Children in Sports

Last weekend I went to a Judo tournament Shan was participating in. This was only the second judo competition he has been in and he took second place. It was fun watching him compete and cheering from the stands.

A fun part of any competition or sport is watching the kids compete. Watching children play is quite entertaining. They bring so much drama to any game and it is quickly turned into a soap opera.

There are the criers; those children, boy or girl, that no matter what the outcome of the match or game, cry. These children always shed tears, win or lose. They are always getting injured or claiming their feelings were hurt. The criers are my favorite.

Then there are the scrappers; these children are small but ferocious. Their size doesn't matter and they somehow find a way to beat their opponent by miraculously overpowering a child twice their size. Sometimes their compact size helps them. They are quick to react and can often outrun or outmaneuver bigger opponents.

Next come the spazzes; these children do not care about (and sometimes have no clue as to) what is going on. They are hyperactive and rambunctious. Their parents probably enrolled them in a sport as an outlet to release their energy, but the children still find ways to turn their attention away from the sport and drift into a world of their own. These children are often seen picking dandelions in right field during baseball games, or starting a game of tag during a soccer game. These children are generally happy, and quite imaginative.

Finally, there are the champions; these children are driven (by coaches and parents mostly) to win. Winning is most important to them and they become used to receiving first place in everything. After a while they feel entitled to winning first place, and if they lose, the reactions to the ego-blow are quite interesting. From what I have witnessed, first they feel anger. They will stomp off, possibly shout at people trying to comfort them or other teammates, and maybe even throw something. Then they get emotional. This is when many champions cry. They cannot believe that they lost and are quite embarrassed that someone else is better than them. After the waterworks, they move on to find an excuse as to why they lost. Losing is rarely a fault of their own lack of skill - oftentimes it is pinned to an official or bad call. Sometimes a loss will be accounted to an injury or the fact that they are having a "bad day." Champions are interesting to watch. They often isolate themselves after a loss, and experience a sense of shame.

Children are interesting creatures. To me they are like animals in a zoo - it is fun to watch them at a distance, but I am fearful to jump in the cage with them. Until I have the proper training, I will remain fearful of these miniature grown-ups. I am definitely not ready to have an animal of my own!