Sports & GPAs are not who they are, they are merely things they do. Work tirelessly to ensure they know that as the quality of their identities hinge on it.
“We tell them, ‘it’s bigger than sports!’
But do you live that truth or give it cheap lip service?
Do you put 5x the time & effort into helping them solidify their identities beyond sports & GPAs?
Or do they their worth is predicated on making the ‘A Team’ & test scores?”
-Ray Zingler on X
You might think I’m asking you these questions, but in reality, I am asking myself.
I am asking not only in regard to the kids I am very blessed to train and mentor, but also in regard to my own children, who are currently baby’s and young toddlers.
The reason is because I want to do my darndest to avoid the trap.
You hear it all the time:
“It’s bigger than sports.”
“It’s about more than a game.”
Adults say these things typically only when prompted by an adverse event or a national holiday.
“Well boys, today is Memorial Day, and ya know, Memorial Day is bigger than baseball.”
Yeah, of course it is, but do you think saying that 5 minutes before playing the 4th game of the day on Memorial Day, without them even knowing why or how to memorialize the men and women who purchased their freedom really makes a difference? Does it teach them anything? Does that prove to them that it’s, “bigger than the game?”
Not in the slightest.
It’s cheap and it’s a disservice to those who traded their pulses so our kids can experience freedom and adults can politicize child’s games.
But to take it a step further, we tell them, it’s about the lessons:
Work ethic, playing together as a team, overcoming adversity, finishing the drill, yada, yada.
But is that what it’s about?
Are they learning these lessons as we apply boa constrictor like pressure to everything they are doing?
From having immense fear at the plate to having compounding stress in the classroom, our cheap words aren’t doing our kids identities any justice.
We can say all day long, “just do your best” but when we’re beating them over the head about a B instead of an A, and signing them up for their 6thAP class that matters… well not at all in the grand scheme of attaining success in the real world, they aren’t getting the message.
The unrelenting pressure placed upon them drowns out the “talk”. I watch it wreak havoc on kids’ identities.
Make sure your kids know who they are beyond the societal judgement constructs.
The ballcap they wear and the GPA they tote should have very little to do with who they are.
