Whether you were forced to play by your parents or dreamed of being the next Mia Hamm (tbt), many of us played youth sports at some time in our lives through all the blood, sweat and tears. The blood because you tripped over yourself and cut your knee, the sweat because, for some unknown reason, your coach still had practice in August when it was 90 degrees, and the tears because no matter how many times you said you, “didn’t wanna,” your mom still made you go.
Despite the struggles, it was all worth it in the end because youth sports taught us these 10 things:
1. Be on time! Or even better… be punctual.
Nobody likes the kid that would always be late, making everyone else have to run. DON’T BE THAT KID.
2. Lifelong friendships.
The kids you played with are going to be the people you can go out to dinner with in 20 years like nothing has changed. You’ll still be the same goofballs you always were.
3. How to be a team player.
Nobody likes a ball hog… nobody. Team sports set you up to be a good sharer for life.
4. How to have good sportsmanship.
You have to treat people with respect to get respect.
5. How to be innovative.
You spend countless hours at practice working on the same plays to make sure they’re perfect for gameday situations. However, those plays don’t always work out due to other factors in the game. If you see an opportunity, take it.
6. Even when your dad isn’t your coach, your dad is your coach.
Your parents want you to succeed. No matter what you do in life, they will always be there supporting you to be your best. As much as we complain about them, we don’t know where we’d be without them.
7. You don’t have to be the best as long as you try your best.
We’re all not going to be the Michael Jordan or Mia Hamm of our sport, but nobody can really ask more from you as long as you try your best. At the end of the day, if you know you did the very best you could, then you can be happy with yourself and not worry about what anyone else thinks.
8. Even if you aren’t in the game, you stay positive and support your teammates.
Being supportive and communicating with your team is crucial to your team’s success.
9. How to embrace embarrassment.
Some of the most embarrassing things happen during practice and games. Having supportive teammates and fans there to cheer you on is an awesome way to get over feeling embarrassed about messing up a play or even spilling your Gatorade all over you on the bench, making it look like you had an accident… we’ve all been there. It helps you realize that things aren’t that embarrassing if you have the ability to laugh at yourself.
10. In reality, we do things for snacks.
Snacks are the ultimate incentive. No matter how old you are, your favorite snack will always make you try your best.