When Sports Come Full Circle
And Life Gets Bigger Than the Game
This weekend caught me off guard in the best and hardest way.
We sat in the bleachers watching a game that felt like a mirror of my daughter Makay’s entire sports journey. Her former teammates from her first school, the girls she played with from age seven until she moved in seventh grade were playing against her new school.
On that court were girls she grew up with, girls she trained with, girls she would have continued playing with if her path hadn’t been interrupted by injury.
Two players on her new school’s team had been her travel teammates since she was nine.
On the other side were girls she shared countless practices, tournaments, and long weekends with girls who helped shape her early love for the game.
It was a true full-circle moment.
And it reminded me why sports matter… and why they should never be bigger than life.
The Version of Sports We Don’t Talk About Enough
For years, I was all in.
I was the parent driving all over the state for AAU games, rearranging schedules, sometimes choosing practices over other things Makay asked to do. I believed in her. She was strong. She was talented. Often one of the best players on the floor. I saw a future in sports for her and I invested in it with everything I had.
But what we don’t always talk about is how easy it is to get caught up.
Not because we’re bad parents but because the culture around youth sports pushes us there. The pressure. The comparison. The fear of falling behind. I understand it deeply, because I lived it.
When Makay had her first surgery, something shifted for me. When two more followed, that shift turned into clarity.
I am profoundly grateful I didn’t push harder.
Because when basketball was taken away, she discovered something even more important: she is bigger than the game.
Overuse, Pressure, and the Cost to Young Athletes
Watching this game, I ran into another parent whose daughter had already undergone her second ACL surgery and missing her entire senior season after spending her junior year rehabbing the other knee.
That broke my heart.
We are seeing more injuries and especially in female athletes than ever before. Kids are bouncing from soccer practice to basketball practice to tournaments and back again. I did that with Makay.
At times, she was playing basketball in multiple leagues while also juggling soccer.
She loved it. And I supported it.
But looking back, I wish I had limited it more.
One league would have been enough.
Fundamentals over constant competition. Love of the game over always playing to win.
Grinding doesn’t need to start in elementary school or even middle school. If a child truly wants to play in college, freshman or sophomore year of high school is plenty early to turn it up.
Before that, balance matters.
Muscle balance matters.
Mental balance matters.
I played multiple sports growing up, and I believe that variety kept me grounded.
Today, kids are tearing them years earlier.
That should make us pause.
What This Weekend Really Gave Me
Several of the seniors Makay once played with will go on to play college basketball and I am incredibly proud of them. Truly.
But what moved me most was watching my daughter sit in the bleachers healthy, grounded, reflective watching her old teams play each other.
I missed her on the court.
Grief still showed up.
But for the first time, I didn’t feel consumed. I could see the bigger picture.
I watched as a regulated parent not entangled in outcomes, not projecting my dreams onto her journey. I had learned how to separate myself from her path, while still loving her fiercely.
And in that moment, it all made sense.
The Lesson I Hope Parents Hear
Sports are beautiful. Sports teach resilience, discipline, connection, and belonging.
But life must always be bigger than the game.
The kids who truly love their sport will rise because passion doesn’t need pressure to survive. Parents don’t need to drive the dream. Our job is to provide, support, and protect our children’s long-term well-being.
Sometimes stepping back is the most powerful thing we can do.
This weekend reminded me that while basketball was a chapter, it was never the whole story.
And I am so proud not just of the athlete Makay was but of the healthy, whole person she is becoming.
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