I love youth sports but…

I wasn’t an athletic kid but I wasn’t too unathletic either. I did swimming when I was very young and then in my teen years participated in a couple of sports at my boarding school in England. I was mediocre at all of them. Like at every school, there were some kids who were either gifted when it came to sports or they pursued something competitively, with passion. I was a world apart from them. I was more of a nerd.

Fast forward twenty-five years. I have four kids who are all competitive athletes. When I say “competitive” I mean competitive. We build our lives around their sports, mainly tennis, but only (my oldest son, a senior at high school, is a runner). They are good at multiple sports, besides their main one. Their overall fitness and athletism go way beyond their specific sport.

My wife played a big role in creating this lifestyle — she used to play tennis in her younger years and her overall philosophy is to keep kids very busy. She coaches too and her style is pretty tough.

I love it so much — this active lifestyle and seeing my kids pursue their athletic activities. It doesn’t matter how it all ultimately works out —their future sporting careers. It’s not about our dreams or egos. It’s about enjoying our lifestyle, though it’s certainly challenging and damn expensive! And this lifestyle will probably last a lifetime, for all of us in the family.

Proudly, I am keeping up with my athletic kids! As I said I was mediocre at sports in my youth but I always enjoyed running. In recent…