"Mothers and sports" from the May 6, 1976 Door County Advocate
ALL GAST UP
Mothers and sports
Dear Young Athlete,
It's been a very popular saying over the years that behind every successful man stands a good woman, but isn't it true for many of you successful (or not so successful) young athletes that the job of backup is taken care of by a patient mother.
Having participated in organized sports throughout my grade school and high school years, I know it's pretty easy to take for granted all that your mother has done and sacrificed in order to allow you to participate in sports.
While paging through the Lapeer County Press recently, I ran across a letter from a concerned mother. The purpose of the letter was to complain about the ever-present problem of lack of playing time for her young athlete who has put in equal practice time as the starters but never sees much action. I am not presenting the letter to you because of the benchwarming problem but rather because I feel it does a good job of showing the effort our mothers perform in the name of sport.
I'm the mother of a basketball player. I fix meals at all hours of the evening after practice. I sit up nights with sore muscles and sprained ankles. I wash uniforms twice a week.
I stay up late (although my day starts at 4 a.m.) to watch my boy sit on the bench.
Why do they do this to mothers? It breaks my heart to see my boy work so hard and be so disappointed because he didn't play "again."
Everyone deserves a chance. Why don't they just keep five boys on the team, and save us mothers a lot of grief?
Disappointed
While all of our mothers don't suffer from the same plight as this one, I'm sure we all can remember an instance or two when the letter rings a bell. Like the time when you had two baseball games in two nights and mom had to perform a special washing or the time you got the helmet in the ribs and they needed a little special attention.
Corny as it may sound, mothers do play an important role in your sports participation whether it involves cheering at the game, making sure your appearance is top-notch or playing nursemaid. Remember Sunday is Mother's Day, it's a good chance to do a little backing of your own.
J.G.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
A previously posted article by Jon Gast
"Girls sports putting crimp on gym facilities" from the January 20, 1976 Door County Advocate