Don’t forget, it’s important to have fun
This past weekend I was at a retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains
with high school students from my local church. While most of the
weekend was focused on religion, the kids had free time throughout
the day. During that unscheduled time, the kids went outside and
played around.
Don’t forget, it’s important to have fun
This past weekend I was at a retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains with high school students from my local church. While most of the weekend was focused on religion, the kids had free time throughout the day. During that unscheduled time, the kids went outside and played around.
Whether it was pick-up games of volleyball or basketball, hiking around the trails, playing tetherball, or even foosball all of the kids were active. Granted there was some competitiveness involved in the activities, but mostly the kids were out there just having fun.
Sometimes the competitive nature of teenagers can take over and the fun of playing and being active is almost forgotten.
Whether it is in Little League, high school, or college sports, one of the keys to the game is to have fun.
Even in professional sports, you hear coaches say to their players to “go out there and just have fun with it.” And if you pay real close attention, those coaches are the coaches that have great success in their careers because their players enjoy playing for them.
If fun is that important to teams and players that play professionally, then it is just as important, if not more, to have fun while playing sports recreationally.
I saw a prime example of having fun playing sports for pure entertainment this weekend.
There was no organization or teams, just a bunch of teenage boys and girls playing sports and having fun, laughing and poking fun at each other while they joyfully competed against one another. That is what having fun is all about.
It did not matter what sport or activity they were participating in – it just mattered that they were having fun.
Many of the kids put together a game of volleyball. While some of them wanted to win, they realized that they were just out there having fun. Kids were laughing at each other as they dove into the sand to try and save the volleyball from hitting the ground. In the end, no one really knew who won they just knew that they had fun.
Others decided to shoot some hoops, seeing which one could hit the farthest or craziest shot imaginable. And if they missed, the others would laugh and jeer at each other. Others actually played a pick-up game. The competitive nature was intensified slightly as the teams were separated into kids on the high school team versus kids that just wanted to play.
Even though there was a little more competition, all of the kids still had fun. And that is what counts.
Some kids were even goofing around playing tetherball or foosball, with laughs and jokes flying back and forth as they played. Nothing else mattered as long as they were having fun.
Some of the kids that were ‘too cool’ to play those games went on hikes up mountain trails. What they didn’t realize is that they were having fun being active also. Being out in nature and hiking is something they hardly experience and that was fun for them.
There was little competitiveness to the nature of these activities and they might not have realized it, but those kids were quite possibly having the time of their life.
The aspect of fun is so imperative to the kids’ lives and it is an awesome sight when sports can give that.
Sports are competitive yes, but, they should also be fun. And that is what this weekend was, fun – enjoyable, relaxing, physically active fun.
