What They Don’t Tell You About Youth Sports

Youth sports gets such a bad rap. Sometimes it’s well deserved. And yes - sometimes it’s a bit much: costs, time, the ugly side of competition, people who have influence over children yet aren’t truly equipped to handle that responsibility, obnoxious parents, entitled pee wee athletes, etc. What I wish received more attention was the bond that’s made over time between families who are tied together through youth sports.

My children have been blessed with unbelievable growth opportunities by their participation in youth sports. They have learned to deal with being celebrated and feeling cast aside, how to handle crushing disappointments, opportunities to develop leadership skills, work with a team, settle differences, and develop authentic friendships.

Me? I made lifelong friendships. Through days and hours at ballparks, out of town tournaments, volleyball courts, and football fields I was in the trenches of not just youth sports but the highs and lows of raising kids in a complicated time. We have celebrated, laughed and wiped each other’s tears through our kids’ sports ebbs and flows as well as life outside of a referee’s whistle: birthdays, sleepovers, 6th grade summer reading projects (we were waaayyy too hands on with that one 😂), school dances, schedule pickups, breakups, proms, awards days at school, graduations, dorm room shopping, freshman year care packages, etc. Our bond extended way past our kids playing on the same teams. It truly takes a village not only to rear kids but to also have people you can depend on and trust to listen, give you advice, and just provide a safe space for you to be your authentically, flawed self.

In the picture above, that is my daughter and her friends with their moms outside of a movie theater just before we were sending our babies away to college. It was the summer after their senior year of high school. I first came into contact with some of these ladies when we moved to Waxahachie in 2008 and they made our transition such an easy one. They have blessed me so.

The picture below was taken this past weekend. It’s me and some of my favorite #Dawglife ❤️🖤 football moms. It was July in Texas so needless to say it was scorching hot and none of us cared. My Wade isn’t playing pee wee football this year. He will only play for his school. He wasn’t even playing this weekend. But he wanted to go support his boys. Me? I wanted to hangout with my mom friends. It was just like old times. As I said earlier, the relationships go way beyond the sport.

Oh. If you’re curious about what movie we saw with our girls, you shouldn’t be the least surprised to know it was Bad Moms. 🥰