It’s been my pleasure to work with several different teams over the past few years and I couldn’t help but notice that one of the dad’s never sat with the other parents at the games. While the crowd was right behind the backstop, “cheering” loudly, he lofted around, usually down the foul line but occasionally out behind the outfield fence.
So being the smart-aleck that I am, I asked him one day, “Sitting with all your friends?” and his response was classic. I expected some sort of smart-aleck response but what he said was much more serious and in some ways a little sad.
“I don’t sit with the other parents because I don’t like their energy,” he said. “I don’t need to sit with people who spend the entire game questioning the coaches, attacking the umpires and questioning everything that these kids do.”
I’m not sure what the look on my face was after that statement but he followed up with, “”I’m here to support my kid, support her teammates and enjoy the games. If we win, great. If we don’t, no big deal. I just love to watch my kid play.”
Sounds like pretty good advice to me. Too bad more people don’t see it that way.