Young Children and Competitive Sports

I am not a fan of this. At all. To add, I am not a fan of teaching a kind of athletic competition at a young age at all. Case in point: the swimming lesson parents.

I will save the details of ethnic and national identity of this family because should I mention it, they would be easily identified. A few weeks ago, mom was at the lesson screaming GO GO urging on young (age 8?) boy to beat the other kid in their semi-private swimming lesson. HOW INANE IS THAT? There are two kids in the lesson and you're screaming at your kid to GO and SWIM FAST and RAH RAH and BEAT the other kid during a swimming lesson? Lady, you have seriously weird ideas of cultivating friendship and swimming skill. Then tonight, ole dad was in the pool, doing the same thing! Unbelievable. These people are MESSED UP. I will not reveal any more but to say that anyone like that should definitely not have a family as they do, and they are headed for some serious messed up identity issues in the future. I can just imagine them yelling at their kid in the future: CONFORM CONFORM. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? Enough said.

Then two weeks ago I see an old Brit (was beer in hand? can't recall, but wouldn't be surprised, this is Mui Wo, after all) chant CHELSEA CHELSEA in the ear of a one year old child. Perhaps it was not a beer. Perhaps it was just a burp I overheard.All I could think was GET ME OUT OF HERE. What? You want the child to evolve into a football (soccer) hooligan?

Let me explain to a few Americans. It would be like someone chanting at your son, uhm I dunno 49ers, or COWBOYS COWBOYS. To a one year old? Is that all there is to life? Is that supposed to be endearing? I think if anyone chanted that to Keohi Stephen would really be disturbed (same with CHELSEA CHELSEA). I would madly bike away.

I'm all for fighting childhood obesity and being physically active, but I'm finding it odd that simply because I have a son I'm expected to a) understand this sports obsession and embrace it and b) be interested in sports. There are many people in the world who like physical activity, but who don't necessarily participate in terms of watching or playing organized team sports. Sports kids can like include kickball, tag, swimming, rollerskating, biking...later kayaking, scuba diving, rock climbing, mountain biking, martial arts. Sports do not have to involve a ball to be legitimate.

My friend who has a son in the US told me she completely bowed out of attending any athletic stuff for her son because she couldn't stand the whole vibe. So her husband has to go if he does do any sports. I know I am not alone in this, but here it sure feels like it. And it's probably me, but I start to get these body memory sensations of deep anxiety, kind of the feelings I used to have in Iowa when I was 8 and mentally tortured by athletes who scorned any kind of imagination or difference. Sports do not bring out the best in everyone, a certain kind of sports, that is. The promotion of a certain type of sports or attitude of competition can cause normally balanced people to hyperventilate.