A friend just sent me a video of a reality tv show style YouTube series about youth wrestling and told me to skip to a few parts with parents. I watched an 11 year old kid pin a former state champion and proceed to get yelled at by his dad because "he didn't spend all this time for a 30 second match." Cue to the kid balling and the parent yelling at him more.
I skimmed the rest of the videos and, surprise, surprise, that kid gets emotional in every match. And the dad sits on the mat, yelling at him. And they interview the dad and he's like "I don't know why he's always crying, he's such a Martha." He then explains he nicknames his kid Martha because he thinks he's a pussy.
Like gee, maybe the kid is under an intense amount of stress because he has no idea how to make your dumbass happy.
Youth sports is insane. When I was a kid, my parents basically forced me to go to basketball tournaments off season and I fucking hated it. You felt like you had to go because everyone else was going and then you get sideline coached/yelled at by your parents.
I love how younger generations are always classified by older generations as "lazy" or "wusses" or whatever. You're the ones raising them you fucks.
Maybe stop living through your kid and let them choose what they want to do. I quit basketball after sophomore year and was instantly happier. If your kid likes a sport they're going to end up hating it because of you.
Thank you for listening to my Ted talk.
I agree 100%. I coached swim team for 4 years and the competitive team I coached was a nightmare, while the mid-tier high school team was great. Sports can be fun and I swam my whole life, so I do like swimming, but not everyone is going to the Olympics or even nationals. That's okay and I wish more parents would accept that. The high school team felt more like an after school club and that's the exact vibe it should be.
Hyper competition is ruining youth activities. And it's parents' fault.
Sports, FFA/4-H, speech, student government, etc.
I'm not even that old but when I was in highschool it felt like I could do things for fun (except sports). But now everything feels like you have to be the best and crush everyone else.
Just sad.
It's getting even younger. Some of my peers are starting to have kids, and they already want them playing instruments, learning to code, taking private tutoring, youth sports, etc. The kids can barely say a complete, coherent sentence. But gotta make sure junior is ready for Harvard in 16 years!
I hate parents who have a preplanned destiny for their kids.
I know someone who is planning their boy to get a scholarship to be a football kicker. So preplanned, the kid's initials are T.E.E.