Reply to Hardest working kid on the team with the least talent

Forum Index » Sports General Discussion

Reply to "Hardest working kid on the team with the least talent"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Can you reframe both your mindsets that the point of youth sports isn’t to be the best but to use your body and have fun?

My response to her comments would be “well yes, we’re all born with different talents and it must be fun for Janey to be so naturally talented at puckleball - but it’s really unlikely any of you are going to end up playing professionally. It’s pretty impressive that you’ve worked so hard and keep up with her! I’m so glad you’ve found a sport you enjoy”

And then keep the sports talk about having fun, being part of a team, getting better - not how amazingly talented some kids are or advancing to the next level, getting more playing time, etc. It won’t totally get rid of the sting but might help her make peace with her talents and continue to have fun and keep playing.

I say this as a naturally very competitive person who dropped out of sports as a kid because I wasn’t good and really regret it, as I realized later when I joined friends in rec leagues in college and grad school that I loved playing. I missed out on great experiences because I let a desire to be one of the talented ones blind me to the other elements of playing I enjoy. I wish someone had been helping reframe that voice in my head! Once I was older and realized it was okay not to be the best (or even to be one of the worst!) I had so much fun and could appreciate what I was getting out of it!

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics