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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am among those who don't get the sports obsession.

I do get playing sports and encouraging kids to play sports. And if a kid shows promise in a sport, or even just really likes it, supporting them in pursuing it. All normal. Sports are great.

But some of you talk about it like becoming an "elite athlete" is the only path to success. Most of my friends are very successful professionally-- lots of Ivy and equivalent grads, lawyers, consultants, etc. Many played sports in adolescence, almost none did so in college. I can think of a handful who did play in college, and only one *might* have been considered elite. That's it.

What they have in common is not athletic prowess but academic success. Great grades, genuine interest in learning and succeeding academically. Good test takers, voracious readers, interested in and engaged with the world. Sports/athletics are pretty beside the point. Some are athletic now, some aren't.

So if your goal is raising kids who are successful in life, I don't understand this fixation on sports. Again, I think it always makes sense to support and encourage a kid in an interest where they show promise, but that could be soccer or music or math or debate club. If your kid isn't that into sports or just isn't good enough to play at a high level, I don't think it really matters in terms of success.

Now, if your kid struggles with reading or math, is disinterested in school, etc? That's an issue. At least if your goal for them is professional success. [/quote]

My friends with unathletic boys struggle socially. The unathletic not social boys don’t necessarily seem to be smarter, just not athletic and struggling socially. Boys tend to run around and hang out together.[/quote]

This is such a a weird and limited outlook, I don't get it.

I think some of you are obsessed with this image of adolescence of being about being a varsity athlete, getting invited to all the parties, having the largest volume of friends. It feels very antiquated to me. I have a MS kid and HS kid and this is not the world they live in. The social scenes at their schools are not centralized around athletics. It's not 1952.[/quote]

Haha it is funny that people are implying I’m obsessed with sports. I have never been interested in sports and was never athletic. My oldest is in high school and he does play three varsity sports. My second son is more athletic than my oldest.

I commented earlier that everyone is different and excel in different areas, not necessarily sports. Whether you want to go to Harvard or Duke, you won’t get into a good school or get a desired job by puttering around.[/quote]

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