I’m extremely supportive of getting your kids into organized sports during their grammar and high school years which is kind of unusual in light of how incredibly uncoordinated I am and have always been.
I have been known to trip while I’m standing still. In flats.
When a ball is thrown towards me, I run away from it or duck for cover. I have absolutely no hand-eye coordination.
It’s so bad in fact, that I’ve often wondered if there was something physically wrong with me, as if I had some kind of mysterious genetic mutation that made me so uncoordinated.
Every September throughout my childhood, that year’s new gym teacher would approach me and decide that they were going to take on the challenge of my lack of coordination. They always seemed convinced that it was just the lack of effort from other teachers before them that had failed, somehow they would be able to do what no other gym teacher had been able to do.
They would be so optimistic about it that I’d even begin to think that maybe they were right and they could create magic and somehow teach me how to be coordinated, how to excel (or even make a passable effort) at even one sport.
There was one teacher who I really liked in High School, Mrs. Schnitzer. I even liked the friendly sound of her name. She was really nice and was convinced that she could teach me how to play tennis. Good God, what possessed her to think that I, with my horrific hand/eye coordination could master such a game? But who knew, maybe she could do it? I was so optimistic.
We spent at least a full class period trying and trying to get me to just volley the ball once, for pete’s sake. She kept saying, “Schmidty, keep your eye on the ball,” as if I didn’t know that, and I would woefully tell her, “Yes, Mrs. Schnitzer, I AM keeping my eye on the ball,” but no matter how much my eyes were glued to that tennis ball, my arm did NOT connect with it.
After about two gym classes of this, she finally threw her arms up in the air and said, “Schmidty, I don’t what to do with you!” to which I replied, “Me either.” I was chagrined, I had really high hopes for Mrs. Schnitzer’s confidence in me, she seemed so sure of her ability to make an athlete out of me. For the rest of the marking period, I would mostly just hang around and watch the other girls excel at whatever the heck sport we were focused on for that semester.
It was terribly embarrassing to be so bad at sports at that age. I can still remember how mortified I’d feel whenever they’d pick teams, because I was invariably the very last to be chosen.
Over time, I put it behind me and wound up being good at other, non sports related things.
And then I met my future husband, who turned out to be a huge sports fan and a naturally gifted athlete. Who knew? What the heck did we have in common, you might ask? Well, we both also really like music, and both of us are liberals, with a good dose of common sense and shared moral fiber thrown in to make us work as a team.
And there’s where the kids got really lucky.
Because since he’s such a natural athlete, my husband got both of the kids into sports at an early age. He had my son in T-Ball at around 4 years old and then coached his Little League teams for years afterwards, all the way up to High School. He was also the coach for my son’s basketball teams for many years and the result is that my son is a very strong athlete who’s on the Varsity basketball team as a Sophomore, and a pretty good baseball pitcher, too.
![]() |
Look at the height on that jump kick! |
My daughter never liked team sports as much, so at the age of 11, my husband enrolled her in Tae Kwon Do and she’s been hooked ever since. She has her freakin’ Black Belt and has been sparring with adult men who are over 200 pounds and up to 6′ 2″ since she was about 12 years old, without batting an eye. Girl could kick your butt.
And from what I see, what I’ve read about the benefits of sports is all true. It builds confidence, instills respect and shows them how to work within a team; all of these skills will help them in the future, both in their general life and in the workplace.
So after all these years, the circle is complete and I now am a big sports aficionado. Who knew that after all those years of hating sports, I would be spending so much of my adult life on the bleachers at basketball, baseball and Tae Kwon Do tournaments?
What about you? Are you a klutz or a sports whiz? How about your kids?
It was years of getting up and 5 a.m. to take my son to ice hockey practice and then traveling to see his games that turned me into a screaming hockey fan.
I am now a lover of all sports.
Whole heartedly I believe it is one of the best gifts we can give our kids.
Wow, 5 a.m.,that’s really early! The good news is that both of my kids are really doing well at school in addition to all the sports. I always feel that the priority should be in getting good grades. Thanks for the comment!
I was a good athlete and even have soccer to thank for paying for my college. My daughter, on the other hand, well, I hate to say that she sucks, but she sort of sucks at soccer. Lol. She isn’t uncoordinated because she can do one of those ripsticks just fine. She’s just not really aggressive and runs like her grandmother. Plus, she hates running. She still enjoys softball and does well in school, so as long as she’s happy, so am I. The four year old is a pretty good little athlete for being so small, so there’s still hope that somebody will play a sport in high school. I love watching high school sports and would really love to watch one of my kids doing it!!
Good that she likes softball, maybe soccer’s just not her thing. HS sports is so competitive, way more than I expected but it’s fun. I love basketball so it’s fun going to all the Varsity games. I’ll beet your 4 year old will be into it in HS and you’ll get to be in the stands watching and cheering!
I can so relate. I was never into sports but somehow raised a son who played all-star baseball and a daughter who played all-star softball. My husband is a great golfer. I was best at cheering everyone on! Since we moved to California 15 years ago, I started playing tennis — which I love — almost every day, although I can’t imagine ever considering myself an athlete. Ha ha! That just makes me laugh!
Tennis is a great sport, you get to wear nice little outfits and look relatively good while you’re playing 🙂 Glad to hear your kids are into sports, it’s such a big support system especially for when they get into high school. Thanks for the note!
Boy Claudia, you are taking me down memory lane with U.C. gym stories. God Bless Mrs. Schnitzer for the patience she had with us all. I am sure she had many laughs behind our backs! I so enjoy reading My Left Breast. Bravo to you!
OMG, Carol Ann – did you have Mrs. S too?! Funny, I had no idea. She was very nice, I have to say 🙂 Miss you, need to set up lunch with you and PB soon! xo
I feel the same way about art. I can’t do. But I can appreciate! There are the doers. And there are the appreciators. The world needs both!
Yes, good way to look at it. I’m definitely an appreciator of sports, and a do-er when it comes to reading, movies, taking care of the kids/house, running a business, etc. 🙂
dear Claudia,
I was the first born child. my dad was a splendid all ’round sports man – he was actually on the farm team of the Washington Senators before I came along. I am sure he wanted me to be a boy. from age 7 or eight, every evening after dinner if the weather permitted, he insisted on a game of “catch” – with a hard-ball! I never caught a single ball – I was terrified just seeing it zoom towards me. and he never got it – the man was hell-bent-on election he was going to make a catcher out of me. turned out my vision was so poor, I had to wear coke-bottle- bottom-thick glasses. they were incredibly ugly. but also expensive. they were my get-out-of-catch card ! now I love playing baseball with my grandchildren.
this was a wonderful post! I am so happy for you to get to see your children excel in sports they love, encouraged by you and your dear hubby, and being their most devoted fan.
much love and light,
Karen
Yikes, catch with a hard ball – scary! I too wore coke-bottle glasses as a youngster, but then got lasik surgery about 10 years ago…..I would like to say my lack of hand-eye coordination is due to the coke bottle glasses but I’m not really so sure now that I have 20/30 vision without 🙂 Thanks for your lovely comment!
I’m not very coordinated at ALL – so far, my kids have thankfully gotten their dads athletic ability. Here’s hoping that keeps up! Stopping by from #sitsblogging! Have a great one!
Same here 🙂 I’m sure they’ll be great. In this day and age there’s a sport out there for everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
Yeah…me? Not so much for the sports. I did competitive cheerleading all through high school, but that is the extent of my physical prowess. My husband is quite the athlete. He has played every sport known to man and played college football. Our daughter? Well. It appears that she takes after my less than graceful athletic side, much to the dismay of her father 😉 We shall see what she becomes! She is only three! Love from SITS!
Thanks for stopping by – yeah I was never very coordinated and am so grateful that my husbands genes passed on to my kids 🙂
You sound a lot like me. I was so clumsy growing up that my mom nicknamed me “Grace”. I could manage to get hurt just by the simplest things! #SITSBlogging