Shortly after 8 am this Sunday morning, Anne and I went to a gym to see our 12 year old grandson Keoni, coached by his dad, our son Kyle, play in a basketball game.
The team Kyle and his friend Jared coach is the Lakers and after today's game, they are now undefeated in 7 games. But to me, that is not the most interesting thing.
The most interesting thing is that Keoni and his buddy Reilly (Jared's son) are too young and too small for this level of basketball and yet are holding their own. Most of the other kids are 1 to 2 years older and in many cases, a head or more taller and commonly 25 to 50 pounds heavier, for they have begun puberty, which is still ahead for Keoni and Reilly.
Kyle and Jared are sensitive to this size difference and are carefully guiding their playing time. And Keoni and Reilly, along with the other boys on the team seem to be having a good time and learning more about basketball. This is a sign of excellent coaching.
Also, as I have matured, I have learned to cheer for both teams, something that may be off-putting to those who only cheer for "their" team and are critical of the "other" team. If a referee makes a call against "their" team, they get upset and some people loudly voice their anger.
Unfortunately, this "them" and "us" mentality permeates all sports everywhere and as long as we as mankind think like this, it will limit our growth as people.
Dick
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