Upon Further Review: End of high school career is emotional
I’m usually not a very emotional person. But as high school ball starts its final two weeks of play and graduation is just around the corner, I can’t help but feel sad this year.
I’ve watched many kids end their high school careers and seen many parents become very emotional as their kid graduates.
I never thought I would be going through the same emotions that I watched others go through. But yes, the time is here, and now I have a high school athlete graduating.
Softball honored its seniors Tuesday night and it was truly a hard thing to go through as a parent.
Back this fall we went through the same process with Candace on senior night for volleyball. It was touching, and I knew she was playing her last game for the high school. And yes, there were a few tears.
But somehow, it wasn’t the same as Tuesday night. Maybe it’s because not only is her participation in high school sports over, but the realization of graduation has set in.
As a parent who has played sports, I’ve always taken great pride in competition. Back before my kids were born, I dreamed of the day when I would have kids playing ball.
When your kids are born all dads dream of seeing their kids out on the field running and playing. Some have visions of high school stars, others see the next Larry Bird or Venus Williams.
Yes, I too had those visions. But as my kids reached T-ball age and little league age I knew they were going to be at best average and that was fine with me.
Candace, who will be graduating in a few weeks, loved to play softball and soccer and we enjoyed all those years going to the ball fields. Teresa and I would get out and work with her and helped her improve her skills. But we never pushed anything on her and required one thing. If you start a sport, you finish it — no quitting. We never pressured her, we let her play and learn.
I have watched too many parents push their kids so hard that the kid sometimes loses interest, and what could have been a good ball player turned out to be average or decided not to play.
It may not work for all, but as I look back, Candace made the decisions to work hard and improve — not me. She picked up the game of volleyball when she went to high school. She had never played before but she fell in love with the game and started working hard, trying to improve by listening to Coach Fisher and taking extra time to work on her game.
She worked hard and I let the coach do his job, and after four years of dedication her hard work was rewarded with a volleyball scholarship. She did it on her own and I could not be prouder.
As senior night rolled around for softball, I couldn’t help but reflect on what she had accomplished over the past 17 years.
I watched a young girl who was sometimes not the best player on the field mature into a solid athlete. Just two years ago she was at best just an average softball player getting little playing time. She continued to work and over the past two years has become one of the leaders on the team.
Sometimes I thought maybe I wasn’t pushing her hard enough or making her work harder at sports. But if I had done anything more, it would be because I was trying to live out my dream, instead of letting Candace reach her own goals.
Like I said, I usually don’t get to emotional about things. But I couldn’t help but wipe the tears from my eyes Tuesday night as I reflected on Candace’s accomplishments during senior night. I must say, I am one proud dad.