Not “Just Sports”

It’s a fine line between excessive focus on a sport or sport(s) and a healthy level of commitment. I don’t think that I’m alone in growing up with the dream, or perhaps delusional thought, that I’d become a professional athlete some-day. It should have been apparent that the chances of a lucrative golf or hockey career weren’t likely: After all I was always one of, if not the shortest kids on any team I played on:) Two things are certain though, sports gave me a chance to develop commitment, learn disciplined hard work, and perhaps most important, develop some of the strongest relationships of my life. Now in a perfect world the effort and enthusiasm I showed for athletics would have been mirrored in the classroom. Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly show proportionally equal effort in my academics.

The point I’m trying to make is not that an oversized focus on sports at the expense of academic achievement is ideal; rather that, a child’s passion for a sport shouldn’t be dismissed as unimportant. In fact, this principle applies just as much for a student devoted to art, whether that be music, visual arts, or theatre. The goal should always be to allow individuals to find their passions and develop the ability to commit to learning a skill. It’s kind of like when someone talks about college as being a place where learning to learn is almost as important as the subject selected itself.

So what prompted a defense of scholastic sports helping to develop productive citizens in this post? After doing a little self-reflection on my 4:30 AM stroll with Clooney on a conversation I had working in a retail pet supply store yesterday, I couldn’t help but be filled with gratitude. The absolutely beautiful weather seemed to have Portsmouth’s residents busy with outdoor activities. The slower consumer traffic allowed for more in-depth conversations with pet owners rather than the often time sensitive elevator pitch.

I was talking with a really pleasant married couple who, as often happens, wanted to know how, why, and where we donate 100% of RAWZ Natural Pet Food’s profits to? I talked about the genesis of RAWZ in the first person and explained our commitment to improving the lives of brain injury survivors. The husband, Bill, was extremely complimentary about my recovery, explaining that he watched a close friend’s arduous stroke recovery, saying, “you must be one hard worker!” He was amazed as I admitted that I was not the hardest worker in school and that high scores for effort grades weren’t my strong suit. “Well then, how to you explain your progress?” asked Bill.

I certainly am grateful for my gains in recovery and explained how my brain injury recovery involves tremendous support from friends, family, and the amazing work of many therapists. When Bill asked me what motivated me and kept me working hard over the years I really had to pause, after all, it didn’t really make sense: A historically lazy kid suddenly becomes dedicated to what is truly a lifelong process of improving his functioning in the world.

“Well, all I can think of is that between an unbelievable support network and the fact I was so used to going to practice for whatever the sport of the season was and working hard, that I didn’t really think about it.” I chuckled, as I often do at my own humor, when I noted that very much like the Nike ad; when it came to my brain injury recovery, I had no other choice than to, “Just do it”!