Kid Sports

Yesterday we went to watch a girls’ basketball game in which one of the teams was coached by our niece. It was the first kid’s sports game we’ve watched in more than 15 years–since our kids graduated from high school–and it was . . . refreshing.

There’s a pleasant innocence about kid sports that you forget about if you aren’t exposed to it for a while. Yesterday’s game involved two teams of sophomore and junior age girls, and it was fun to watch. They hustled, they ran actual plays, they blocked out and rebounded, and they made some clutch shots. For both squads, it was very much a team game, and so far as I could tell no one complained or sulked when they were taken out for a substitute or groused when a teammate made a turnover. There were no apparent prima donnas; the players on both teams seemed to like their teammates and enjoy playing a game with them. The parents for both teams behaved, too. It was a close, well-played game, and when the horn sounded both teammates went through the handshake line without any rancor.

As I said . . . refreshing.

At some level team sports loses its innocence, and some ugliness creeps in. The results of the games take on paramount importance, and basic things like whether a player improves and develops their skills over a season are minimized. That’s the point at which many kids drop out of team sports, and that’s too bad, because being on a true team teaches kids some very important lessons and causes them to develop some very useful qualities that will serve them well during their professional careers. Be competitive, sure, but be a supportive teammate, too. Be willing to do the small things that advance the team goal. Recognize that everyone has a part to play.

Every employer wants employees with such qualities.

When you read about misbehaving professional and high-level collegiate athletes, you tend to forget about the kids like the girls we watched yesterday, who are enjoying playing a game and working hard to improve and sharpen their skills. But fortunately for all of us those kids are out there–and the society is better because of it.