bring it on old man

On the rare days my 08 does not get to work out after school he is intollerable. He comes home does his homework and then proceeds to tell me how bored he is. I put him to work in the yard for a little while but then its dark and he has to come back inside. Kids need to stay active. They need to be stimulated. They need to feel a sense of purpose in almost every moment in their lives. I really think the more they do the more motivated they are to do more. The grades for our players are always better during the season.

One of the great tragedies our my generation. That's why my kids are in after school programs: Dance,jazz, tap, ballet and hip hop and that's for the boy! Just kidding, my daughter. My son goes to the Y everyday and loves it. Maybe PE is as important that Math or English.

The sad thing is that we see our kids as less active than what they could be and most of them are among the most athletic of their peers.

What about the other kids? It’s no wonder that kids keep getting fatter and fatter. Between super sized soda pops and no exercise, they are going to explode.

Things like riding lawn mowers and snow blowers don't help either. A little manual labor would not be a bad thing.

SBK you are so right. It is unreal how many kids in High School are totally out of shape. And the fact is they have never been in shape. They are lazy and never perform any kind of manual labor. I would say at least at our school that at least 60% are way overweight and 85% at least are out of shape maybe more. We were on the track doing some sprint work when the basketball team held there tryouts the first day. The coach brought the JV and Varsity kids trying out down to the track and told them they had to run a 7 minute mile or they didn't need to come back to tryouts. There was about 35 kids with him and about 7 or 8 stopped running on the first lap and started walking. A few more stopped on the second lap and some more stopped on the third lap. Only 7 kids made the 7 minute time and only 15 made the whole mile. I was shocked but I shouldn't have been. The coach said he was going to have to rethink his policy because he wouldnt have enough kids for two teams if he cut all the kids that didnt make the run. I had 28 kids in our off season program and 10 kids ran a sub 6 minute mile. 9 ran a sub 7 mile and all the rest ran it under 7:30. My son who is a big kid at 15 a Freshman at 6'0 205 ran it in 7:20. It really is pathetic how out of shape and lazy the average High School student really is. The wrestling coach asked me the other day if his guys could run with us because he had to leave school early and he wanted them to get in some conditioning. Half way through our workout they started talking to one another and I noticed that they were walking away as a group heading down the hill towards the school. I asked them where they were going and they said they had to leave. I told them they needed to stay and they said "Coach you guys run too much". I told them to just go and leave.

Coach May your quote:

"On the rare days my 08 does not get to work out after school he is intolerable."

That is so true. My son (09) argues with his sister more and at times is just not pleasant to be around - after a workout of some sorts he is totally different.

It is kind of sad that most kids he knows have no interest in getting outside and doing something. Don't get me wrong he loves his Nintendo but would rather get outside and do something.

I have heard of a study that said kids (especially boys) increased their GPA in direct relation to how much PE they had. Hard sell here in Georgia.

Pretty much the same here, my 07 gets really grumpy and argumentative if he is couped up in the house after school. Fortunately he loves baseball and works out pretty much every day plus loves to do the rollerblade jumping and grinding and stuff. I also got him interested in the outdoors in other ways by introducing him to skeet/sporting clays, fly fishing, and hunting so when he isn't busy on one of his other primary activities, we pack up and head to the range, (corn or soybean)field or stream (and old dad gets in a little bit of the action). Just one word of caution, when I got him started in skeet/sporting clays, I figured he would be happy with using one of dads shotguns. Well it didn't take long until junior figured he needed one of his own and let me tell you, a decent O/U is way more expensive than an aluminum bat!

Coach May,

Compared to their peers, there’s a reason that your baseball guys workout hard and apparently enjoy doing so and I have to believe it has to do with their coach. You have been able to get them to realize that their ultimate goal is worth the discomfort and sacrifice they put their bodies through.

Michael’s Dad

On a positive note, I’ve never heard about a kid that likes to go hunting get into much trouble.

Good topic Dave, Welcome to 2005. Let’s not blame this on the school systems or on the kids, it is simply a product of our thriving lifestyle. High tech households, fast foods, playstations, 200 TV channels 24-7 to satisfy every fantasy a person could imagine, lawn services, automated carwashes, what’s a kid to do? They simply take the path of least resistance and look for that instant gratification. Can we break this cycle? I doubt it. I can tell you how it used to be when I was young but it would just bore you. We just need to educate our kids on health issues and make sure they have a venue that challenges them physically...like youth baseball. My kids are like 99% of all kids. They never looked for work around the house or begged for vegetables at Kroger. What I did do was make them listen to me. I always stressed that talent was useless unless your body could deliver that God given talent. I think at least a portion of my message has sunk in. College trainers also educate the players on health issues. I notice he now shuns the sugar drinks and opts for water. He carries a gallon jug of water around and will make sure he consumes at least one gallon each day. He now works out without any prodding from anyone.

Fungo-

You are absolutely right about the path of least resistance. I think parents are guilty of taking this path as well. Sadly, I see things getting worse before they get better.

I realized as a parent I needed to provide a healthy example to my kids. I encourage my kids to be active through our family activities. Hiking, biking, snowboarding, walking the dog, running, basketball, working out at the gym, yardwork and so on. Sometimes this takes a lot of effort and even I don't really want to do it. But I'm always glad I made the effort when I'm done.

Parents can set a good example for their kids no matter the age. My parents are in their late sixties and have worked out at the gym several times a week for thirty years.

A few years ago we used to use sand bags to hold down our tarps on the mound and home plate. These sand bags would get really heavy after they got wet. Well we would put them in a wheel barrell and haul them off the field when we got the tarps up and then haul them back on the field when we put them down. I had a 14 year old freshman on the team the first year we started doing this. One day before practice one of my seniors was bragging about how he could put the most bags in the wheel barrell and haul them off himself. He loaded up four or five and struggled to get them off the field. Well this 14 year old freshman goes and gets the wheelbarrell and and loads all of them up and takes off running a lap around the bases. He starts at home plate goes to first then second and then third and sprints to home with it. He was hardly out of breath. All the other players were amazed. I was not amazed. I knew that this kid worked at home all the time. He pushed mowed the lawn which was big and cut wood etc. His dad a friend of mine had him working around the house with him from the time he was about 6 years old. I can remember him showing up for Saturday practices with grass clippings on his clothes. And I can remember him leaving practices and saying he had to go home and cut some wood. When the scouts came his Senior year they asked him if he thought he could handle the rigors of pro ball. I laughed out loud and said "Why don't you go home with him tonight and see if you can handle what he does". This kid was never good enough to make an area AAU team untill his Junior year even then he missed several tourneys because he had to help out on the weekends with the chores. His senior year first start we had over 40 scouts there. There is no doubt in my mind that if he had not been given the work ethic by his dad at a young age he would have never had the work ethic on the baseball field to be a second round pick of the Braves. Sometimes the best thing to help your kid on the baseball field has nothing to do with a ball and a bat. I sure do miss that kid. Several times I would show up at the field to get it ready and Matt would be there ready to rake, mow or line the field for me.

Coach May-

Loved your story.
A good work ethic always shines through.

I think this is a wonderful topic.
I truly appreciate Fungo and Coach May's responses.
They will definitely be shared with the boys at home!