Ramblings of a Basketball Mom/Wife

Last weekend was a basketball-full weekend for me.  I started with 6A girls high school basketball Friday night, followed by 4th grade girls basketball on Saturday morning, and finished off with some more high school ball on Saturday night.  Don't you wish you were me (she said with sarcasm)?

Aren't they cute in their complete cluelessness about the game?  We cheer when they do the tiniest thing correctly and laugh when they shoot at the wrong basket or forget to dribble.  These games are FUN.  No one cares (too much) if we win or lose.  The girls just want to know what snack they're getting after the game.

So when does all that fun take a backseat to winning?  At some point, it seems we forget that these kids should be playing because they enjoy it.  Not that the kids aren't having fun.  It's the parents that are the problem.  (My husband is a coach.  We have seen it all, including parents that had to be dragged off the court and escorted out of the gym, much to their kid's humiliation.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm as competitive as the next psycho mom.  I once helped my daughter with her Student of the Week poster and she went to school with a hot pink poster trimmed in fur and rhinestones.  (Nothing but the best for my baby.) The obnoxious parent phenomenom is not limited to sports.

I get it.  We want our kids to win.  I just hope the cost of winning isn't the loss of the truly great things our kids can learn through these activities - teamwork, responsibility and self-discipline.

Somebody remind me of this post in a few years when my girls are in high school.  Actually, I know myself.  I'll start taking applications now for a therapist to attend those games with me.  Any takers?