With the coming of September, many of our children and grandchildren are not only spending more time on homework, but they're also spending free hours participating in organized sports. From the very youngest soccer participants to the big brawny college football players, time spent on the field of sport is a lot of work, but it should be at least somewhat enjoyable. In short, exercise and sports are supposed to make us feel good.
Many times our youngsters with high hopes and big dreams look up to professional athletes and Olympians as men and women they want to someday emulate. Unfortunately famous sports stars seem to mess up fairly regularly and even the recent Olympics gave us a few examples of how not to act on the playing field.
Who would believe an Olympic wrestler would throw down his bronze medal and declare he only wanted the gold? Moreover, where in Olympic history has a competitor assaulted a judge and a referee and then spit on the floor? These actions were shocking and we hope they won't ever happen again. Certainly these aren't people we want our kids to look up to.
Columnist Sally Jenkins, who writes for the Washington Post put it this way: "That intolerable droning noise you hear in the background of these Olympics, grating your very last nerve, is the sound of sore losers ... ."
Thankfully, Jenkins says, there was Michael Phelps. "Just when you can't bear it anymore, comes the faint sounds of Michael Phelps' sportsmanship." Yes, he is unbelievably competitive and yes, he is a record-breaker. But when Phelps surrendered his spot in his final race to a teammate and rival, Ian Crocker, "to give a teammate a chance" he showed sportsmanship equal to his golden winning ways.
As always, the key to maximizing a child or young person's experience of sports is parental involvement. Although young competitors are supposed to learn about sportsmanship as well as athletic skills by playing in organized sports, sometimes just the opposite is true, and it's up to the adults in their lives to point out the difference.
If you've ever given up hours of your free time to coach a team - and then had a parent complain about your well-intentioned actions - you know what we mean.
Adults can help young people sort out the difference between athletic excellence and honor, between being a competitor and being a person of integrity. True sports heroes, such as Michael Phelps, balance these aspects of their lives. Sadly, there are many sports figures who do not.
Young people need heroes to admire and emulate. As adults, we can help them choose their heroes wisely. By doing this, we can help create the heroes of the future.