If Your Kid Is A Natural, Stardom Awaits

Letter to Ephesians: MLB ex-1st-round pick Francoeur, once dubbed “The Natural,” says “take the parents out” of” youth sports & let kids be kids. No kidding. A father of 4 great athletes, I can attest to how “win-at-all-cost" adults dampen the fun AND may even jeopardize the future of some Naturals.

As Francoeur, now an analyst for his former Atlanta Braves told Fox News, “I coach a 12U travel softball team for my daughter – all the parents think their kid should be hitting third, playing here, being this. If you took all the parents out and asked those girls to make a batting order, I bet you they can do a pretty good job of making what the batting order should be.” Unfortunately, he adds, too many parents live vicariously through their kids, including maybe sometimes himself. But, he urged such parents to take a step back and ask themselves “What do you want out of sports for your kids?” Many would say, learning teamwork & how to handle defeat as well as “The Love of the Game.” Yet, he says, too many fall into the trap of doing whatever it takes to “win” and, presumably for their kids to become big leaguers themselves, no matter how unlikely that may be.

Francoeur’s admonition reminded me of my 4 youngsters in travel baseball, basketball, dance & gymnastics. The commitment involved scores of games over the months and, in fact, I think it taught my kids all the above good things. BUT, it could have been more fun had I more proactively helped take the stinking adults out of the picture – who too often put way too much pressure on the kids to excel, excel, excel. Interestingly, as my kids wound their way through the high school sports machine, I noticed how many kids from the travel sports versus how many whose parents kept them out of them became starters on the high school teams. It was roughly a 50-50 proposition. And some supposed travel “stars” even flamed out. My kids “starred.” But to this day I wonder if the travel route was necessary let alone worth it.

Davd Soul