A Story of Parenting a Young Athlete
When Peter was in high school, he was the star of the varsity soccer team.
He grew up enjoying the game, and started seriously training around age fifteen.
Throughout his high school years, as he cultivated his athletic skills, Peter decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a professional soccer player, despite his parents protestations that he should focus on something more reliable.
During one of the last games of his senior year, Peter made one wrong move and ended up in the emergency with a swollen and painful knee.
When the doctor told him he had torn his ACL beyond repair, Peter knew he would never achieve his dream of becoming a professional athlete.
Twenty years later, Peter is now the proud father of another rising soccer star, his daughter Ella.
Ever since Ella could walk, Peter has been encouraging her to kick around the soccer ball with him, and now that she is on the high school varsity team herself, Ella seems even more talented than Peter was in his glory days.
He is Ella's biggest fan, and he can always be found on the sidelines cheering and motivating her towards victory.
Though Ella's mother is also very proud of her daughter's athletic achievements, she has always encouraged Ella to cultivate other skills as well and maintain friendships outside of the soccer team.
When a scout from University of North Carolina recently expressed interest in offering a position to Ella, Peter immediately imagined his daughter leading this excellent team to victory.
While Ella was flattered, she considered her other priorities and decided to pursue a law degree from Harvard instead.
Ella had sometimes dreamed of following the footsteps of her heroine, Mia Hamm, but knew that she had a greater interest in eventually becoming a human rights lawyer.
At first, Peter was crushed.
He had hoped that his own failures could be rectified by his daughter's success, but she had chosen a different path and he needed to accept that.
Peter's wife reminded him that Ella was a well-rounded girl and that she would do well if she continued to listen to her heart like this.
Instead of placing his own regrets on his daughter, Peter congratulated Ella for being accepted to such a competitive school, and encouraged her to keep playing soccer occasionally as a fun distraction from schoolwork.
Like many parents, Peter's dreams for his daughter were colored by his own desires instead of a simple interest in her well-being.
Often when we think we are simply encouraging our children, we harbor ulterior motives that we need to acknowledge.
There is nothing wrong with having hopes and dreams for our children, but ultimately we need to encourage children to follow their own dreams.
By deferring to her choice, Peter demonstrated his respect for his growing daughter, and motivated her to keep challenging herself in new ways.
In the end, Ella found the most encouragement in the knowledge that her parents supported her in all her endeavors, and that security was an even greater motivator than all of Peter's enthusiastic cheers from the bleachers.
He grew up enjoying the game, and started seriously training around age fifteen.
Throughout his high school years, as he cultivated his athletic skills, Peter decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a professional soccer player, despite his parents protestations that he should focus on something more reliable.
During one of the last games of his senior year, Peter made one wrong move and ended up in the emergency with a swollen and painful knee.
When the doctor told him he had torn his ACL beyond repair, Peter knew he would never achieve his dream of becoming a professional athlete.
Twenty years later, Peter is now the proud father of another rising soccer star, his daughter Ella.
Ever since Ella could walk, Peter has been encouraging her to kick around the soccer ball with him, and now that she is on the high school varsity team herself, Ella seems even more talented than Peter was in his glory days.
He is Ella's biggest fan, and he can always be found on the sidelines cheering and motivating her towards victory.
Though Ella's mother is also very proud of her daughter's athletic achievements, she has always encouraged Ella to cultivate other skills as well and maintain friendships outside of the soccer team.
When a scout from University of North Carolina recently expressed interest in offering a position to Ella, Peter immediately imagined his daughter leading this excellent team to victory.
While Ella was flattered, she considered her other priorities and decided to pursue a law degree from Harvard instead.
Ella had sometimes dreamed of following the footsteps of her heroine, Mia Hamm, but knew that she had a greater interest in eventually becoming a human rights lawyer.
At first, Peter was crushed.
He had hoped that his own failures could be rectified by his daughter's success, but she had chosen a different path and he needed to accept that.
Peter's wife reminded him that Ella was a well-rounded girl and that she would do well if she continued to listen to her heart like this.
Instead of placing his own regrets on his daughter, Peter congratulated Ella for being accepted to such a competitive school, and encouraged her to keep playing soccer occasionally as a fun distraction from schoolwork.
Like many parents, Peter's dreams for his daughter were colored by his own desires instead of a simple interest in her well-being.
Often when we think we are simply encouraging our children, we harbor ulterior motives that we need to acknowledge.
There is nothing wrong with having hopes and dreams for our children, but ultimately we need to encourage children to follow their own dreams.
By deferring to her choice, Peter demonstrated his respect for his growing daughter, and motivated her to keep challenging herself in new ways.
In the end, Ella found the most encouragement in the knowledge that her parents supported her in all her endeavors, and that security was an even greater motivator than all of Peter's enthusiastic cheers from the bleachers.