7 Life Skills Learned From Baseball
My son has been playing baseball since he was 3. Yes, I know that’s ridiculous, and if I look back I realize how silly those 3 and 4 year old “clinics” were, but we sure did have fun! Fast forward 15 years and he’s now a high school graduate preparing to continue his playing career in college.
Sports in general teach our kids a lot. But baseball is unique. It’s a game of failure, statistically speaking. It’s both slow and fast. Calm and chaotic. “Boring” yet exciting. (Sidebar - I HATE when people call baseball boring…) The game really is a metaphor for life.
Here are some life lesson takeaways from the game we all love:
1) Good Citizenship/Sportsmanship - No real explanation needed here. We all know this is true.
2) Time Management/Organization Skills - This becomes especially true once they start driving themselves to practices and games. They need to factor in things like traffic, getting something to eat, picking up half the team…, etc. They understand the hoops parents need to go through to get you to school on time, and the adjustments everyone in the family makes to get it done.
3) Communication - being able to communicate effectively, calmly, and with purpose is something most adults still struggle with, but it’s good to hone your skills at an early age by learning how to talk to coaches, other players, umpires, teachers, etc.
4) Failure. Public failure. These days, not only do the fans, parents, players and college scouts watch as you strike out with the bases loaded, but there is technology everywhere, capturing every small detail of your entire at bat. And stats live forever in apps that can be seen by pretty much anyone. So it’s a good way to learn how to take your lumps, learn from them, and then move on.
5) Learning to Deal with Different Personalities - this is a big one, in my opinion. By the time your child gets to college, they will have been exposed to numerous types of people. The coach who screams or is difficult to approach. The arrogant player. The player who always, always hypes you up. The lazy umpire. It will help them immensely down the road.
6) The Value of a Dollar - the cost of equipment. The cost of lessons or team fees. The gas and hotel money required for a weekend tournament. Getting a part time job to help out, or watching mom or dad pick up an extra shift to pay for your destination tournament in Florida. Kids see more than we think, and including them in financial conversations related to their activities can be a real learning experience.
7) The Meaning of Family - if you’re lucky enough to be part of a team that feels like a family, then you know what I talking about. As the years go on, we spend more time with our baseball family than our actual family and it shows kids that there are many, wonderful ways to have “family” be part of your life, looking out for you, helping each other, and cheering you on.
I would love to hear other ways that baseball teaches our kids - share you thoughts in the comments!