Been weeks since I put out a purely fictional piece here. I will correct that tomorrow. Tonight is more of a reflective look. I’ve been thinking about the culture of youth sports and how parents commit such time and resources to the endeavor. A friend of mine is going to New Mexico next weekend to play their 6th pre-season game ahead of the youth football season. We are in the same league and our team is on our second week of practice. It is a different level, and at some point I think it is important to step back and realize that this is just kids playing games and ultimately it satiates little more than our (often more than their) egos. As someone who enjoys the interaction of coaching youth I have to say I think it is getting too involved at the organized team level. 6yr old games are being televised on Instagram channels. There is a show called Friday Night Tykes that follows 10u teams.
Too much.
Also too much is the lifestyle of video games. I noticed today that all the parents and coaches I interacted with talked about how they have banned their kids from gaming until after the football season. Temporary bans sound like a horrible solution. Instead I argue for moderation and internal checks and balances being instilled. Left to their own devices kids will play that addictive game (Fortnite) for hours. I’ve seen that happen at all ages. Raising the banhammer only hides the problem.
I’m still sorting out how to deal with the problem, but the high activity nature of our lives does leave me in a space where sometimes I want them to slip off into gamer world while I get my real world stuff done.