The Right stuff!

As many of you are already very aware, a good portion of my life has centered around athletics, be it as a participant or a coach, so I feel that I have a comprehensive understanding of the multi-pronged reality that is competition. I stumbled across the following little post by Casey Huff on her FB page in the fall of 2025. When I first read her thoughts, I was immediately moved by both the message and the tone, and I have great respect for her ability as a writer. 

I had shelved this piece since creating it a few months ago, but with the turn of the calendar page to 2026, I'm feeling that I'd like to revisit the habit of sharing my thoughts, so here's one partially because of it's connection with a personal passion, but also since I was reminded of it's message after sitting on my hind end watching the College Football Playoff bowl games. 

In twenty years, it won't matter if they were the best on the team, if they were the fastest on the field, or if they had the most impressive stats. It won't matter if they were recognized for their accomplishments or if they ever received the title of "MVP". It won't matter if their travel team was the best in the league, or if other coaches ever pointed them out and said, "Keep an eye on that kid." It won't matter if they started every game or scored the game-winning run.

Don't get me wrong, I'm my kids' biggest fan. I LOVE watching them in all of their activities. I'm proud and honoured to get to do so. And yes, we're a family who likes to win (and I think that's okay!), but sometimes, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that so much of this sports-parent season is temporary. We get caught up in the competitiveness of wanting our kid to be the best, when really it's kind of insignificant in the bigger picture of their lives.

In twenty years, the things that WILL matter are the other skills our kids are learning during their time playing youth sports. The skills they'll only learn if we put our parent egos aside and have fewer conversations about stats and more conversations about things like:

Kindness.

Humility.

Hard work.

Being a team player.

Supporting their peers.

Being a good sport even when things don't go their way.

Right now, sports are such a big part of our world. From the outside it seems like our kids are working on things like proper technique and fundamentals of the game, and that's part of it, sure, but really this is an even bigger chance for them to learn lessons about life.

And when they've hung up their cleats for the very last time, I hope to walk into the next season of life knowing we haven't just raised accomplished athletes, we've raised incredible humans.

I recall walking into a Rec Center in somewhere-ville Ontario that had a sign posted for all to view as they entered (NOT the one at right, but it's similar). I'm paraphrasing, but it contained a message about, "No college scholarships will be handed out today" and that parents/spectators are reminded, "It's about the love of the game or activity" and not about winning or losing. It further reminded visitors that respect was a core value in that facility and pervaded all aspects of the activities housed therein.

How cool is that?

As Ms Casey alluded to, the vast majority of young athletes are simply exploring ways to have fun, learning through activity by way of a healthy active life, with a very small percentage (that shrinks rapidly with each year) of athletes that might develop the passion requisite for elite competition sometime in the future. Her identification of Humility ... Kindness ... Effort ... Cooperation ... Empathy ... Resilience ... are vital life skills for all, skills that would seem to be in shorter supply these days in today's parks, rinks, rec centers, and classrooms, or at least the places I visit. Her thoughts on this are like a breath of fresh air on the on the far side of a manure-infused stretch of country road.

I feel really good that she and I share a common opinion, but you might not, and that's okay.

Looking at my own kids, score a big gold star for Joyce and I. Yay us!