When I was in high school, February, the shortest month in days, often seemed to drag on forever. Spring break seemed like a mirage on the distant horizon. The cold weather, the lack of holidays (except for Presidents’ Day), and the drudgery of the repetitive school day at this point in the academic year weighed on me. I longed for snow days and a change to shake up the monotony.
I am not sure that I can describe our current February as monotonous. The shifting and ever-changing political landscape, the rampant flu season, the temperature changes from brutal cold to shorts weather, and the heightened pressure to move through AP curricula because of lost days to ice and snow have made this February anything but boring. I still find, though, that what students need most and what they are often lacking at this time of year is resilience, the very same quality that I needed back in the day to survive February.
Fortunately, spring sports start their practice seasons in February and foreshadow approaching light. I have written blogs in the past about the importance of sports in today’s world for our high school children, and spring may be the most important season for sports because it revives students, refocuses them, and directs them to finish the year in stride at a time when, I believe, all students need some adrenaline.
High school sports have become increasingly competitive over the years. Because students are starting sports at tender ages and honing their expertise for a particular sport through travel teams and summer camps, many of our children feel squeezed out of the opportunity to participate on high school teams. Nevertheless, trying out for a team and failing or signing up for a club sport are important ways that our children can build grit. Nothing, in my experience, instills doggedness like athletics, and sadly, perseverance is lacking in much of our youth. Resilience is borne on the sports field. Everyone knows that sports is where a student builds fortitude, which is exactly why every high school teen should, in my opinion, experience a sport.
So many of our children lack confidence. So many of our children suffer from anxiety. So many of our children succumb to avoiding work. So many of our children are out of shape. Conversely, a few of our children actually think too highly of themselves. Each of these deficits, though, can be overcome through sports. If “there’s no crying in baseball,” as Tom Hanks proclaimed in A League of Their Own, than that is because children need to toughen up a bit. The world can be dark and cold – especially in February – but our children need to learn that the little failures, such as bobbling a ball, missing a goal, or veering off course, can almost always be overcome. Perhaps more significantly, these failures are vital to experience.
The time is nigh to get our children out of their rooms and onto the field. Sports is not only the antidote to seasonal depression and other ailments, but it is also the pathway to transform self-image and to instill confidence.