awww the joy of school sports!!!!

Being a mom of  awesome atheletes has been a pleasure and a task.  My sons were always in a small community school or with the same organized team since they were 4 and 5.  It is such a disappointment as a parent when you see others being on the court or field and knowing that your child could be making the plays that others are totally missing.  Moving from a small school of 300 to a larger school where their class was 300 was a very big adjustment for my sons this year.  But they are adjusting.  Parents can sometimes be very trying in the effort for a coach to make the decision of who to put on the floor or field.  My 14 year old had always been the "star" of the team that we left in our little town.  He soon learned about the politics of the game.  Just a referees seem to play favorites sometimes...so do coaches.  They have their star players and this is what they want to play.  Being 14...and going through the lovely hormonal cycle of life and not wanting to make a mistake in front of the girls or others in the school almost cost him a lot in basketball.    You could tell that he was afraid to play his game.  It was just so disconsorting for me to set and watch him play so timidly.  He had to get to where it just didn't matter if he made a mistake...but to focus on the game that was being played.  Luckily for him, his football coach became the assistant basketball coach and knew how aggressive he could be and what a good athelete he was.  Given the chance, he started to shine and made the A team. It happened in one game.   I was so proud that he let go of the things that were hindering him from being the player that I knew him to be and be an asset to the team.  After he got his chance, they seen how totally awesome he was.  

All I can say for parents is...keep your chin up.  Keep encouraging them to do their best.  Don't give way to their discouragement.  Don't let them quit!  Don't make it a part of your conversation.  Keep telling them how awesome they are.  They WILL become whatever it is that they hear from YOU!  Don't make the mistake of talking down to them about their coach or their situation.  They feed off of this more than you know.  Just continue supporting them.