Who wants to be a substitute? Anyone? Silly question right? Playing a sport means you want to run, not sit down; you’re there to play, not watch.
Even moreso as a parent, you don’t want your child sitting on the sideline. You came to watch them play, not be in the same place as you, a spectator, an outsider, out of the action. It’s just not fair. Your child is much better than anyone else out there. Doesn’t that coach realise how they’re scarring your child? Your child needs game time, not rejection. That’s it, go somewhere else, so your child doesn’t have to be exposed to this nonsense and you can get your money’s worth.
I remember asking my mother what it was like for her when I was a substitute. She reminded me how at 14, a crucial year in my development, I made the Sydney Olympic women’s squad. What a privilege! One of the top teams in the comp, the one which would go on to win that year. And I was only 14! What an achievement!
What I’d forgotten was that I spent the whole year as a substitute. Mum said, I averaged ten minutes a game over the season. Sometimes twenty minutes, sometimes five.
“Why do you remember that so clearly?’ I asked, knowing I could hardly think back that far.
“I remember the feelings I had. I was so torn, seeing you on the sideline. I knew you should’ve been out there playing. I wanted to say something to the coach, I was going to…but I didn’t. It was the coach’s decision. I didn’t like it, but I had to respect it.
Wow, I was a lucky kid. No wonder I made the level I did and had the hunger to be better, driven by challenges, and still am. Thanks mum.
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