This
weekend was filled with basketball. Liam had two games, Luke had four. We had
hours of driving to tiny towns to watch them play, sitting for warm-ups,
watching games between their games, and driving home.
Sports are
funny. I was not at all an athlete as a kid. I preferred swimming, running,
golfing – anything that I could do on my own. I didn’t like the feeling of
letting my team down. Too much pressure.
Both of my boys are more on the quiet side, but both enjoy team sports. I have been fascinated to watch them in the various teams over the past few years. Both have gone from being timid to more aggressive. Both have what I consider to be one of the most important qualities, good sportsmanship. One is developing leadership qualities, the other one might in the future.
Driving
home from a tiny town with one of my boys, he commented on the players from the
team that had beat them. He said, “I liked playing those kids. They were nice.”
I smiled,
glanced over, and said, “Even if they won?”
“Yes, they
were good sports. And the refs were good too.”
That made
me smile even more. I’ve been around sports enough to see kids who think they
are better than others, who are unkind, who blame the loss on the referees.
I’m so
grateful my kids don’t appear to participate in those behaviors.
Sports have
so many lessons for our children, and many for parents as well. As I cheered on
my boys, I cheered on some of the other team too. Beautiful shots, kindness
displayed on the court, hard work. It all deserves applause.
Watching
them run across the court, my heart filled with gratitude. These boys are
growing right before my eyes. I really don’t care what kind of athlete they
are. I don’t even care if they win or lose. I do care what kind of person they
are, and what type of person they become. Right now they are people I enjoy
being around. I love talking to them. So I glanced to my right, squinting in
the dark, and said, “Tell me more about the game.”
