Ahhhhh...now I get it

I spoke to a mom today at a sports complex. She has a third-grader who is going to play football in the fall. It's full contact football, pads, helmets, the works. She stated that the team will practice every night from 6pm to 8pm, play games on Saturdays, then practice Sunday afternoons 1pm to 3pm.

And it hit me right there. The link I was missing. NOW I KNOW.

A third grader is what...9 years old? So he practices 2 hours a night 5 days a week, 2 hours a day Sundays, and of course game days are at least 4 hours with prep time, etc. This is how this happens.

This?

Oh, I'm sorry. This is the explanation for why in the State of Florida, approximately 73% of all high school football players drop out by their sophomore year...sometimes reappearing at another school...most times not reappearing at all.

They practice every night of their life, so by the time they reach high school they can't read or write. If they're enormously talented, they get a pass all the way through, and go on to fake their college education at a major university that plays football on a high level. If they're not enormously talented, they just disappear with the other 72.9% who disappear, never to be heard from again.

Except possibly on a police blotter.

All my kids play sports. All are exceptional athletes. They are all exceptionally intelligent and have the grades and SAT scores to prove it. They are this way because they never do anything every day, 2 or more hours a day, all year long. They enjoy balance in their lives, and although none of them so far is on scholarship to play sports and obtain a fraudulent collegiate diploma, they are all going to achieve their college education the old fashioned way...through school work.

I love athletics and believe in the ethos that athletics can actually make a child's scholastic abilities increase. But only if there is proper balance.

Ready!!! Hike!!!