Youth Sports are Hijacking Your Life

Reading this article from Outside Online, it reminded me of a story a family friend once told me. She explained that her son and daughter-in-law, both schoolteachers in Alaska, had decided to raise their young son without the traditional lessons society dictates a small boy learn during his formative years. As far as his dad was concerned, if he never learned to play baseball, that was just fine: instead he would learn about the outdoors, and gain skills that will benefit him for the rest of his life. Baseball simply didn’t fit the bill. That philosophy struck me as abnormal at the time, yes, but also wonderfully so: while this little boy’s peers learned to yearn for recess while a teacher droned on in the background, he would spend his time on things that actually mattered. Just because something is the status quo does not mean that it is right.