Do you have girls in your life?

My eldest daughter is 9 and has really taken a liking to softball and she also plays soccer. My youngest (4) played t-ball for the first time and is ready for her second season of soccer. Queencreole and I agreed that they should play sports and be involved in an activity almost all the time.

For my eldest, she's now at the age when she can choose different sports (softball or golf? Soccer or volleyball?) during a season. She used to be a nice little gymnast but unexplicably lost interest. That's OK, though. She's a kid. She doesn't need to be forced to do a sport or tied down to one sport. She doesn't like it? She doesn't have to do it. But we have told her once you start a season, you finish it. Luckily, so far, she hasn't wanted to quit anything mid-season.

As far as advice on how to live their lives: Stay away from assholes.

 

mrs. petty was eager to learn about sports, up to a certain point. she was the keeper of the scorebook for about three seasons of softball, then she said: fuck it. not doing it any more. (paraphrasing)

she kept learning sports up to a certain point ... i guess until she became disinterested with the intricacies. she knows much more than most females and -- quite a few guys, actually -- but much less than the sports dorks from work i have over to the house on occasion. and if one of those sports dorks attempts to "ditz" her, she usually looks them in the eye and says: "like i really care." (direct quote) it's a pretty effective line.

 

I've got a wife and a daughter. I've gone way out of my way to emphasize to my daughter (now 14) that life doesn't revolve around sports. I've always been somewhat concerned that because of my job she might begin to think there's some need to validate herself through sports.

I believe I've succeeded. She's not interested in sports, particularly competitive team sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey), and, more important, she doesn't feel a need to pretend that she does to please her father. We have plenty of other things to do and talk about.

At the same time, I've also tried to emphasize that sports can be a fun way to develop and maintain physical fitness. At our suggestion, she's taken up tennis and taken some weekly group lessons. She just finished a two-week clinic at the local park and rec. that she seemed to enjoy. She's also an excellent swimmer.

As of this morning, she's a pretty, happy, healthy, straight-A student who will enter her freshman year in prep school this fall. She has plenty of friends and plenty of interests. Baseball just isn't one of them.

 

One of the most important things my father did for me was encourage my interest in sports. He didn't shoo me away when it was me, and not my brother, who wanted to watch football with him. He played catch with me in the backyard. He took me to soccer practice despite not really knowing what the sport was about. He embraced his young tomboy.

My mother wanted a more girly girl. Kept buying me dolls and pink toys and to this day buys me stuffed animals. She didn't discourage me from sports, but she didn't really encourage it. And dare I say she cheered harder from the sidelines for my brother.

One thing I wish my parents would have done was pay more attention to equipment. I played for years without soccer cleats (sneakers), baseball pants (sweats), batting gloves or a proper sports bra.

 

Yes to sports, esp. for daughters. At a semi-young age - like 9 or 10 - but not focusing on one sport in particular. Organized sports are important in personal development - learning self-confidence, teamwork, assertiveness, decision-making, making a commitment - in an otherwise crazy time for pre-teens/teenagers.

As for how they live their lives? Hmmm. Have I done enough living to give this kind of advice?

 

I have a wife and a daughter.

Wife has never been much of a sports fan.

This actual conversation between us years ago says it all:

Me: Honey, guess who I interviewed today?
Wife: Who?
Me: John Elway
Wife: Who's John Elway?

Wife did play one year of junior high basketball and some flag football with her dorm friends in college. But she's more into individual/recreational sports, unlike her competitive younger sister who played high school and community college basketball and summer league softball. SIL's three daughters are involved in sports.

My wife enjoys horseback riding. We own four horses that she and daughter ride and go on occasional trail rides. Wife was also involved in karate, rising to second degree black belt in the Tan Su form. She took a break from it three years ago when several nagging aches and pains (sore knees, elbow, other joints) were slow to heal. I think she want to go back to karate class but doesn't want to go through those aches again. My wife has been very understanding about my passion for sports. And for someone who isn't involved in sporting activities, my wife looks fit enough to have played sports. She turns 44 in November, but many people say she doesn't look a day over 30.

Daughter, a high school junior, turns 17 in three weeks. She has glaucoma but still managed to play some youth sports: One season of tee-ball and two seasons of soccer. She was in karate for a year. She was on our high school's first girls soccer team in her freshman year; she tried out her sophomore year but migranes and a loss of desire to play ended it. I don't think she'll try out again, but it's no big loss to her. She enjoys the horse rides, hanging out with friends, attending music events and has found a good artistic outlet in art, having won a blue ribbon in a regional art contest for high schoolers.

 

guys are liars and scum. they just want to get in your pants.

sports are good.

 

Wife was a swimmer and soccer player in high school.

She fell in love with football and the NHL when she met me. In fact, one season, she went to more football games than I did. I don't think she missed a home game.

She likes arbitrarily likes the Brewers because one day, five years ago, I forced her to pick a team to cheer for and she asked "Does Milwaukee have a team?"

As for our kid(s), if they're girls, as long as they are healthy, they can do whatever the hell they want; play piano, dance, fastball, basketball, whatever.

I'll be there to cheer them on, practise with, whatever.

My only advice: Stay in school. Be a leader. And make sure he wears a condom.

 

I don't know that they need sports specifically...telling a girl that 'sports is important, this is good for you, do it' is just another way to make her feel less confident about herself if she's not good at it, or her body just won't play along.

But she does need something--whether it's art or music or debate or whatever lights her up--to lease that 'Who am I' space to something other than Abercrombie and Cosmo Girl.

And there is nothing--NOTHING--better for a girl than a father who talks straight, doesn't get flustered and dumb when she gets her period, and tells her she's smart and beautiful and funny, and he will kill any boy who even looks at her. Whatever affection she doesn't get from her dad, shes going to seek from the first prick to offer it. Show her how a man is supposed to act, so she knows who the good ones are when she meets them.

Best advice: Remember who you are, and don't ever let anyone tell you different.

 

Other than the period thing (that's what the wife is for), good points, 21.

 

I used to think I didn't want a girlfriend/wife that was really interested in watching sports and knowing about it. My ex-wife didn't know much about sports, but made a vague effort to get into it. She liked to play sports, which was a plus.
But I also realized she thought sports was know big deal and stopped respecting my job because of it.
I have met a girl recently, who knows tons about sports and I realized it is pretty freaking cool to be able to actually talk about my job and have her understand where I am coming from. Of course, it also helps that she used to work in a sports department.