Family and Sports

Families usually have something they love to do together. Something that helps bond parents with their children. For our family it's sports. Last night I watched my two year old run around the house waving a Carlton Blues scarf saying " Carn the Blues!" over and over again. This was bound to happen in a household like ours. One of the many things that my husband and I have in common is our love for sport. As a Canadian I grew up living and breathing ice hockey. It was bonding factor between myself and my brothers as well as with my parents. In fact my love for hockey nearly led me down a career path of scouting up and coming players. Here in Australia the love Canadians have for hockey is comparable to the love Aussies have for Australian Rules Football. Doug introduced me to Aussie rules before I even left Canada and I fell in love with the game. It puzzles me that it hasn't become better known internationally.While I still love ice hockey my passion for footy has clearly taken the top of my sports list. You know what they say "When in Rome.."

Along with waving a scarf and chanting "Carn the Blues!" my little princess also copied much of what we were saying. Thankfully we were mindful to keep it clean while she's around (it helps that Carlton was winning.) Her booing of the opposing team and heated rival Collingwood was met with applause from both Doug and I, which had Sari beaming with glee. At two years old I know she doesn't exactly understand why we get so excited about 18 guys on a big patch of grass chasing and kicking a ball but she loves getting caught up in the excitement with us. The wonderful thing about sports is it also promotes getting outside and getting active. When we head into the front yard Sari always wants to bring football with us. She loves to play catch and kicking the ball around. She'll give chase to Mummy and Daddy until we gently throw the ball her way. It's just a fantastic way for all of us to have a good time and get moving.

I know some parents worry about having their kids play contact sports in particular. I can understand that worry. Contact sports can be rough as a child gets older especially if they are very good and play in competitive leagues.  However there are so many benefits. For kids they learn about keeping physically healthy and understanding basic nutrition. Along with playing sports comes self-motivation, accountability, self-management, persistence, resilience, confidence and self-awareness. As well as helping social development. Team sports creates a fun environment for a child to learn how to work as part of a team. Winning and keeping the right attitude. Losing can be tough, but so is life and in my opinion if you can learn to take a loss with class and the right attitude, life just got a little easier for you.

For parents it's a way to get more involved in the community as well as bonding with your child. Life is busy when you have kids, there is a great social benefit for you too by having your kids involved in sports.

There's always the chance that Sari will grow up and hate sports. I do think in our house that would be pretty unlikely. However if she, or any future children doesn't like sports and instead loves music, art or dance that's fine by us. Whatever it is we'll be supportive and get involved because that's what our children really need, parents who are there for them. I imagine that much like my own experience growing up, sports will help us all bond as our children grow into adulthood.