I was watching an NFL football game today and it started me thinking about kids and organized sports. Back in the 1960’s there were a few organized sports for kids, like baseball. My two neighbors, John and Teddy, played baseball on a little league team. I used to go to the games with John’s mother to cheer on the team. The games were fun to watch. I don’t ever remember parents getting crazy about the games or “going off” on the coaches or other parents. The games were just what they were, kids’ sports. Some kids were definitely more talented than others, but that holds true with anything. The parents knew it and there were no excuses made. Teams won and teams lost. And the winners got the prize. The losers got the message…practice more!

Back then, most of the “organized” sports for kids were organized in the neighborhood. We played baseball, football, wiffle ball, basketball and kickball, to name a few. Both boys and girls played together. Usually it was the kind of thing where your Mom sent you outside to play. You met up with other neighborhood kids. One kid in the group took charge and the game was organized! That was it. There was no driving us to games. There was no scheduling anything. There were no crazy parents. We just played. And we had fun!   Sadly that’s what kids today are lacking, which is the ability to go outside, meet up with friends, pick a game and play it! Parents are busy scheduling organized activities to fill up a calendar and keep their kids “out of trouble,” whatever that means. But kids have no time to themselves. They come home from school, to quickly eat a dinner on the run, and then off to an organized sport or practice for that sport. And these sports rule the weekends, too. No time to play in the neighborhood as a “team” with kids making the rules of a game. Just adults handling every detail.

How and what does this teach kids? I’m not sure, but I can tell you that our neighborhood “organized” sports taught us how to be gracious winners and definitely not sore losers. They taught us that teamwork can pay off. We learned that some kids were more talented in one area than we were. That’s just the way it was. We knew that what we were playing was a game, and that we’d be playing together the next day so we’d better get along!   How do we get back to the play of the past? I think it starts with letting kids be kids. Going to the playground or a park when your kids or grandkids are young is a good start. Let them run around with other children their own age, play on playground equipment and have fun! Get together at someone’s house with the kids, and simply let them play. They’ll learn from this play! No micromanagement necessary!