I have seen the slogan "sports are the dress rehearsal for life" in a few locations in the capital region. Although an interesting metaphor, this statement is incomplete as there are many things our youth engage in that prepare them for life.
I have seen the slogan "sports are the dress rehearsal for life" in a few locations in the capital region. Although an interesting metaphor, this statement is incomplete as there are many things our youth engage in that prepare them for life. For example: dress rehearsals.
Dress rehearsals are also a dress rehearsal for life. I am an extremely fortunate mother to have all three of my children involved with St. Albert Children's Theatre. They are currently knee deep in their fantastic, sold-out production of Shrek, the Musical.
I have watched this group of youth since 2006 when my son landed his very first role as a hedgehog in Narnia. To very briefly sum up the commitment to this extracurricular activity, kids commit to rehearsing four days a week, three to 10 hours a rehearsal from September through to the end of November with 14 performances following the rehearsal period. These youth range in age from eight to 21 years old and they all have to get along!
The older youths mentor the younger ones, and as the younger ones get older, they move into the mentoring roles. I have even heard my 10-year-old tell me that the oldest member of the cast (hint: he plays Shrek) helped her with some of her French math homework one evening. Plus, these kids all have a responsibility to keep up with their schoolwork despite the school days they miss doing performances for other schools.
OK, I may have gotten off the topic I originally started, and I may be bragging, but this is two classrooms worth of kids, of all different ages committing to a project, an activity, getting along and I dare anyone to dispute me that this experience is not also a "dress rehearsal for life."
I put my kids in all kinds of sports when they were much younger. I enjoyed my son lying on the ice and looking up at the "pretty lights," one of my girls diving for her goggles during a competitive swim meet and my other little girl picking up bugs during a soccer game. It just wasn't their thing. But then came children's theatre and they found their thing, their voice, their passion. Don't get me wrong, sports are fantastic, and I was heavily involved in them as a youth, but my kids, as many others are, have very different interests.
I remember there being a year – no, a four-month semester – when my kids weren't in anything. My son didn't get into the next show and none of them really knew what they wanted to do with their time (and at 10, eight and four why would they?) Here is another secret truth of mine, we didn't do anything! We just hung out as a family! We played games, went for walks, visited playgrounds and yes, watched TV. It was lovely.
Prior to this dry spell a friend of mine was encouraging me to do a bunch of different sports she had put her kids in. She told me that it was important to get them into sports otherwise they wouldn't learn how to work as a team. I adore that friend, and she isn't wrong, she just is forgetting that learning how to work as a team doesn't have to come from sports. It can come from the arts, it can come from many other areas like Brownies, scouts, choral groups, church groups and any other group that encourages youth to seek out the best in themselves.
As I have said before, I am an advocate for the arts and getting our youth involved in the arts. It's not for everyone, just like rugby may not be for everyone. Don't stop encouraging our youth to try everything. Be it theatre, rugby, singing, hockey, painting, tennis, writing or swimming, keep looking for whatever "makes your freak flag fly."*
*A song from Shrek, the Musical.
