My Goallllll for Norbit

In honor of the 2010 World Cup that concluded yesterday and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game taking place tomorrow, I thought about the importance athletics have played in my life and how I hope they will have a positive impact on Norbit's too.

My parents were wonderful 'sports parents,' waking up as early as 5:30 am on the weekends, driving, attending and rooting for me at all my games as a youngster. They successfully walked that fine line of encouraging me, but never pushing me so hard that I stopped loving the sports I played. As a result, I tried baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball and other sports as early as age seven, and played many of them competitively for more than a dozen years.

In addition to the physical benefits (hand/eye coordination, learning how to run, kick, skate, catch, hit, throw, etc.) I also learned a lot of lessons about life through athletics: winning with class, losing with dignity, interacting with different kinds of people from different backgrounds, working together as a team, becoming a leader, respecting others and myself, self-discipline and compassion.

Another added bonus was that because I had been active in sports since I was young, by the time I entered high school I knew exponentially more kids than some of my classmates. Instantly having a bunch of friends and acquaintances who were my teammates in years past made what can often be a very scary transition (into high school) easy for me. Because of my early introduction to sports, I also became good enough at some of them to be elected captain of my high school teams. That not only made me more popular and confident during my teen years than I would have been otherwise (don't ask what's happened to me since,) but the extra curricular activities looked good on my transcript and helped me get into college.

What I'm trying to say is that I am 100% certain sports were the building blocks to whatever successes I've had in life. So it's pretty easy to see why I plan on making sure Norbit participates in as many sports as possible, as early as possible. Even if it means getting up at 5:30 am on the weekend.