CAUTION: Over Zealous Parents Now Live Vicariously Through Their Kids

Only in today's world would you hear about a mother getting kicked out of the ball park during a t-ball game because of yelling profusely at the ump. Or about a coach bribing refs for a youth church basketball league (I actually read about that one). Seriously, what is wrong with these people? Don't get me wrong, I am extremely competitive and I love sports-and winning-but I realize that it's just a game rather than a life or death situation.

It is quite disturbing how crazy sports teams have become for kids nowadays. It's become so political, and parents try and buddy up with the coaches to make their kid one of the favorites who receives a lot of playing time. What happened to simple rec leagues that allowed the kids to have fun and just be kids? Now you have to do club teams and private lessons and everything in between in order to be considered for playing. People, parents especially, need to realize that the chances of their kid being at a collegiate level are very slim. Not everyone has the talent to succeed in the sports arena. And you know what? That is totally OK. It's more than alright to play a sport principally for enjoyment and exercise.

Kids these days lack the quality of being well-rounded in their lives. It's come to the point where you have to choose only one or two sports at the most, or only music, or only academics. That's the frustration I had with participating in school sports. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with these complications until high school, but eventually I had to give up a sport I love because the coaches basically told me I'd have to give up my life and desires of playing or doing anything else in order to get playing time. Why can't we go back to the days where sports teams were for the fun of it? It'll be better for all of us to take a slice of humble pie and play for the sake of playing and getting back to the basics.