Though I’d like to think that I’m raising the purest of endurance athletes with a passion for lifelong sports, my people are their own. They are curiously drawn to skateboarding and skateparks, as much as they are drawn to trail running, Nordic skiing, and swimming. If the kids’ adventurous uncle didn’t have an arm full of metal post-skateboarding accident, I might not cringe each and every time my kids mention the word ‘skateboard.’
But thanks to an inspiring conversation with my son’s Lacrosse camp coach one summer, who happens to believe that young kids should be exposed to a wide range of sports rather than strongly pushed into one sport early on, I’ve chilled out a bit when I hear my kids asking to do sports or activities that are ones that I’m less than excited to have them try or play. Just because they want to skateboard today, doesn’t mean they’ll want to skateboard tomorrow or when they’re 80–and if they do, is there really anything wrong with that, other than my mom worry that they’ll get hurt?
When kids try a wide variety of sports, kids get a chance to figure out what they like, what they’re good at, and develop important life skills. It’s hard to argue against physical activity, movement, agility, self-confidence, and fun gained from a sport–yep, even skateboarding (especially after the kids are fully armored up in lots and lots of safety gear). 😉
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