March Madness Goes All Year Long

March Madness refers to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament where 68 teams play pretty much round the clock for three weeks to end the season.  I don’t know how they can call that madness because for parents of children playing sports, the madness seems to last all year long.

This was our first school year playing a travel league sport and it was a far bigger commitment on our part as parents than it was for the kids. 

While I thought we did really good when at least one of us attended all of the games, the commitment of parents with several kids playing multiple sports truly amazes me.  I am not sure how they function as a household and as employed adults trying to combine the insane schedules of several child athletes.

As your children get older, I guess that’s one of those things you have to learn by experience.  In our case, the hard way.

We started in the fall with both girls playing softball. Since softball is generally a spring sport, there weren’t enough teams within our district to have enough competition, so our team was part of a greater Pittsburgh travel league.  Due to the shorter season, most all of the games were double headers.

For 7 and 8-year olds, there is no such thing as double header. When they’re done, they’re done.  This was my husband’s first time coaching and he quickly learned when the girls got tired, frustrated, hot, cold, itchy, dirty, and just plain bored, it was time to call it quits. The older girls fared much better but the days were long sitting in the stands.

Our tag team approach where he did the actual coaching and I handled all of the scheduling and communications worked out well.  I thought my job was harder until I tried to manage a practice on my own and was rescued by a few dads in the stands.

We made it through just in time for basketball tryouts. 

I don’t know why I thought basketball would be easier. The games are less than an hour and the weather isn’t a factor.

The regular league games and practices were generally one of each per week.  The hard part was our team entered into at least six tournaments that consisted of 3 to 5 games each, the majority of which were played in one weekend.  Some of these were about 45 minutes away and took all day because games would be scheduled at 10 am and 2 pm, not leaving enough time in between to return home.  

When the final game ended last week, I thought I would be so happy I wouldn’t have to do all that again. Wrong.  Spring softball ramps up in April and runs through June.

So here I am again thinking it will be easier since it’s our second time around. Why am I doing this, I ask?  Who wants to give up their sleep, torture their kids to get them up for soccer at 8:30, and then head to softball the rest of the day? 

I do.  And so do many other moms in our community who drive to practice, wash the uniforms, kiss the boo-boos, and plan the fundraisers so our kids can play sports.  

My kids are not the best athletes on the team. They like it, they try hard and want to get better and I think it’s good for soooo many reasons.

I am not one of the parents overcommiting my kids and counting on college scholarships. Nor am I the one that lets them miss a practice without a good reason. They make the choices and we as parents just make it possible for them to play and learn.

With a short break before next season, I can reflect on what we did well and what we need to work on to maintain that ever sought after BALANCE.

Sports helped to keep us all organized in getting homework done after school or in advance.  As parents we learned to “divide and conquer” more often and have everything packed to get out of the house in 10 minutes or less. My youngest even learned to initiate other plans on her own to get out of coming to all the games.

We also wore a few too many dirty uniforms, ate unhealthy fast food meals, and got lost on a regular basis this year. But we live and learn.

With one season coming to a close, I can easily say the commitment was worth it. Not just for what it does for them, but also what it did for me. I didn’t realize that their game, was my game too and I got to feel all of the emotion that they do when they get up to bat, go to the foul line, or lose by one point in the championship.

A really easy decision on how to spend a couple hundred free hours each year.