The Unknown Parent is a series of musings for Sports360AZ.com from an anonymous parent of athletes. The parent is an Arizona high school sports fan from their time involved in education, coaching and athletics. Want to have your questions or comments featured in future articles? Email TheUnknownParentAZ@gmail.com.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably curious about who I am. I can’t answer that outright. That would certainly be against the entire gimmick of being an anonymous columnist.
Here’s what I can tell you. I’m a parent of athletes. They’re all still in school. I was a multi-sport athlete in the state of Arizona. I began working in education and youth sports while still in high school. I’ve worked in youth sports in some capacity for almost 30 years now. That work has made me a fan of the athletes in this state, and some of the people who tell the athlete’s stories.
I’ve often felt that there aren’t many doing more to spread the love of Arizona high school athletics than Sports360AZ. They focus on human interest, and mental health, and overcoming adversity, while still telling the big stories about the star players. So I approached the founder, Brad Cesmat, about telling some stories from the perspective of a parent who is trying to navigate the time, travel, expense, patience, as well as the mental and physical toll of raising up young athletes.
He said yes, so here we are.
What is my purpose here? Why write an anonymous column? Well, there are a lot of stories told about the programs themselves- but parents/guardians are the lifeblood of these programs, we’re the (sometimes) silent majority making this whole industry run- in the name of character development, teamwork, and the greater good.
OK, so some of us do it for vicarious glory. I won’t name names (I’ve already established that I won’t even tell you my name), but we can all think of someone in our circle who is hoping athletic excellence in their DNA’s down line fills a hole in their spirit that was there before their child was even born.
But most of us are just trying to facilitate a good time for our children and community. It’s a scary world, and the courts and fields in Arizona are a great place for children to play, bond, compete, overcome, and gain experience navigating life lessons that will be reinforced in their homes, workplaces, churches, and social circles over and over again. Lessons like “life isn’t fair,” or “on to the next play,” or “pick your brother/sister up,” or “you can’t do it alone,” or “it’s not over until it’s over,” or sometimes even “secure your belongings unless you want them to go missing.”
At the end of the day, parents have opinions and feelings too. I’m going to use this column to express some of those opinions and feelings throughout the school year about my own experiences, as well as the topical stories that come up throughout the state. The intent of this is never to be demeaning or to be a gossip. It’s simply about expression and representation.
So feel free to join me on this journey. Email me. I might even feature or respond to your thoughts in a future column.
And always remember, this column might be about us, but high school sports are not. Let’s try not to make headlines this year. : )
-The Unknown Parent
The post Debut – The Unknown Parent first appeared on Sports360AZ.
