Kids Sports V.S. Fishing

IRONMAN · 06-11-2005, 07:39 AM

How many of you have to sacrifice fishing to coach or watch your kids play sports? I am a avid fisherman and for about the las 10 years have chose to coach girls softball which has led to very limited spring fishing which after this year I will get back. I know there has to be alot of Dad's and Mom's that have to give up some fishing or hunting for all kinds of sports. What have you had to give up and and how much pain have you had to endure watching and listing to your friends success stoties while your at your sports program. In the end it was all worth it to me to be able to take part in coaching 2 of my daughters thru Little League, but after this year I am ready to get my Spring fishing back.

KROY · 06-11-2005, 08:06 AM

I've given up a lot of fishing in the last six years. Getting ready for another tournament today. I'm not a big sports nut but I give all I can for my kids. I coach two at the same time but this is the last year I do that.

Hunting hasn't really suffered because it's a short, one week season if I get my tags.

Glad your over the hump IRONMAN, I can't wait until my last season of coaching.

StickFish · 06-11-2005, 08:22 AM

I coach Junior Racquetball from 5yr to 14. I also play comeptively myself and between those two it cobbles up a ton of time. Tomorrow is the end of the season for the Kids

To give you an idea how spaced I got this year with it, I forgot to not schedule practice on Superbowel Sunday - not many kids showed up that day. Also forget to not schedule on Memorial Day weekend - doh! The topper - I forgot to save out one Sunday for Turkey hunting - now that one hurt.

The kids are only kids for so long, I've fished for many years. I figure I can give up a few days fishing to be with my kids and help other kids learn a cool sport like racquetball.

Next weekend were off to Fish and camp for a long weekend, a week after that my 11 year old will get to go on her first guided trip on the Mackenzie - so fishing we will do this summer to catch up.

Next Fall, I'll be back on the courts with the kids - but this time I'm planing around Fall Chinook, Deer and Elk Season, Winter Steelhead, Spring Turkey, all the crazy sunday things like Mother's day, Easter, Superbowel, Indy 500, Adult Rball tournaments - WOW! I need a beer

letsfish · 06-11-2005, 08:25 AM

I can't say that I have the option, as I do not have immediate family. However, I have a good friend who "sacrificed" a lot to just watch his kids play. I knew how much he enjoyed fishing and so I really admired his priorities.
I think your use of the word "sacrifice" allows us to put things in perspective. Your question

Quote:

How many of you have to sacrifice fishing to coach or watch your kids play sports?

Could have been " How many of you have to sacrifice coaching or watching your kids play sports to go fishing."
You have the right perspective..kids first.

bob'r down · 06-11-2005, 08:26 AM

I've coached soccer, basketball, t-ball, and football for my 2 boys over the years (now 10 & 13). I have missed many a good fishing day due to this.... BUT... it is my friends that have had to endure the pain of my success stories of the time and enjoyment of watching, helping, and being with my kids for that goal, or tackle, or even help consol because of an error.

Of course I live close enough to the Clackamas that I could alway get out for a quick morning bank run and still be back in time for all that pain in the @$$ coaching stuff.

Wouldn't have missed it for the world!!!! Living is about the little balances in life, kicking back, watching your family grow, and the son(s) rise. :lurk:

tite lines,

Bob

Jennie@ifish · 06-11-2005, 08:27 AM

You can NEVER get those years back with your kids.
I am so proud of you guys for doing what you do for them.
I wonder if later, as you stand on a river bank and realize that your kids are grown, off to college or married that you'll be darn glad you did what you did, and maybe even with those days back again?
I'm going through the first of empty nest syndrome and find myself wishing I was baking cupcakes for school parties again. :depressed:

Jen

**busyfishin** · 06-11-2005, 09:34 AM

I feel like all I do is spend time at soccer tourneys and practice. But, I would not change a thing. In think I will miss it when it is gone. My parents did the same for me when I was young and I wish I could show my appreciation.

David Johnson · 06-11-2005, 09:43 AM

I'm glad and I'm sure my dad is glad that I got my priorities right when I was in school

I tried track and it only took a couple after school practices of running around the track to relize, "this is stupid, I could be fishing right now"

Through high school me and my dad would fish three or four evednings a week on the Willamette and Clackamas, by the time I was a senior I was taking dad's sled on the Clack before (and instead of) school.....

Personally I think the fishing industry is loosing out on recrueting kids into fishing. There's just too many sports, video games, TVs and Computers to compete for kids attention. Most of that stuff will be gone once they are out of school but fishing can carry on for a lifetime.

pearl · 06-11-2005, 09:43 AM

Over the years my kids have been involved with sports so Saturdays have not been fishing days for years.

I have coached youth football for the last 6 years staying with a group of young men from 3rd through 8th grades. This meant 5 night a week practices and Saturday games. My son will enter high school in the fall and the coaching duties will now fall upon someone who gets paid to coach and the games move to Thursdays and Friday evenings.

I wouldn't have traded this experience for a million fishing trips but I am so looking forward to Tillamook Bay this Fall and geting back to some areas I used to frequent years ago.

Look out ! Here I come

Joe Schwab · 06-11-2005, 11:15 AM

Not even close! All three of my kids played high school and college sports. We enjoyed the experiences immensely watching them succeed and fail at times. That is an extremely important part of growing up. All three went fishing when there was time. All three are extremely successful in their careers doing what they want to do. I thought fishing was important and exposed them to it. They can take it or leave it now and that's alright. They know how important it is to me and respect my time to go fishing.

stoneflyguy · 06-11-2005, 11:40 AM

For almost 8 yrs. now I have struggled with trying to fish and hunt and my kids sports. I coach soccer, baseball then baseball All Stars that go into July with soccer starting in Sept. I am also the President of our local youth baseball league and have been trying to build a new sports complex for the youth in our community. My boys are getting older and I am starting to do less just because I am getting burned out but could never give up spending the time with the kids for myself. I always have fishing and hunting buddys who get frustrated with me because I don't go out because I am busy with one of the mentioned events. They are only young once and I am a divorced father trying to do what my dad never did with me. I have to remind myself that family is more important and I can always fish or hunt when they are done. I know my day will come but for now it's about the kids.

rebell · 06-11-2005, 05:56 PM

I have never considered coaching or going to soccer and football games a sacrifice. As far as I am conserned, it beats the heck out of fishing.

I have the rest of my life to fish and hunt, my son will only be playing sports for a few years. I am going to enjoy as much as I can for the short period of my life he will be playing. And when he is not playing, we go fishing.

IRONMAN · 06-11-2005, 06:05 PM

Rebell I guess sacrifice was the wrong word. This was meant to be a post about spending time with the kids and putting them 1st even though fishing is also a love of alot of us. I was really just interested in seeing how may people are out there who love the outdoors but still have their priorities strait and the stories that go with them. Keep em coming.

Codfish · 06-11-2005, 08:17 PM

I stayed home today and didn't go fishing because my daughter had a volleyball doubleheader. You only have your kids for a short time so it is very important to support them in their athletic or other activities. The fishing time will come around eventually. Remember that if you want a close relationship with your kids when they are grown up then you better have one with them when they are young!

Codfish

reelwomenfish · 06-11-2005, 08:48 PM

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newportfisher · 06-11-2005, 09:20 PM

I am in that exact position. I have to play Summer Basketball games, when I would like to be on the Rogue Springer Fishing. Oh well

clearjb · 06-12-2005, 08:56 AM

David has the right idea. My dad was not a big fishermen but he was a big sports nut so you can only guess what I did. Football in the fall and right into winter baseball. After college ball I have not picked up a bat or glove in 10 years. You parents that support your kids in athletics make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons. As someone who was pushed to play baseball 8 months out of the year for many years in a row you can really get burned out fast. Make sure that it is what your kids want to do not what you want them to do. Dont get me wrong I learned alot af good life lessons from playing ball but now I look back and ask was it all worth it. Maybe but I do wish I could have fished alot more

rebell · 06-12-2005, 09:31 AM

Well put clearjb! Sports should never be pushed on to a kid. Mine just loves football and basketball, fishing and hunting seem to come after that for him. Thats O.K. with me, my goal is to encourage him to make his own descisions, and then to help him succeed at what ever it is he chooses. But never force any kind of sport or activity on to him.

Old Coot · 06-12-2005, 10:27 AM

I got lucky. My kids both played T-ball and Little League for three years each and ended up thinking that baseball was something to be endured, not enjoyed.

My daughter spun off into Tai Kwan Do, got her first black belt at 13. My son decided he liked Scouting and earned his Eagle at a like age.

So, I ended up as an Assistant Scoutmaster, then Scoutmaster of an outdoor-oriented troop of 60+ boys. True, I lost most of my fishing time for a span of a decade-plus, but the next best thing to fishing outdoors is just being in the out-of-doors and that's where I spent over 270 nights with the scouts. It was great introducing my boy, and dozens of other kids, to coyote nightsong, the August Milky Way from timberline in the Cascades, and what to do when you wake up under a foot of unforecast snow. I got to take 2 50-mile backpacking trips, and spent a week each in the Mill Creek, Black Canyon and south Jefferson wilderness areas before each went up in smoke. I was fortunate to spend other weeks in the Strawberry and Eagle Cap wildernesses. I'm thinking that all in all, it was a pretty good trade-off for my fishing time.

I made a big mistake with Cootlet #1, my daughter. I waited to introduce her to fishing and camping "until she was ready." Well, when I finally thought she was ready, about 11 or 12, she had already developed other interests, and didn't really take to fishing and camping. It was a parenting beginner's error, and I mourn the loss of time I could have spent with her and what I think she has missed. Make no mistake, her life is full and rewarding and she is a young woman to be proud of, but she is INDOORS so much! Cootlet #2, my son, was immersed at a much younger age and enjoys everything outdoors.

So, I pretty much stopped fishing. Big deal. Make no mistake, FISHING WAS LIFE! According to my old logs, my busiest fishing year BTK (Before The Kids) was 184 different days in one year. But, there have been other trade-offs.

It was pretty cool realizing when my son was 14 that if he was dropped naked into a wilderness not only would he likely survive the next year, he'd gain weight. His scouting experiences gave him the knowledge and confidence that he can be, and is, self-sufficient. This once-shy boy, who struggled every school day of his life, has been invited as the guest speaker for several motivational and training classes for adults. Next week he will have been out of high school 1 year. Next month he will be one of four adults taking 30 boys on a 3-week trip to the east coast.

One sad thing about those years, though. Scouting prohibits an adult leader from being alone with boys, so other adults were always on the trips. Through the years as boys joined and left the troop for various reasons, I probably took over 200 different boys on trips but not more than 30 different adults went on those trips. The majority of parents were always "too busy" to participate in their kid's lives. They had to do yard work, rest, catch up on work at home, paint the spare bedroom, or - my favorite -"work out at the gym."

Here's the tragic part, night after night as dusk fell, I would see a lone boy at the edge of the campsite staring down the darkening trail or road, hoping to see their dad who had tossed off the comment, "I'll try to make it up there Saturday night." stride into sight.

What a pity that when those grown children look back on their outdoor experiences I'm the face at the campfire instead of their own fathers.
:depressed:

Participate in your kid's lives. You can always paint or mow the lawn later.

reelwomenfish · 06-12-2005, 10:34 AM

Quote:

What a pity that when those grown children look back on their outdoor experiences I'm the face at the campfire instead of their own fathers.
:depressed:

Old Coot, you almost made me cry! But it's a good reminder. I often catch myself telling my daughter "Mommy's busy right now, maybe later". Fortunately, I catch myself right away and stop what I'm doing to spend time with her. She's only 2, but sweeping the kitchen or folding laundry or checking email is NEVER more important than drawing pictures or making play-do creatures with my 2yo.

And Old Coot, it might be sad to see those kids who's parents "forget" to show up, but I'm glad there are people like you who ARE there for kids. Without you, those kids wouldn't have gotten out at all!

Hagar · 06-14-2005, 11:30 AM

I too chose to take a break of almost 15 years from all my hunting and fishing. Coached girls fastpitch pretty much year around and made sure I was there at all of my kids events, sports or not. Never regretted a minute of it. My kids are all out of the house now but we are still real close to one another. They all still enjoy the outdoors, as they did before we got on the merry-go-round. We are all meeting in a few weeks for a trip through the Rogue Canyon.

The benefit to other kids is huge, as well. All our team players were offered multiple college scholarships. A number made the Olympic tryouts. Better yet, I think all would say it was one of the best times of their lives.

Got a fathers day card yesterday from a young lady I coached for several years. No one else really wanted her as a player. A couple of times she spent the night sleeping over with one of my daughters, I was pretty sure it was because her stepdad was drunk, abusive or something similar was going on at her house. In part her note said "....Happy fathers day! In my life you about the only man who has given me guidance. I have not spoken to you a few years now.... You made a difference in my life, thank you... Not a day goes by that I don't think of you all...."

Certainly a lot of time, expensive and, as a coach, you know there is a lot of hassle and sometimes abuse you put up with. Not a sacrifice at all. Really a privledge. There isn't a fish or school of fish in the world that is worth those times and experiences.