In My Opinion

By Andrew Coakley

FN Sports Editor

There is the assumption that all parents with children participating in sporting or academic events would be more than happy to go out and give their support from the stands.

It is further assumed that all parents (especially the new age parents) would do whatever they can to show support for their children.

But it is really nothing more than an assumption.

The exact opposite of that was proven once again this weekend during the 2010 HOYTES Primary School Basketball Tournament.

Of the hundreds of Grand Bahamian youngsters who participated in the tournament, a sparse number of parents showed up each day at the gymnasium.

In fact, there were more parents from Nassau in the gym, than those from Grand Bahama.

The lack of parental support is something organiser of the tournament, Gladstone "Moon" McPhee has gotten used to.

During his presentation and closing of the tournament on Saturday night, McPhee thanked the Nassau parents for travelling with their children and making the tournament an exciting one with their shouts of cheers and encouragement from the stands each night.

Just last year, to try and drum up more support among local parents, Mc-Phee and the organisers even offered three computers for the children whose parents were most consistent throughout the nights of the tournament.

We laughed at the idea and teased "Moon" that it looked more like bribery than anything else.

Actually, that's exactly what it was - bribery.

At first it seemed hilarious that someone would have to bribe parents to go to the gym to watch their children play. But after some contemplation, I realise that it is no longer funny, but rather sad.

What kind of society do we have where parents would prefer to go home to their beds or go home and watch television or to clean house instead of spending time in a gym watching their child play basketball?

Some would say, we're living in a very busy society. I would be the first to admit that, and on the surface, that seems a logical excuse.

After all, there are so many aspects to our lives that 24 hours are not enough time in a day to do all the things that needs to get done. There is work, there is overtime (if we want to keep our jobs) and then there is the duties at home that needs to get done before the night ends. The hectic schedule (madness) begins again the following day.

Yes, parents are extremely busy these days just trying to survive.

But the truth is children spell love, T.I.M.E.

It seems selfish (actually it is) that kids really don't care much about all the things we have to do as parents. All they know is that they're playing a game and you, as the parent, must be there.

Children, for the most part, have no sense of compromise and trying to explain to a child the reasons for not being able to attend his/her ball game, hardly ever works.

Whether we know it or not, a parent's lack of involvement in a child's activities, affects how that child views the world. That in turn affects how they respond to the world in which they live.

Some kids have been playing a sport for years and their parents have never seen them actually play. To some parents, its no big deal, because the child knows the situation, they rationalize.

I guess many parents have no idea what it feels like for a child to look into the stands and see neither his mother's or father's face smiling back with encouragment.

Those are the memories that mean more to a child than whether he/she wins or loses a game.

This does not only apply to basketball, but since coming to Grand Bahama, I've found a long-standing lack of support among parents for kids in many sports.

GB parents tend to support more academic events than sporting ones. It's a mystery which only Grand Bahamians may be able to unravel.

Parents, we have to be more supportive of our kids, especially in their sporting, academic and talent programs. We need to prioritize our lives to the point where, if one parent can't make it, that one should be able to call upon the other (or some other relative) and ask them to go and watch little Johnny or little Suzie play.

Maybe we need to put off one or two things from our schedule to make time for our kids. No one's saying parents have to go to every single game, but at least a few.

It will mean a lot to your kids as they grow up in life.

Like the saying goes "go with your child to the basketball court, or go with them to the supreme court."