[quote=CardiffBaseball]There are no boys at tennis or golf matches flu.
Or if you are into chicks (not that there is anything wrong with that), they aren’t there either. Kids tend to congregate where most of the other kids are hangin’ out.
When I wuz a 3-year starter at PG about 120 lbs. ago in HS, we had a group of farmers that would come to the game as the rowdie rooters. They went to the games and screamed their fool heads off, and I loved it. Not sure why the girls cheering on the boys is any different.
Look I am the anti-russ in this case, my kids live on COD Modern Warfare, and they also play the macho team sports. In reality kids tend to go where their parents influence them so guilty as charged…. dad just doesn’t care about golf or tennis so the kids were never really exposed. (could we have lost the next Sampras?) Lacrosse, we didn’t mess with because rarely does a kid who hits the snot out of a baseball quit playing, but it’s a cool game too.
So yes I agree that if I had a daughter I’d probably be pushing something like softball/basketball not cheer. I just think these cheerleaders are getting a bum rap here. Sorry to the original poster, I seem to have hijacked… The competitive cheer squads are athletic as hell. How do we measure a great male athlete? Vertical leap, 40 times, how many times you can bench 225, what is your power clean, agility cone drills, etc.
I am guessing if you devised some kind of similar athletic test at the high school level I’d be willing to wager money on the competitive cheerleader over the most high school tennis players. Look at the legs, who do you think will squat or deadlift more? Now if you are talking about really pushing tennis, living at the club, using personal trainers and the whole prodigy thing, that’s different.[/quote]
I don’t think you are guilty of anything Cardiffbaseball. If the kids adapt to that kind of “support” it’s probably working O.K. and falls under the different strokes category.I know many kids end up disappointed that their dads didn’t help them more with sports.Sometimes I regret not being more the athletic director, especially with baseball, because it seems to be the major sport that kids can benefit most from early training and continuity. In basketball dribbling with each hand early is very helpful.
I ask my kids, boys 3,5 and 7, what their preferences and interest levels are. I don’t have any illusion that they are cut out to be certain standouts at anything.
A this stage, I do dislike it when the much more driven and win/lose oriented parents put pressure on average kids and parents who are likely just experimenting and teaching self confidence and good sportmanship. I think you can teach a kid self confidence when they are lousy as well as when they are the best.It’s also a chance to help kids see themselves realistically if they are prone to fantasizing too much about their talents.( I know my little slow poke thought he was a human rocket). Now if they never improve or get more enthused maybe you might want to move along but without all the judgements and expectations. I think kids should have a at least couple of seasons to work this out but not all people do. Even those questionable attitudes are an opportunity to teach kids about people though.
