By Melissa Stefanec MelissaStefanec@yahoo.com
Our society is obsessed with superheroes.
When it comes to idolization, many adults (and children alike), put superheroes on pedestals. We look to them for inspiration. We look to them to light the fires within us. We elevate them to places we think we cannot go.
Most of these modern-day idols don’t wear capes. Our modern superheros often wear sneakers, cleats, helmets, spandex or goggles. That’s because our society is obsessed with sports and we make the players into heroes and structure much of our lives around admiring them.
Whether it’s college or professional teams, we pack the venues and buy expensive streaming packages so we can indulge our idolization. Similarly, we pack children’s lives with teams, leagues, travel teams and elite squads. Sports are a mighty presence in our lives.
That’s totally cool. But what if I told you that there was more? For many kids and adults, sports offer an outlet and a way to grow. For other kids, sports have no allure. In fact, sports actually make some kids feel bad. And, strangely enough, many adults make kids feel bad for not making sports a part of their formative years. Some folks think that without athletic competition, childhood is lacking in some way.
I think we can do better than that.
First, I want to acknowledge there are many benefits to children who participate in sports. From physical fitness to collective problem solving to self-betterment, overcoming challenges and learning how to achieve as a team — group athletics have a lot to teach our children about life.
However, there is so much more to life than sports. We owe it to our children to recognize this simple fact. It’s time parents put equal stock in activities outside of sports and recognize how non-athletic activities can enrich our children as they grow into adulthood.
Here is a list of activities that teach as many life lessons as sports do. I encourage other parents to nurture their children in these activities. These hobbies are no less or greater than athletics, they are just a different outlet and an alternative basis for self expression. These activities deserve the same respect and investment from parents and communities alike.
• Chorus, band or orchestra
Few teams work harder to refine their individual abilities and collective efforts than a chorus, band or orchestra. Kids in these activities have to practice their personal craft for the betterment of a team. Their coach is a conductor, and the conductor leads them to become something better than they could ever be on their own.
• Drama or theater
To be part of a theatrical production, you have to understand the strengths and weaknesses of everyone around you. You have to work on yourself and figure out how to combine forces with others. Each performance is a production, and if you don’t do your part, no one gets to shine.
• STEAM competitions
For some kids, their brains work harder than any part of their bodies. But kids who participate in team STEAM activities quickly learn that one brain isn’t enough. A lone brain has blindspots and oversights. It takes a team to build a holistic force. Together, these kids learn they can do more together than they ever could alone.
• Community involvement
Kids who want to give back to their communities have learned a lesson many adults have failed to — there are things more important than ourselves. These kids understand that together we rise and divided we fall. Kids who choose community over self deserve respect. They deserve to be backed and cheered like the hometown team at the homecoming game.
• Lifeguarding/counseling
There are many children who have come to understand that you’re never too young to build up the younger generation. Kids who choose to be counselors or lifeguards understand that we can work together to protect and nurture each other. They know that teams can lead us when we feel lost and save us when we’ve gone off course.
• Writing
Writing is one of the most robust empathy exercises a child can participate in. On its surface, writing may not feel like a team event, but to write is to understand oneself and others. Writing is at once an act of empathy and compassion. It’s an act of awareness and recognition of others’ experiences. It takes a team mentality, even if it happens as a solo effort, until the workshop rolls around.
• Art
Some of the best art makes people feel things they didn’t know they needed to feel. To be an artist means that you can create something that others find meaning in. Art brings self awareness and peace to many people. When you’re an artist, you’re on team human.
So the next time we ask ourselves, “What’s in a team?”, I suggest we broaden our proverbial horizons. Teams come in many outfits and varieties. Sometimes, after hours of practice. a team takes to the field in perfectly matched uniforms. They run plays in the hopes of besting their opponent. Other times, after hours of practice, a team takes the stage, assembled to move emotional mountains with song. Both of these teams deserve admiration and demand much of their players. Both of these teams are something children should aspire to and something adults should support and nurture.