To the select few in this town who keep whining about sports, stop! Quit putting down athletics and talking about all the bad that comes of it. There are many great things that kids walk away with from being in sports. Kids learn to work together. They learn respect, responsibility and accountability.

I know some of you get upset when your child complains about having to miss a practice and would rather miss a math or reading class instead. What about trying to make appointments during their lunch? Missing a practice should have consequences, just like adults run the risk of losing their job if they don’t show up to work.

And while I agree that it’s important for a kid to be in class to learn, it is easier for a kid to open up his math or reading or science book at home and read and do the work than it is for a coach to try to teach a new play to the team without all the players there, which causes a lot of wasted time for the entire team, not just the player who misses practice. Coaches know their team members are students first, which is why there are rules such as “no pass, no play,” which requires the students to have a passing grade with no incompletes, or they aren’t allowed to participate in the sport. This is checked both at progress reports and at report card time periods.

And for some coaches passing isn’t good enough; they want only As and Bs from their athletes because they understand that athletes are to be looked up to, held accountable and to represent the town well when traveling to different events.

To the people who feel it would be better to cut out sports and instead use the money to give each student a scholarship, what is that teaching our kids? That if they sit back and do nothing it’s OK, you still get a free ride? That isn’t how the real world works. I would love to have my house and car handed to me but that’s not realistic. I have to get up and go to work and follow someone else’s rules to get what I want.

As far as thinking sports are too time-consuming, if your child enjoys it, what’s the problem? Sports are voluntary, and if you don’t want to do it, then don’t. If your kids weren’t spending all their time at a sports event, what would they be doing? Spending more time in front of the TV or maybe even getting into trouble?

Sporting events during the holidays is hard, but again you know this going into the sport. It’s not something the coaches hide from you and spring on you at the last minute. In the small chance that your kid happens to go pro, I don’t think you’d complain to the owner of the Dallas Cowboys when your son is playing on Thanksgiving Day or to the Olympics committee when your daughter is playing softball all summer.

It’s not just athletes who commit a large amount of their time to their sport. Band parents and kids, dance and cheer teams and parents and kids, UIL debate parents and kids are all just as involved and just as demanding. Most of my childhood memories and some of my closest friends came from being in sports. So, rather than complain to the coaches, who for the most part have families they are giving up time with, thank them for helping to mold your child into the adult they will soon become and cherish the fact that God gave them such a great talent.

Thanks for listening to my two cents from a mother of four future Badger athletes.

Amber Moore