I’ve been spending a lot of time watching my kids play sports lately, and honestly, I love it. But to tell the whole truth, there are times when I’ve wrestled with the sheer extent of it. I used to feel like I was spending way too much time on the sidelines, but since I’ve recently been able to work regular exercise and mountain hiking into my weekly routine again, I’m now able to more fully embrace the spectacle of youth sports.
It’s not that I didn’t like watching their sports before; on the contrary, I thought it was great. Well, most of the time. But with four kids and a constant assault of club sports, school sports, and lessons in between, it sometimes felt a little like Groundhog Day with no real direction, and that the primary achievement of youth sports was to eliminate my own chances to exercise and feel good about myself.
Rebelling the Sidelines
But I started getting away. First, I went for runs during my kids’ practices, which initially raised eyebrows and some questions. I could feel the other parents judging me with their eyes: Where do you think you’re going? But eventually, others started doing the same, as if they just needed someone else to show them it’s okay—you’re still a good parent even if you don’t watch every single thing your kid does.
I’m lucky, though. Because of my schedule, I’m able to take my kids to their practices and games in the first place, while also finally making time to exercise myself. It only took twenty-six years to get here! But really, it shouldn’t take that long. As a culture, we need to find a way to give adults the time to take care of themselves first—like the way airplane safety briefings tell us to put on our own oxygen masks before helping a child.
Proposal for the World: Mandatory Sports for all Employees
So, nations of the earth, I’d like to make a proposal: mandatory sports requirements for all working adults. After spending so much time on the sidelines—where my kids have to play sports for their physical and mental well-being—it occurs to me that, somewhere along the line, society decided adults don’t need exercise anymore. This is something we all intrinsically know, but don’t do anything about.
Instead, we reward our children’s high school years of athletic service with a certificate and a license to stop what they’re doing, go to college, grab a six-pack on the weekends (at least), sit on their rears and study for four years (or not, and just keep drinking), and then spend the rest of their lives behind a desk. It all seems fine until you actually write it out like that. What a terrible system!
One Problem at a Time
I’m not ready to tackle college yet, so let’s just focus on this sports thing. I don’t think it should be too hard for companies to bake in a little mandatory exercise time for every employee each day. I bet their productivity would even go up. People don’t even have to play on a team or hit the gym—they could go for a walk, take a yoga class, do anything—but it should be encouraged to be active. Not just use the time to sit around, reading a book (and this is coming from a guy who likes to read).
I don’t want this to be a totalitarian system, but just sayin’: we all need more exercise. The 9–5, 8–6, 7–3, 7–7 work shifts, etc., need an hour break each day to move. Play. Feel connected again. Otherwise, we’re gonna lose it. Maybe that’s why everything feels so unhinged the last several years: everyone’s been trapped behind desks and screens for far too long.
Alright, that’s it. I’m outta here—off to the next kid’s practice and I’m taking my running sneakers with me. Oh wait, it’s a long practice. Maybe I’ll take the hiking boots…
By the way, asking AI to generate images for this post was fun. Telling it to “make a photo with a bunch of adults playing sports” led to some wild takes. One picture looked like a woman was going to take off a dude’s head with a bat!