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Dear Subscriber,
Alison and I love the Olympics. Especially the Winter
Olympics. So naturally, during this year's games in
Torino, we cast productivity aside and watched almost
every event.
One of the biggest stories of the Games was Bode
Miller, the outspoken American skiier. I really did
not know much about Miller, but after the fifteenth
"Join Bode" Nike commercial, I was finally tempted to
go the website and see what he had to say. To my
surprise, he was dead-on right about almost
everything.
Today, I want to share one thing in particular that
Bode was right about: we need to change the way our
children think about athletics. To paraphrase, Bode
wondered how it could be that we live in such a
sports-crazed society, yet child obesity is soaring.
If they love sports so much, why don't they
participate in them? And for those that do, why do
they stop after high school or college?
The answer of course, is that sports in America have
completely lost what we like to call "the Olympic
spirit." It's not about participating, it's not about
having a good time, and it's certainly not about
health (judging by the amount of steroids being used
by athletes as early as junior high). Sports in 2006
is only about two things: money and fame.
Children get this message at an early age. So if they
realize they are not likely to be the next Michael
Jordan or Payton Manning, they quit. If they will
never have the chance to sign a big contract or even
get an hour in the spotlight playing for a smaller
school in March Madness, then they wonder why they
should go to the trouble. After all, sports are
tiring.
So they sit on the couch and watch the elite athletes
duking it out on TV while candy bar after potato chip
finds its way into their mouths. This is one of the
big reasons why we have a health crisis looming for
the current generation of children.
So, what should sports be about, if not winning?
Well, nobody is against winning, for starters. But
winning is not what's truly valuable about sports.
The two most important reasons to play sports are
simple. The first is health. Ask any doctor and they
will tell you that you need to exercise at least 30
minutes a day. Not so you can sign a big contract or
catch the eye of the opposite sex, but because
exercise gives you energy, strength, resistance from
disease, and a longer life. These are all things that
parents need to be able to raise their children, and
they are things we owe our children to try to give
them as well.
The second reason to play sports is community.
Friendships are built and strengthened when we play
together. The sports your children participate in can
be as structured as high school football, or as casual
as tossing the frisbee in the back yard with siblings,
but either way friendships will grow. The sense of
comraderie you get from a shared exertion is
tremendous. To this day, many of my best memories are
the times I shared with my teammates on our high
school track team and the afternoons spent on the
tennis and basketball courts with my buddies from
college. I guarantee our friendships would not have
been as strong if we had bonded by watching the
television instead of breathing the fresh air of the
outdoors together.
So for your children's sake, teach them that sports
are about fun, health, and friendships, not money and
fame. And if they enjoy a sport that they aren't very
good at, don't make the mistake so many American
parents make of discouraging them from participating
in it. It sounds cheesy and naive, but the fact is
that a child who participates in sports is already a
winner, regardless of whether they get the gold medal.
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Have an active week!
Sincerely,
Paul
Paul & Alison Martin
Noss Galen Baby LLC
www.NossGalenBaby.com
Copyright, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2004-2008
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