To Play or Not To Play...

Ty is a pretty athletic kid. I love watching him play sports. When pushed in the right direction he can be quite the player in basketball and baseball. When pushed in the wrong direction he can decline quite quickly. About a month ago he was asked to play on a tournament basketball team. I was excited for him because he played on one last year and it was a lot of fun. This year however the coaches are not people that would push Ty in the right direction. They are yellers... mean, play to win, you stink, coaches. Kenneth and Ty decided it wouldn't be in his best interest to play... I was a little disappointed, but moved on with and happy that we wouldn't have that extra activity to do. Then last Wednesday one of the team members broke his wrist, so we were called once again and asked if we would participate on the team. I felt like this would be a good opportunity for Ty so I pushed for him to play. We had a practice yesterday and today. That was all it took for me to get fed up enough to say something. (Let me make one point clear... I'm not that mom... I've never complained to a teacher, principle, coach, etc, I usually just mumble to myself, or Kenneth and let them do their job... but this situation is entirely different. Tournaments take a lot of time... a lot of money... and most of them were on Sundays... which caused a whole moral dilemma on top of it.) So as I watched Ty sit most of practice... yeah practice... not a game... PRACTICE. I said "what the heck are we doing this for?" Then I marched over near the coach and said loudly to Ty but looking straight into the eyes of the Team organizer... "you think you'll practice or should we just go home". I became that mom... and so tonight when we reflected... I asked Ty if this was really what he wanted to do and he said no, and Kenneth said no... and I said no... I called the proper people and pulled my son from the tournament team. How am I feeling about it now.... darn good.