Originally posted on Urban Parent
Who is your favorite sports team? Do you have several?
Everyone seems to have at least one on some level.
The one team that gets our attention and brings us great join and even greater pain.
But how did you pick it? Was it recent or have you been a fan since your childhood?
For me, my dad was pretty new to Canada, so he did not have an allegiance yet. He loved English soccer for sure, but there was no connection with North American sport past knowing who the teams were.
So, for me as a boy, the world was wide open to pick the team I was going to love.
Growing up in SW Ontario, you would think I would have sided with a team from Toronto or Detroit. Nope, I was different.
My longest running bond with a pro sports team is with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL. I have been a fan of them since I was 10.
Second longest would be my love of Michigan basketball, which started around the same time and makes more geographical sense.
It got me hooked on hoops to the point of playing it for the next several years.
That same University of Michigan team is where I am now seeing the next line of sports fans grow. My boys.
Our oldest son, who is four, now loves Michigan. He has the t-shirt, watches the games and gets pretty excited every time the yellow team puts it in the basket.
It is cute to see, but I even know deep down that he is not really a fan of the team. He is a fan of what I like. Dad likes something, of course the kids are also going to like it at a young age.
I would love for this to stick. Years of watching games together and arguing over who the best players are.
But I predict in a few years, he will start loving his own teams and players.
He loves the Toronto Blue Jays as well because his Nana is a big fan.
Seems young kids are impressionable. Of course they are.
It’s not like they are going to just pick out a team one day. They need a little nudge of whom to like.
I guess I can only hope he never grows up to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
There I said it. Leave your hate in the comments below.
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If i were to encourage my sons to love sports, which i definitely will,
i would rather encourage them to love practical sports that they take part of, and can use in their life.
like “JUDO” for example, they would exercise, keep up a healthy life-style be fit and can use it for self-defense in case of the worse, it would also teach them self control, respect and boost their confidence etc..
I know after-all sports is matter of taste, but this is my personal thoughts on sports for me and my kids,
Many thanks and Best wishes!
Calm! It’s not about hate, but reason.
Like Mitch said in the comment above, I would rather that my children were dedicated to other sports.
Football is not the most complete sport and out of the 4 lines, do not have anything intelligent. As parents, the responsibility to make better and our people.
Thanks for sharing this awsome article. really father and son relationship is very heartly. Our parent play important role in our life.
Nice post
It is sure that children are truly impressionable. They tend to do the same as they see. Even children learn many things by watching others do especially the people who are close to them.
At a young age they do not have that much knowledge of picking up a particular team or player so they tend to do the same as the people near to them do.Like their father, elder brother or nay uncle etc. But after a certain age they start picking up their own team and players.This si very common and general thing.
It is best if children has their taste or interest in sports. It helps them do grow well , helps them to stay healthy and fit. The best thing we can do is to allow them to pick up the sport they want.
Thank you for sharing