Family Balance: Life with Kids in Sports

Do you feel you have no life outside of your kids’ sports? Rest assured you are not alone. There are more parents than you think maintaining the hectic pace of juggling work, children, sports and family life. Many spend the majority of their spare time as a taxi service, volunteer coach or just being part of a sports organization or audience at every game or event. Plus there are many parents that are living their dream through the sports lives of their children pushing them to excel past a point that they themselves could not achieve. Some may even be forcing their kids to compete or placing them into elite leagues where they don’t necessarily belong. Many feel that their kids need the extra edge that sports activities provide to springboard them in to college, university or a career path that matches their own desire, regardless of the child’s goal. Sure there are those who had a great time in youth sports and only wish their child to live the same experience. But many see it as an opportunity, regardless of the odds of their own child making it to the big leagues. But what has become distorted in recent years? Kids today, along with their parents, are being run ragged at the hands of organized sports. The measuring stick of normalcy has shifted from years gone by and unfortunately, not for the better. Kids are far too active and driven in sports, thus putting the core of the family unit at risk. You have to stop and think. Where does one draw the line? • Children are going from one activity to another with little down time. • Constant focus is on competition. • Parents get caught up in the competitive cycle that emphasizes win, win, win. road”. “Parenting has become the most competitive sport in the world,” according to Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld. How did we get here and how do we get back? Be a part of the conversation with author of Revolution in the Bleachers, Regan McMahon.