Since I coach my daughters rec softball team in the summer, I get the fun of dealing with this. I had two parents this summer who were bad, and the thing is, they love their children, I know they do. But if they could only see what they are doing. One little 12 year old was crying to my daughter after one practice(Dad came to practice and constantly hollered at her), and said, He wants me to play and be great, I just want to be fun, can your Mom help me?". It broke my heart. I tried my best, but he did not see what he was doing, was not a bad person. I finally a couple times during the game when he was yapping at her, would turn to him with a smile and say, shhhhhh. It seemed to help a little.
I have also seen this countless time in swimming.
But also, I have a son who quit swimming last year at 16. Why? Because his interests have changed, and he really truly was resenting the time it was taking from his other interests. We don't have a High School team, so that comraderary was not there, and while his friends on team were close, his HS friends were closer. Plus, in Illinois you cannot swim club during HS, so the boys all left in November and did not come back until end of February. It was a great time of soul searching for him, and was very, very hard to make the decision. But it was the right decision. He has been a much happier kid all summer, was able to get a job, and do some of things he wanted to do, instead up at the crack of dawn to swim, and then back at night to swim, all summer long.
Since I coach my daughters rec softball team in the summer, I get the fun of dealing with this. I had two parents this summer who were bad, and the thing is, they love their children, I know they do. But if they could only see what they are doing. One little 12 year old was crying to my daughter after one practice(Dad came to practice and constantly hollered at her), and said, He wants me to play and be great, I just want to be fun, can your Mom help me?". It broke my heart. I tried my best, but he did not see what he was doing, was not a bad person. I finally a couple times during the game when he was yapping at her, would turn to him with a smile and say, shhhhhh. It seemed to help a little.
I have also seen this countless time in swimming.
But also, I have a son who quit swimming last year at 16. Why? Because his interests have changed, and he really truly was resenting the time it was taking from his other interests. We don't have a High School team, so that comraderary was not there, and while his friends on team were close, his HS friends were closer. Plus, in Illinois you cannot swim club during HS, so the boys all left in November and did not come back until end of February. It was a great time of soul searching for him, and was very, very hard to make the decision. But it was the right decision. He has been a much happier kid all summer, was able to get a job, and do some of things he wanted to do, instead up at the crack of dawn to swim, and then back at night to swim, all summer long.
