Hockey vs Hunting — What’s best for our kids?

Girls now compete on sports teams just as boys have for years.

We’ve become a sports-oriented culture and most young people today are involved in some kind of after-school sport, be it soccer, hockey, football, baseball, golf.  Participation takes a lot of time and also money.  Some research says that kids need more unstructured play that’s less competitive.  Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, canoeing and other “lifetime” sports get kids outdoors in a different way.

When I interviewed a group of kids as part of a focus group and asked them why they liked to hunt or fish, their answers reflected that they appreciated quiet time and it was time “with Dad.”  I’ve wondered if our addiction to organized sports has not also played a part in people reacting more to the recent news of an umpire’s bad call keeping a pitcher from a perfect game than to the environmental tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.

If you have to choose between participating in sports and getting outdoors to enjoy our natural resources, which do you think is more important for today’s kids?

How should we encourage their getting outdoors and take part with them?

Let me know what you think and what you most enjoyed in your childhood.

More young women are enjoying hunting and going afield.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 and is filed under Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors, Pheasants Forever. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.