Good, thought-provoking stuff Yogi, as always. My two boys were young more than a quarter century ago; the younger wrestled with chronic illnesses, but the older was pretty talented athletically and also needed the focus & structure that organized athletics gave him. There was never a point that I strongly believed that he would get a college scholarship, but as a growing kid who was often the best player on his team and sometimes in a game he harbored those dreams. Those dreams were part of the motivation that got him to show up and work harder. As his dad I tried with varying success to let him dream while trying to teach him to "let the future take care of itself." He understood on his own by the end of high school that this was his limit, and has played community basketball into his 40s. I wonder how many stories like mine are out there. I know that as a dad on the sidelines I saw far too many dads who were over-invested in their kid's career. Yikes that can look ugly, as I'm sure you know far better than I.
Good, thought-provoking stuff Yogi, as always. My two boys were young more than a quarter century ago; the younger wrestled with chronic illnesses, but the older was pretty talented athletically and also needed the focus & structure that organized athletics gave him. There was never a point that I strongly believed that he would get a college scholarship, but as a growing kid who was often the best player on his team and sometimes in a game he harbored those dreams. Those dreams were part of the motivation that got him to show up and work harder. As his dad I tried with varying success to let him dream while trying to teach him to "let the future take care of itself." He understood on his own by the end of high school that this was his limit, and has played community basketball into his 40s. I wonder how many stories like mine are out there. I know that as a dad on the sidelines I saw far too many dads who were over-invested in their kid's career. Yikes that can look ugly, as I'm sure you know far better than I.