. None of them has missed it.


If asked my opinion about boys and sports, I’d say keep it in perspective and priority. No, you don’t have to be an athlete to get a scholarship. In fact, you probably don’t need college any way. But if you do, you’re more likely to get a scholarship for real life achievement than for either sports or good grades. I recently read that Harvard turns down four out of every 5 high school valedictorians in favor of young people who didn’t strive for straight A’s but who have done something worthy of real world significance. The Harvards of the world like to invest in a student who has written a book, started a business or done something else of real value. They know that here they have a young person who will someday make his mark on the world and bring glory to the old Alma Mater.


If your son wants to compete in sports, look outside the mainstream. Don’t run yourself ragged and sacrifice essential family time chasing around to two or three contests a week (in addition to practices). The assumption that “everybody does it” doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile from God’s point of view. Make your choices carefully. And for heaven’s sake, don’t think of putting your son back in school just for the supposed value of playing big boy games!


I’d also recommend serious limits on the time invested in sports. Most sports are “me-centered” in that they don’t benefit anyone but the participant. How much time is it really worth per day or week? Please don’t let the playing of games dominate your life or your son’s life. True, there are lessons to be learned from sports. But there are more important lessons in other things.


~Rick Boyer


http://http://thelearningparent.blogspot.com/2010/03/part-5-what-do-you-do-with-boys.html

Let's play ball! 4/29

Ty had his first game Tuesday. It was also picture day. Doesn't he look handsome? Sorry girls, he's all mine for at least the next 15 or so years.



I made an uh-oh and we missed Madisyn's first game. Somehow I got it stuck in my head that Ty's game was Monday and Madisyn's was Tuesday. It wasn't until I couldn't find any of Ty's team that I realized my mistake. Madisyn missed her first game and it's all my fault. I really think I felt worse that she did. Ty was relieved. LOL He isn't very "in" to this whole t-ball thing. His relief changed quickly when he realized he had to get ready again the next day and that game wasn't cancelled.



At the game, Ty got to play hind catcher. He did fairly well considering he could care less if he's there or not. It got too dark to get any good action shots but we'll try again another game ;) .

Long Busy Day.

We started the day in Idabel, OK.

Since I didn't include a car seat picture of Ben in the last post, I took one this morning.

We went to the sale with Kent this morning. The boys especially LOVE the tractor auction.

I have "discovered" a new way to wear Ben in my wrap. When he is tired I can turn him sideways and he will drift off to sleep. Must be nice to be able to sleep anywhere (he slept with the auction going full force) and to have someone carry you around while you sleep.

We drove across OK to AR and crossed 3/4 of the state. We only made two potty breaks and each stop took about 30 minutes. I made a nice little donation to the economy in Prescott and spent $60 on gas alone! Even after that, I only have 1/2 tank now!

We got back to Wynne just in time for Madisyn's ball practice. The weather was absolutely beautiful so I got some pictures of everyone playing.

Watch out! Ben will be crawling soon. He has the backward scoot down and he grabs things in front of him to pull himself forward. He also gets up on his hands and knees really well.

Madisyn is doing really well and is starting to get the hang of hitting a moving target. It's still something we need to practice but she is making contact.

Today was a difficult day because Madisyn and Ty both had practice. Madisyn was to practice from 5 until 6:30 and Ty's practice began at 6. I had to leave Madisyn at practice, take Ty to practice, leave Ty at practice, pick Madisyn up from practice and then return to Ty's practice. I don't think I have ever been more on edge. It was extremely hard to leave either one of them even if it was for a few minutes.

Ty's first game is this weekend. Go Team!!!

I think the official time when we finally pulled in the driveway was 8:00 pm and we had not had supper yet! Everyone (including Mommy) should sleep well tonight.

Play Ball - pt 2 4/6

Madisyn had her first softball practice. That's right - it's no longer t-ball. While she wasn't sure that it was possible to hit a ball when someone threw it, she did really well. Her team is Hobbs Family Farm. She's a little crazy over her new batting helmet and doesn't seem to want to take it off. If it was drier things would be in a little more full swing. Looks like it's going to be a wet year.

T-Ball begins

Ty had his first t-ball practice today. He had a rough start but things were looking up by the end. His team name is Southern Plumbing.

The official kick-off for Youth Baseball and Softball is April 26th.