The first man outside my family to ever give me orders was a youth baseball coach. It was in 1966 in my hometown of Brockton, Mass. It was the very first “life lesson” I learned through sports. The lesson was that the boss (my coach) makes decisions and if you want to do well, you need to perform for the boss. I was 9 years old.
In subsequent years through my own participation and the participation of my two sons, I learned many more life lessons. But I feel the number one lesson I learned through sports was to bond with coaches, parents, and kids from different backgrounds and become their teammate. In a global society, those who turn inward instead of embracing (or at least respecting) others run the risk of failure due to their own insularity.
One other important lesson learned through sports is not to fear failure. As long as you give it your best shot, you will hopefully win your share of games, matches, and awards. But you can’t win them all. And while we hope to learn from our losses (and mistakes), it’s best not to dwell on them. Tomorrow (or later in the week) is another game and bouncing back from failure is important. This is true in sports, and especially in life.
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Another important lesson I have learned is to respect the men and women who coach our kids. They give lots of their time to help other people’s children. To those who volunteer as coaches: thanks! And to those who are unhappy with the coach on occasion, remember that he or she is dealing with many more kids than just yours. The lesson you can learn is that the world doesn’t revolve around you.
I could easily list more of these life lessons, and I’d be interested in yours.
