I love the fact that my Gringo and I have different talents and interests that complement each other. I would definitely not qualify myself as a natural athlete nor a sports enthusiast. My husband on the other hand is athletic and an avid enthusiast of all sports. Over the years, he has taught me a great deal about the importance of having our kids participate in athletic activities. And I truly appreciate the amazing benefits of playing sports such as health, building strong characters, learning to work with and sacrifice for others and more.
However, I feel that as a society we have become excessive about our commitment to sports! Lately I've been seeing the negative effects of this obsession with sports and athletic abilities.
Read more ¿Qué más?: Bring back the meaning of Christmas with these stress-free tips
Some of my son's friends who are not athletic have been bullied and have become social outcasts. At the other extreme, some of his friends have placed such so much focus on sports that they have become selfish and unreasonably competitive.
My son's best friend, who plays football, already has had serious injuries that could have serious effects on his body for the rest of his life. Most recently, my son had a complete meltdown because his grades were starting to drop in some of his classes because of the disproportionate amount of time he had to commit to track. He thought that he'd let his dad, coach, and peers down if he dropped it. He wanted to drop Physics instead, although he was doing exceptionally well in the class.
He wants to study engineering so we encouraged him to stay in the class and take a break from track during the winter season. He feels absolutely liberated!
Personally, I feel like by far the biggest issue that has resulted from this excessive focus on sports is the impact that it's having on family life! I know of married couples who hardly spend time with each other because they split their time travelling for sports with different kids. I've had close family (the American side) miss special celebrations like confirmations and birthdays because they had to participate and attend sporting events.
Most recently, for Thanksgiving our relative's son called the day before to let his mom know that their family would not be able to make it because their son had an important game very early Friday morning and they asked the dad to coach. They live five plus hours away so they said it didn't make sense since they wouldn't be able to spend the night. I couldn't believe that the family was actually torn about this issue.
Quite a few family members, including my husband, agreed with their decision to stay home so that they attend the game! Like everything in life, I think there needs to be a healthy balance and I really think in this instance prioritizing sports activities over family gatherings is absolutely wrong.
Image via Thinkstock
