Tough Game Day
This weekend my son was involved in a basketball tournament. His team played five games--three yesterday and two today. They lost all five games. The last game today the final score was 80-23. And it was obvious by the looks on the boys' faces that they weren't having any fun whatsoever.
As I sat and watched the boys take a beating, I wondered when it happened that the fun in playing basketball disappeared. I watched coaches yelling at thirteen year old boys, almost screaming at times, over a bad pass, a missed shot, and not being in position. While I understand wanting a player to make smart decisions on the floor, these are thirteen year old boys; they're brains are in overdrive most of the time, so bad decisions just come naturally. Most of them just want to play to have a good time, be with their friends. Why do coaches, and even some parents, treat playing basketball like the search for the holy grail?
It's not just the coaches behaving badly. Parents do as well. One woman sitting behind us yesterday became upset over one boy pushing another. The offender tripped over his own feet and fell into the other boy. The parent screamed, "Hey, that's poor sportsmanship. What a freak!" A mom, not of the boy who caused the foul, quietly asked the screaming woman to please not call any of the boys a freak as it wasn't necessary. The screaming woman turned her ire on the mom and told her to, "Just shut it." How mature. Then screaming woman proceeded to talk loudly the entire game, about a car accident she had been involved in, the tires she had to buy for her vehicle, and other things I really didn't need to hear about. I was so tempted to turn to her and suggest she "just shut it" as all of us around her were exhausted by her constant blather.
I wish I could start a program for the boys where they could come and play basketball just for fun. No coaches or parents would be allowed. Then maybe, just maybe, their faces would show delight rather than despair and disappointment. They're thirteen. They should be having fun.
As I sat and watched the boys take a beating, I wondered when it happened that the fun in playing basketball disappeared. I watched coaches yelling at thirteen year old boys, almost screaming at times, over a bad pass, a missed shot, and not being in position. While I understand wanting a player to make smart decisions on the floor, these are thirteen year old boys; they're brains are in overdrive most of the time, so bad decisions just come naturally. Most of them just want to play to have a good time, be with their friends. Why do coaches, and even some parents, treat playing basketball like the search for the holy grail?
It's not just the coaches behaving badly. Parents do as well. One woman sitting behind us yesterday became upset over one boy pushing another. The offender tripped over his own feet and fell into the other boy. The parent screamed, "Hey, that's poor sportsmanship. What a freak!" A mom, not of the boy who caused the foul, quietly asked the screaming woman to please not call any of the boys a freak as it wasn't necessary. The screaming woman turned her ire on the mom and told her to, "Just shut it." How mature. Then screaming woman proceeded to talk loudly the entire game, about a car accident she had been involved in, the tires she had to buy for her vehicle, and other things I really didn't need to hear about. I was so tempted to turn to her and suggest she "just shut it" as all of us around her were exhausted by her constant blather.
I wish I could start a program for the boys where they could come and play basketball just for fun. No coaches or parents would be allowed. Then maybe, just maybe, their faces would show delight rather than despair and disappointment. They're thirteen. They should be having fun.
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