I broke my nose this week playing basketball with a few friends at our local church. I love playing defense like I am 17 (I am twice as old). I don’t feel much older than 17 yet, but I wish that I had been playing defense like I was 50 and very overweight. I went for a steal while the offensive player’s back (and head) was turned to me. Right as I was about to swipe the ball, everything crushed into black. The offender turned quickly to the right, his head colliding into my trajectory, squarely into the side of my nose. I went down and started kicking my legs like I was 7 years old, my swollen and crooked nose bleeding onto the gym floor.
About a week later, the doctor gave me the bad news: you need surgery, you’ll need to plan on taking at least a week off of work, and you cannot play any contact sports for six weeks. I gave up Thanksgiving tackle football up a few years ago, so that didn’t matter, but basketball was also off the table. I asked the doctor’s assistant if skiing would be OK. The ski season with my kids and wife will be picking up perhaps in the middle of my six-week recovery. The answer was an adamant “no.” At least it’s only six weeks.
Every time I go to play basketball on Wednesday mornings, my subconscious mind wonders if I shouldn’t. Maybe I’ll tear my ACL, snap my ankle (as I have done in the past), or suffer some kind of back injury that puts me out of commission for weeks, months, or even years. I wonder if playing sports is worth it. (“Sports” to me, and as used in this post, means aggressive, usually team-oriented, activities where lateral movement and body contact heavily increase the likelihood of injuries.) I love “sports” like basketball and soccer, but I also love non-sports (remember the definition) like road running, trail running, mountain biking, snow skiing (I’ve never gotten hurt skiing, thank goodness), and more. I also love the ability to be active with my kids each day, going on short bike rides and hikes, swimming, shooting hoops, playing tag in the backyard, and playing hide-and-seek in the house—things that are very difficult after an injury and surgery—like my nose surgery next week. Right now, in addition to risking lost ski time, my wife and I are going on a trip in a couple weeks where swimming with our kids was one of the highlights. But this activity would place me in danger of a blow to the nose by one of my kids, so I’ll not be participating.
So I bring the question from my subconscious and battle it in the open. Should I give up sports, as defined above, so that I can be active longer and enjoy more recreational activity with my kids? Below I address several points, making the argument for giving up “sports” and the argument for not giving up sports. I’m not sure what way I’ll go in the future, after my minor nose problem heals, but maybe this exercise will help me be more committed one way or the other.
Will I be healthier if I focus on non-sporting activities?
Sports like basketball, soccer, and football are no healthier than non-sporting activities. In fact, activities like running and swimming are probably healthier. When I play basketball with friends for an hour, for example, my cardiovascular workout pales in comparison to an hour-long non-sporting cardiovascular workout for a number of reasons. If I am running or swimming, I am usually in the water or on the pavement the entire 60 minutes. I control my schedule, and I being and end right when I want. Unlike sports such as basketball or soccer, there are no delays while people trickle in before play begins, nobody has to sit out games due to uneven numbers, and there are no timeouts or water breaks—only constant activity. A 15-minute run gives me about as much health benefit as an hour of time dedicated to team sports.
If I only focus on non-sports, I am not going to be very motivated to exercise, I won’t get out of the house as much, and I’ll end up with 100 extra pounds of weight, heart disease, and an early exit from life. Yes, maybe a non-sport like running is a better bang for your buck in terms of calories burned, but it is not nearly as fun, interesting, social, tactical, and thrilling as a game of basketball with friends. The mere fact that I love sports so much more than non-sports makes them healthier because if all I had were non-sports, I would stay in the house more often and would be less healthy.
Are non-sports healthier for my family, especially when I have young kids?
Yes, especially if you have kids with a wide range of ages. Most non-sports are conducive to getting the whole family active and exercising. For example, even a toddler can go on a hike with the family. When his tired legs give out, he can jump in a backpack and give an adult a more intense workout. Also, toddlers can join in a run with the help of a running jogger. And the whole family can go on a bike ride with the help of biking trailers or a slower speed that younger riders can handle. The level of activity may need to decrease so that everyone can participate, but full family participation is much easier than team-oriented sports. I have no idea how you can truly include a toddler in a game of basketball, for instance. Full family participation equates to more family physical health.
Kids, like adults, are much more inclined to enjoy sports than they are non-sports—such as hiking and running. If you are trying to get your kids out from behind the television and into the world, they’ll be much more motivated to play a game of sports than they will be to do something that only makes them tired. For instance, kids will love the thrill and excitement of playing a game of soccer in a park more than they will the drudgery of a long and tiring hike—a physical activity where nobody scores, nobody develops specific sporting skills, and nobody makes the winning goal. If they don’t like the proposed activity, they’ll prefer to remain sedentary and will more likely become another case of child obesity, which plagues 1 in 6 kids.
Are sports more dangerous than non-sports, risking the short- or long-term ability of my family to be active?
Non-sports are clearly less dangerous than sports. I have never heard of anyone suffering an injury while swimming, for instance, and only freak accidents in running lead to broken bones or other injuries that force you into complete inactivity. In fact, these types of non-sport activities are nowhere to be found on lists documenting the most injury prone activities. Do your family a favor and focus on sports that won’t increase medical bills. Also do yourself a favor and focus on activities that won’t increase the likelihood of injuries that completely destroy your ability to be active. For instance, tearing your ACL is very common in sports like basketball, soccer, and football, and this type of injury will keep a younger person from being active for months. Recovery time for adults will likely be even longer, and the risk of reinjury will severely limit your ability to enjoy general physical activity. Be content with less injury-prone activities so that you can enjoy them for your entire life.
If you focus on injuries, you’ll never get out of the house. Life is to be lived, and you should focus on and enjoy the most physically rewarding and fun activities and sports, while still exercising common sense safety precautions. The fact that injuries may be less common in some sports does not necessarily make them more safe. For example, although it is difficult to be injured while swimming, more people drown and die in a pool than they do on a basketball court. And maybe you are less likely to twist an ankle playing soccer than you are road biking, but you are more likely to get hit by a car and die while biking than you are while kicking a soccer ball in a field. The reality is that you run the risk of bleeding and getting hurt no matter what activity you pick (unless it is sitting in front of the television), so do what you enjoy most. Injuries heal and life goes on, but if you don’t get out because your mom will only let you bike around the neighborhood with a helmet, with knee and elbow pads, during only low-traffic times, and while she is watching, you will not likely get out much and will instead be a very inactive and unhealthy person. This certain outcome is worse than the possible injuries you may sustain while being more active.
Will my family be happier if we focus on non-sporting activities rather than sports?
While fun to an extent, the more involved in team sports your family becomes, the more lopsided your family health and happiness may become. For example, if your family invests heavily in little Mikey’s soccer development, you’ll be taking him to and from practices during the week and games on the weekend. While it will be nice and exciting to watch him play, it won’t do as much for your family’s health and happiness as focusing on more family-oriented non-sporting activities. For instance, the entire family can go on a hike, enjoying the beauty of the outdoors and receiving the emotional rejuvenation of being in God’s creations. The family just doesn’t get these same benefits from watching Mikey play soccer from the sidelines. Similarly, if you play in an adult sport league as a parent, your kids will be the ones watching, not playing. You will also have less time to invest in playing and recreating with them since a good chunk, if not all, of your free time is dedicated to your team sport. Keep organized sports, where only one family member can play at a time, to a minimum. Focus on family-oriented activities where everyone can participate together, like skiing in the mountains or swimming at the beach.
If your kids never learn to play sports, they’ll embrace many non-active and unhealthy activities. When the sun is out, kids are meant to play basketball with the neighborhood kids or run to the local park to play soccer or tackle football with the local gang. Telling your kids to go on a run likely won’t get them out of the house. If all they know how to do is move their digits over a game controller, they may crack the top 100,000 in the world in their favorite electronic game, but they will miss out on many of the neighborhood activities. You don’t have to overload your kids or yourselves in team sports, but you should give them the training and skills that will help them enjoy sports more. If you kid plays on a soccer team a few months of the year, for example, he’ll enjoy soccer at recess better a year long, and he’ll be more willing to leave the house to play soccer with his friends at any season. And just because you are an adult doesn’t mean that you need to give up team sports and leagues, many of which won’t interfere heavily with your time with your kids. There are late-night indoor soccer leagues, for example, that have games when kids are winding down or asleep. Also, going to Dad’s soccer game at a park on Saturdays is a catalyst to the family enjoying some sunshine, running around on the grass, and playing with Dad on the playground after the game. And Dad’s love for sports will trickle down to his kids.
My Conclusion: Be Balanced and Attentive to My Family’s Needs, Talents, and Interests
The older I get, the more inclined I am to focus on more family-oriented activities and fewer team sports. This prevents me from again jacking up my ankle in soccer or from being the seventh or eighth of my siblings to tear an ACL (it runs in my family of twelve kids). Straying from team sports also helps keep my wife’s post-surgery knee from reinjury. She can run with relatively few injury hiccups, but sports are generally too strenuous on her knees. My wife and I enjoy many wonderful non-sports that I value so much and that don’t risk great injury.
At the same time, I love a good game of basketball on my own, even if I break my nose, and if I keep my sporting passions alive, this love inspires my own kids to be active and healthy. Yes, injuries will come. I am not going to let fear of injuries keep my kids from investing in sports that will help them learn teamwork and discipline. Bring on the risk of medical bills and the pain associated with surgery and recovery. My eight-year-old is in love with soccer, so I am going to develop that talent while getting the rest of your family active in other ways. I won’t let his soccer schedule rule our life. In fact, I’m investing heavily in helping my kids love family skiing outings, despite the bitter cold.
In conclusion, I am going to find a balanced approach that is right for my family, and I am probably going to let my own excitement for basketball take me back to the court in a couple months. I’ll be more excited about my kids’ team sports if I don’t abandon pickup games at my local church.