knowing their heartbreak and not being able to directly do anything about it. But that is also what makes it, potentially, a special experience for you both as he gets to learn in safer environment that he will need to stand on his own two feet and you get to have the experience of watching him grow and mature into that ability.

One thing I have told my sons as they have gone through sports (they are FR and JR in HS) is that any level of success they achieve is directly related to the sacrifice they are willing to give to achieve it. It's great to want great things and set high goals, but equally important for them to learn early that their willingness to make sacrifices must be equal to or greater than their desire to achieve the goal. If that equation is out of balance, it is time to reassess priorities.

My son that is FR has played basketball on the school team in 7th and 8th grade and has gotten better each year. I got a key to the church so we could go in late at night and shoot around and practice and it was fun to see him push me to take him and sacrifice game time with friends or other comforts to go shoot around for a while after school, practice and homework. We talked about him playing in high school and he decided that the amount of sacrifice required to have a good shot at making the team is more than the value he gets out of playing the sport. Playing AAU, going to camps, spending more time at the church gym and all that he thought he would need to do to improve his game was more than a spot on the team was worth.

I think it was a great learning lesson because otherwise he just "wants it", but then gets mad and disappointed when he doesn't achieve it. You hear so many Hollywood actors/actresses say things like "just follow your dreams" or "if you want it bad enough you can achieve anything" that I think kids, and even adults, get fooled into thinking the desire for the end-result is enough where in reality that desire must translate into a desire and willingness to sacrifice whatever is needed in order to achieve that goal. Just another reason sport is such a great lesson for life!