7 Sports in 1 Day

Last Sunday was an incredible Spring day in northern Virginia with plenty of sun and mild temps in the 60's. To take advantage of the weather I took my son Michael, who is now seven, over to a soccer field near our house to work on his soccer dribbling and shooting skills. With Michael, forty-five minutes of soccer drills without playing an actual game is plenty.

On the way home we saw a school mate of Michael's and his father playing basketball on one of the outdoor courts near the field. The father, Bill, told me that he was attempting to do what Pres. George H. W. Bush (Bush 41) challenged Americans to do back during his presidency - try to play seven sports in one day.

I don't remember that particular challenge made by Pres. Bush but I do remember he was fond of horseshoes, so I'm sure that was one of his sports. I haven't been able to find reference to it using Google or Yahoo. But the idea seems great regardless of where it came from. So I decided we'd give it a try too.

Now I should mention that if the choice were totally up to Michael, he probably would have opted to play inside or watch TV. But you can't let kids stay inside on a nice day, right? Lisa and I make it our job to keep the boys outside playing.

So when we got home we shot hoops in our cul de sac (2). Then Michael wanted to ride bikes so we rode around our street for a while and went on a ride around the neighborhood (3). I joked that next we would go swimming, but Michael called me out on that one. So we put on roller blades and went up and down the side walk. Only for a few minutes though - neither of us are strong bladers (4). Tee-ball and catch with the baseball in the back yard were next (5). We also played catch with the football and a little two-hand touch (6). Finally we took turns on our neighbors' trampoline (7). I think I'm a little heavy for it so I didn't stay on it too long. But it is more of a workout than I remembered.

The point of this is that it was easy to find at least seven sports/activities to do with my son. Kickball, badminton, tag, capture the flag, swinging, and monkey bars are other activities that are often taking place in our neighborhood. I should mention that my ten-year-old, Brett, was outside the whole time too. He prefers basketball right now because it's in season.

Which brings me to another point. While we were outside we missed the Florida vs. Oregon basketball game on TV. We did catch the last ten minutes and overtime of the Georgetown vs. UNC game while we prepared dinner. But in five years, or even in one year, I think our time spent outside together will be remembered more than who played in the NCAA tournament.

I'm looking forward to more days like last Sunday. I've been warned that some day in the not too distant future, it will be hard keep the boys around home long enough to play seven sports.