Monday, September 29, 2014

No cheering...really?


I can never find a lot to blog about so I don’t...blog that is.  Well, I can probably find a lot to blog about if I wanted to completely alienate my family and friends…

But today I heard on the radio about a youth soccer league where parents are not allowed to cheer their kids on during a game.   They can applaud and hold up signs but not cheer.  The reason…it will make the opposing team feel bad.  I almost wrecked from laughing!  So I decided to do a little checking to see if this is really true.

A school decided to ban parents from cheering at youth basketball games.  Idaho had “silent cheer” back in 1999, Colleges ban booing. And that was about it.  But it got me thinking about the topic.

Here is what it boils down to for me.  Lazy parents.  Not lazy as in you don’t have energy, you don’t clean house, you don’t cook etc., but lazy as in emotionally lazy.   Being a parent is tough and you need to help your child learn to deal with disappointment.  It is hard watching your child feel bad but you as a parent need to give them tools to deal with it not to avoid it.

It makes me think of those people who try out for American Idol.  Those first auditions where someone is screeching off pitch and rhythm and the judges stops them, laughing and wondering what made them try out and why they are there and who told them they could sing.  When a lone voice stands there telling them “my mom told me I had a beautiful voice”.  All I can say is someone should have slapped your mom a long time ago for lying.  This is an emotionally lazy parent who did not want to hurt their kids’ feelings and now their kid is on a world stage making an ass of him/herself.  All you had to do was tell them that maybe singing isn’t for you. 

When I cheer at my son’s soccer game, football game, cross country meet, field and track meet, wrestling tournament (yes he does it all), do I do it to make your kid feel bad?   Absolutely not. I do it because I want to show him my support.   It has nothing to do with your kid.  I sure as hell don’t want him to stop and read my sign!!

My son has yet to place 1st in cross country, he has yet to win 1st at a track meet, he has won some wrestling matches but not yet taken home the “grand prize”.  He plays football but his passion is soccer.  Does he feel bad when he loses?  I bet he does and I tell him I’m proud of him and he will have to work harder and try harder next time.  All is good.  He gets it.  There will always be someone there working harder trying harder wanting that win more. 

So let me end by saying this; me cheering on my son has nothing to do with yours.  Teach your children to be good winners and losers.  Have good sportsmanship.  And maybe that’s where the problem lies….Poor sportsmanship, and not from the kids….but that’s another topic for another day because I have already edited the shit out of this trying to convey how I feel without totally pissing you off.  There is always next time…

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