Transitions

Today's blog is about the kids. I am old enough to see the offspring of my friends who I grew up and went to college with. Seeing their sons and daughters reminds me of the The Jackson's song, "Time Waits for No One." In talking with the parents, they talked about how some of them are into sports. Pop Warner football here, junior varsity football there and summer league basketball as well. I just want to give these kids some advice regarding participating:

Participate.

As the rap song goes, "...get into it...get involved." I am from the corny school which says that participation in sports builds character and promotes teamwork. While I got into sports initially because that was the thing to do in my neighborhood while growing up, I didn't really appreciate it's value until I got to high school.

Here I was, a kid from the hood who got a break to go to one of the top private schools in the city and I wouldn't know anybody when I got there...if not for football. Again, because it was the thing to do in my hood, I tried out for the varsity football team (no, I didn't get there on a athletic scholarship). While the great story would have been to say that I made the team as as walk-on sophomore, I didn't. But what I did gain was much more important to me at the time as I later found out. While the "hood" thing may have been working for me in the background, I also gained a measure of respect, or at least some un-official credits with the upper classmen when I started classes that fall. That did help in my transition for a guy that didn't interact at all with other races until I got there.

Just understand that the impact of athletics goes much farther that what happens on the field. At the least, you can build camaraderie. You may even be able to pay for your education. I know that would be great for some parents I know.