The family that plays together, stays together. It’s a cliché, but I’ve also found it to be true. And not only the family you’re born into, but the family you choose – your friends.
My family is a baseball family, but any sport can serve this purpose, making you more resilient, healthier and engaged.
This past weekend, my 30-year-old daughter played in a women’s softball provincial championship, on a team I help coach, with some players she’s played with since elementary school. They’ve quite literally grown up together, and the community created by the players, coaches and volunteers is warm and supportive. We’ve seen the players grow from little ones afraid to swing the bat or unable to get a strike across the plate to strong women who can pitch three games in one day or hit home runs over the fence.
The older we get, the more fun we are all having.
Tournaments like these only happen because of dedicated volunteers, umpires and concession staff and those amazing folks have grown to become family too.
When the games end, the girls – women now – don’t want to leave the park. This year, they ended up ordering dinner to the park and stayed until it was almost dark, just enjoying each other’s company.
But baseball has been much more than just that team for us. Our family has gone on road trips to MLB stadiums, with a goal of visiting all 30 one day. So far, I’m up to 12, with two more slated for a family trip this summer.
B.C. author W.P. Kinsella, who wrote the book that would become the 1989 movie A Field of Dreams, loved the sport.
“Baseball is the most perfect of games, solid, true, pure and precious as diamonds. If only life were so simple,” he wrote.
I interviewed Kinsella once, when I was books editor at the Vancouver Sun. He told me he loved the infinity of baseball – how the foul line in theory goes forever and the true game has no time limits. He likened baseball to snowflakes and fingerprints, saying no two games are ever the same.
Yes, I’m a baseball girl, but I would argue that it doesn’t matter what sport you play, just give it your all and it will give back. Play, yes, but also volunteer. Get involved in the organization. Meet the people. Everything you give will be returned, one thousand times.
Of course, there are the health benefits of being active, but those only scratch the surface of what you and your family can get out of sports. The World Health Organization says regular physical activity helps prevent and treat diseases ranging from heart disease to diabetes to cancer.
“It also helps prevent hypertension, overweight and obesity and can improve mental health, quality of life and well-being,” the WHO says. I would add untold benefits to that list including being able to organize your time, learning empathy and humility, being a leader or being a team player and so much more.
You’re never too old for sports. My mom and my father-in-law are in their 80s. They got involved in lawn bowling in their 70s, both playing and as active members of the organization. The benefits they get from this sport are huge and they go way beyond physical fitness – they’ve got a social community of peers that keeps them engaged, active and having fun.
Despite all these wonderful benefits, levels of inactivity are increasing, along with technology, urbanization and changing transportation, the WHO says. Don’t let yourself be counted among the inactive. It can be as easy as asking a friend to join you on a walk. You won’t regret it.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
