Ninny here.
The world is a harsh place for some. I try to allow my kids the chance to avoid that scene while they can.
I have three children. My two oldest are gifted athletes.
My youngest found the long lost family gene of intelligence. She is 8 years old and the worst soccer player I have ever seen. My daughter has single handedly caused her team to lose games. She is oblivious to the teamwork concept, intent, and strategty. Yet, she love love loves (her words) the sport. My guess is that some day she will shine on the soccer field, but I won't hold my breath waiting.
She has all of her participation ribbons hung up in her room. My other two kids couldn't care less about the numerous awards they have received.
My youngest daughter's intelligence is going to provide more for her later in life than having good athletic skills.
When she enters your cutthroat world she will be ready. I'll bet she will still have her participation ribbons too.
Cutthroat here
I have three daughters ... none of whom appear to be naturally gifted athletes (well, maybe the 6 year old but it's too soon to tell). Then again, neither was I. Let's see ...
baseball ... right field was too critical a position to put me in
soccer ... there was that one game when it rained enough to keep enough of the team home so that the coach had to substitute me in when one of the other guys went down in the mud
basketball ... I remember the junior high school gym teacher's excitement the first day when he saw my tall self walk in ... only to deflate about 5 minutes later when he saw I couldn't throw, catch, dribble, pass or run
swimming ... I quit my first summer team ostensibly because the water was too cold, but probably because my sister beat me
I did get better at swimming, but through some coaches setting some big, hairy, audacious goals for an impressionable group of 10 year olds and, yes, some latent talent and body type that helped out. Now, clearly, I didn't reach all those goals or I'd be staring at my multiple Olympic golds and notes from Vladimir Salnikov expressing his amazement at how bad I crushed his 1500 meter free world record, but it taught me soooo much that is valuable in life these days.
My daughters, though not superstars in swimming (the older two are solid AA and BB/A swimmers; the younger one just starting), will either get better or they'll find something else to excel at. They'll do well in school in a challenging academic program, but that's what they expect to do and what is expected of them. They'll also have a good social life because all work and no play makes for a dull existence.
Through all this, though, they'll know what it takes to reach a certain goal and what others are doing to compete for that goal. For example, my oldest daughter (8th grade) really thinks she wants to go to Cal-Berkeley or Stanford and swim there. We downloaded both the academic requirements and swimming times for their freshman class and showed her that. We also explained that while it might look like she's got 4+ years to achieve those goals, she has to start today to put herself on the right trajectory. I'd rather have their eyes wide open than behind rose-colored glasses.
I don't think that promoting a focus on winning has to come at the detriment of having fun or of being well-balanced. My "heroes" are those folks who "win" by having a well-balanced life across career, home and personal interests. However, as that is seemingly a goal for practically all Americans and I imagine most Americans don't believe they're achieving it, it's a goal that clearly requires excellence.
Ninny here.
The world is a harsh place for some. I try to allow my kids the chance to avoid that scene while they can.
I have three children. My two oldest are gifted athletes.
My youngest found the long lost family gene of intelligence. She is 8 years old and the worst soccer player I have ever seen. My daughter has single handedly caused her team to lose games. She is oblivious to the teamwork concept, intent, and strategty. Yet, she love love loves (her words) the sport. My guess is that some day she will shine on the soccer field, but I won't hold my breath waiting.
She has all of her participation ribbons hung up in her room. My other two kids couldn't care less about the numerous awards they have received.
My youngest daughter's intelligence is going to provide more for her later in life than having good athletic skills.
When she enters your cutthroat world she will be ready. I'll bet she will still have her participation ribbons too.
Cutthroat here
I have three daughters ... none of whom appear to be naturally gifted athletes (well, maybe the 6 year old but it's too soon to tell). Then again, neither was I. Let's see ...
baseball ... right field was too critical a position to put me in
soccer ... there was that one game when it rained enough to keep enough of the team home so that the coach had to substitute me in when one of the other guys went down in the mud
basketball ... I remember the junior high school gym teacher's excitement the first day when he saw my tall self walk in ... only to deflate about 5 minutes later when he saw I couldn't throw, catch, dribble, pass or run
swimming ... I quit my first summer team ostensibly because the water was too cold, but probably because my sister beat me
I did get better at swimming, but through some coaches setting some big, hairy, audacious goals for an impressionable group of 10 year olds and, yes, some latent talent and body type that helped out. Now, clearly, I didn't reach all those goals or I'd be staring at my multiple Olympic golds and notes from Vladimir Salnikov expressing his amazement at how bad I crushed his 1500 meter free world record, but it taught me soooo much that is valuable in life these days.
My daughters, though not superstars in swimming (the older two are solid AA and BB/A swimmers; the younger one just starting), will either get better or they'll find something else to excel at. They'll do well in school in a challenging academic program, but that's what they expect to do and what is expected of them. They'll also have a good social life because all work and no play makes for a dull existence.
Through all this, though, they'll know what it takes to reach a certain goal and what others are doing to compete for that goal. For example, my oldest daughter (8th grade) really thinks she wants to go to Cal-Berkeley or Stanford and swim there. We downloaded both the academic requirements and swimming times for their freshman class and showed her that. We also explained that while it might look like she's got 4+ years to achieve those goals, she has to start today to put herself on the right trajectory. I'd rather have their eyes wide open than behind rose-colored glasses.
I don't think that promoting a focus on winning has to come at the detriment of having fun or of being well-balanced. My "heroes" are those folks who "win" by having a well-balanced life across career, home and personal interests. However, as that is seemingly a goal for practically all Americans and I imagine most Americans don't believe they're achieving it, it's a goal that clearly requires excellence.
