I was never a sportsy kid – I didn’t play sports, I didn’t watch sports, I didn’t care about sports – sports-ing was for other kids, keeners. But all that changed once I had kids of my own.
My children inherited their father’s natural co-ordination and balance, they were good at any sport they chose to practice (being able to play a sport is one thing, being good at it takes practice even for a ‘natural’). I drove to a lot of practices back in the day, watched a lot of games and competitions and races and found out I actually really enjoyed sports. I found out I was a ‘natural’ watcher-cheerer and I became the best damn fan you’ve ever seen (or heard) because I practiced too.
I’ve been taking my natural cheering ability to my granddaughters’ soccer games these past few weeks and I’m learning something new about myself – I really like soccer! This comes as somewhat of a surprise to everyone – I was never a soccer-mom. Soccer is a rain or shine sport played outside in mostly rain here on the coast – it’s wet and cold. Soccer didn’t make the cut when we were introducing sports to our kids – watching grandchildren play soccer is another story.
One of my granddaughters informed her mother at the start of the season that she would like to limit her cheering section to eight people – anything above that would be embarrassing. We can usually squeak under the limit but between Gramma and Nana and Mom and Dad and a couple of aunties accompanied by some uncles sometimes it’s hard, especially if a sister or a cousin want to join in the fun. (Cheering is a sport unto itself – the number of cheerers on a team varies as does the velocity of the cheering – Gramma is generally the captain).
Sports-ing is about more than playing the sport – it’s about participation, being engaged and interested. It turns out I’m as good at cheering for soccer as I was at cheering for baseball, hockey, precision skating, snowboarding, skiing, golfing, eventing…. It turns out I actually do like sports-ing. I like showing up. I like being counted on. I like that it’s not a surprise to my grandchildren that I like whatever it is they’re participating in and they can count on me to be the best watcher-cheerer in the crowd. I like that we can do the sports-ing together.