Every Kid Wants To Be A Professional Athlete
To the kid whose dreams escape reality,
By the title of this blog you’re probably wondering where I’m going to go with this.
“Is Hunter going to bash little kids?”
As funny as that would be… NO.
I remember as a child, I would frequently daydream about playing professional sports. I would shoot baskets in my driveway for hours upon hours, imagining being in the biggest games, hitting the biggest shots. I had to of made at least 1,000 game winning buzzer beaters.
Now as a parent, I watch my son mirror those habits. He even goes one step further. He frequently asks me how he’s going to get recruited by the Ohio State Buckeyes, and asks if I’m going to come watch his games in Columbus, Ohio. Then he inquires about the NFL draft process, asking about the mechanisms that get someone drafted. After answering all of his questions, he goes out in the back yard and plays in the National Championship games with thousands of fans watching.
I started wondering, does every kid think this way? Or is it a Price genetic trait? My kids have started sports camps in bulk. When I walk home with them they tell me about how their friends want to play in the major leagues too. They wear NBA jerseys, hoping that one day it’ll be their jersey. Turns out, it’s not just an “us” thing.
So what do we do with that as parents? Do we encourage it? Do we say nothing? Or do we give them a dose of reality hoping that it helps them in the long run not get their dreams crushed? I’ve thought about this as many times as I’ve hit a buzzer beater in my driveway. At what age do I tell my sons to start learning other skills that have a better chance of paying off? Surely they won’t be 16 years old, counting on making their living playing in a league that less than 1% of athletes make it in.
Here’s where I’ve landed.
Suspense
I’m not limiting my kid’s dreams. I don’t care if he’s 18 years old, standing 5 foot 10, with 100 career receiving yards.
Here is why. Over the last few years of my life I’ve chased every single childhood dream I’ve had. The kid who dreamed about playing in the big leagues now has former big league players’ phone numbers and can converse with them as contemporaries. The kid who longed for an impact in the sports world now has a book that has reached coaches across the country. The kid who played MLB video games is now speaking at a conference alongside two MLB legends he played as. How did I get there? I never stopped dreaming. I decided that in this short life, we should take big swings. My little league coaches used to say to never strike out looking.
Ironically I struck out looking quite a bit and got cut from my middle school baseball team. Do you know how bad you have to be to get cut from a middle school baseball team at a school of 250?
But I digress. That fact is too many adults cut off the dream center off the brain. The fear of disappointment limits the potential of their impact. The fear of swinging at a bad pitch causes them to strike out looking. Here’s the deal. You might strike out. Let’s call it as it as. But wouldn’t you rather strike out while trying, rather than striking out while standing there doing nothing? I don’t remember if it was Wayne Gretzky or Michael Scott that coined this phrase, but it still applies, “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.”
The point is, I want my sons to always dream big. I don’t want them to tether their aspirations to the societal understanding of what goals are realistic or not. I think of how many books were never written due to fear. I think of the beautiful songs we’ve missed out on that were never released. At some point, those individuals were told to “be realistic” in their dreams.
I don’t know if my book will ever matter in the grand scheme of things. I have no idea if I’ll make a single dime off of it or not. But what I do know is for the rest of my life I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing I tried. And in the attempt alone I’ve learned infinity more than if I hadn’t. The people I’ve met on this journey are unquantifiable in terms of “success.” I have new friends for life. I’ve been let into rooms I have no business being in. I get to talk to country-wide leadership experts and former professional athletes. All because I never stopped dreaming.
So to the kid who wants to be a professional athlete, don’t stop. You have my blessing to keep dreaming.
Hunter Price
