A two parter.
My grand-daughter enrolled in 'competitive' soccer when she was 12 or so. I don't know why they called it 'competitive' it was anything but - save in the mind of her coach.
This venture into 'competitive' sport cost her parents over $1,000 for the season - fees for the field, pay for the refs, travel costs, fees for this and fees for that. Even in the non-competitive leagues the cost for joining is in the hundreds of dollars.
When I heard this I was dumbfounded. So here I go...
"When I was a kid' - such a sport cost us nothing - save for a pair of $5 sneakers. The field was a free public school field and the coaches and refs donated their time. They enjoyed the fun as much as the players. When and if we travelled out of town - we all piled into whoever parent's car was available.
Children today do not need an excuse to avoid sports - there are plenty of distractions available, starting with the internet. Cost should simply not enter into it.
We came to our various sports prepared - we brought our own gloves, bats, balls, skates and sticks. And we did our own preparation - lining the fields, cleaning the ice and so on.
Everyone took part, at least for the boys. Girls in sports being a recent development. And about time too.
There was Newt, one of our town's few Aboriginals. We never thought of him as different in any way - but we knew he could run circles around the rest of us. He was perpetual motion.
And Covell who had a wicked curve ball. And Dougall. I often played first in baseball and Dougall played Short Stop - I did not often flinch when I caught the ball at first, but I inevitably did when he was the thrower. Smoke steamed off my glove.
When it wasn't organized play - we often gathered for pick-up games - Johnny, Dave, George, Newt, Coop, Randy, Fownsy, the Hamiltons, the Lyles, and so on. Everyone who showed up got to play and no one had a weight problem back in then.
We also had mandatory physical education -Every day. I remember we had a fellow in our class named Glen. He was a farm lad who could kick a football the length of the field. Being on a farm, he never had the chance to play organized games or even pick-up games for that matter. Glen was far too busy working. And much to the chagrin of our coach.
Us townies who did play though did not need the latest in equipment. Old hand-me-downs were quite sufficient or we simply went without. Our parents generation even had less. Fields were not pristine - nor did they need to be. These were just games afterall - not tryouts for the pros. Refs and Umps were simply parents sans the need for 12 levels of training.
Today's kids are lumbered down with so much equipment that he or she can barely move. And the cost for this stuff makes the registration fees look cheap. Why the old 5 dollar runners now cost in excess of many dress shoes.
I mentioned that obesity was not the issue it is today, nor were the rates of diabetes nor were other health and fitness problems evident as they now are. It is not all due to lack of participation in sports but it is a major factor.
We have gone off track when it comes to sports: it needs to be free, universal, and above all fun.
More on this in part 2....
"Galagher"
