REPORTER JESSE COOK: IT’S NO SECRET THAT FAILURE IS A PART OF SPORTS AND LIFE… SUCCESS IS TOO, BUT THOSE PITFALLS AMIDST THE COMPETITION CAN DRIVE KIDS AWAY…
JAMESVILLE-DEWITT GIRLS’ LACROSSE COACH TRACY PARKER: “It’s tricky… I think youth sports is at a crossroads…”
COOK: TRACY PARKER IS THE GIRLS LACROSSE COACH AT JAMESVILLE-DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL, AND SHE WAS AN ALL-AMERICAN FIELD HOCKEY PLAYER AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY IN THE LATE NINETIES…
PARKER: “There’s some self-doubt sometimes that if I’m not doing x, y, z club that I might not be good enough…”
COOK: IT’S NOT JUST COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS… TO S-U ICE HOCKEY FORWARD SARAH THOMPSON, SOMETIMES IT’S THE SIMPLE STRUGGLES…
SYRACUSE WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY FORWARD SARAH THOMPSON: “It’s not easy to get up as early as six a-m…”
COOK: AND WITH THOSE EARLY MORNINGS COMES IMPORTANT LESSONS…
SPORT PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR DR. JEFF PAULINE: “Great opportunities just with how to build friendships, how to deal when things don’t go well because Lord knows in sports not everything goes well…”
COOK: DOCTOR JEFF PAULINE IS A PROFESSOR OF SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY AT SYRACUSE, AND HE WAS AN ATHLETE TOO… THE FORMER TENNIS PLAYER IS MARRIED TO A FORMER SWIMMER, AND BOTH THEIR KIDS PLAY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS… IF YOU ASK AROUND, THERE’S ONE COMMON THEME TO KEEPING KIDS IN THE GAME…
PAULINE: “They want to have fun.”
THOMPSON: “You know, I think my teammates…”
COOK: So what keeps school sports teams like the J-D girls lacrosse squad coming out to practice out of season on a rainy Saturday in October?… It’s not a trick question… It’s a love for the game, a love for competition, it’s a love for teammates, and maybe, just maybe, the coaching staff has something to do with that…
PARKER: “Well I was fortunate, there was two major things… I grew up in a small town… I had unbelievable high school coaches…”
PAULINE: “Hopefully what we have, too, is quality adult leadership…”
COOK: THOSE LESSONS EXPAND BEYOND THE GAME, BUT HOW LONG DO THEY LAST?… N-B-C’S YOUTH SPORTS OUTLET SPORTSENGINE SAYS THAT SEVENTY PERCENT OF KIDS QUIT BY THEIR TEENAGE YEARS… TO COACH PARKER, A SPORTS EDUCATION IS VITAL IN ADOLESCENCE…
PARKER: “There’s just something about the dynamic of a team and those friendships and those bonds and those lessons that you learn that you take with you for life, and I think those are important things that we’re trying to help recruit kids to stay in sports so that they can experience that…”
COOK: FROM THE CHECKPOINT BETWEEN ON THE FIELD AND OFF, I’M JESSE COOK, N-C-C NEWS…
