Almost every youth athlete has the aspiration to one day go pro. The feeling of exhilaration you get when you imagine hitting the buzzer-beater shot in game 7 of the NBA finals or catching the game-winning touchdown to win the Super Bowl. Of course, any child doesn’t know that the chances of going pro are slim to none.

Parents often tell their children that they can’t go pro or that it’s not possible. Obviously, this is not meant to be cruel. Parents do this to protect their children from disappointment. Why should you, as a parent, crush your child’s dreams? Life in general does enough dream-crushing, so let your child live that dream.

Let Them Dream

As long as they have that dream, they will push their hardest to achieve it. Of course, eventually, they will most likely fall short of their dream, but by the time they fall short, they will know how difficult it is to go pro.

I remember almost 5 years ago, I was playing basketball with one of my cousins. He was about 9 at the time, and he told me he wanted to play in the NBA. Any normal person would say, “Yeah, right! Do you know how hard it is to get into the NBA? Think about achieving something else, like going to college.” As a former youth athlete, I remember how soul-crushing it was to hear from my family. Instead of telling him the cold, hard truth, I let him dream on. I told him that he needed to work very hard and put in a lot of effort to make it to the NBA.

Encourage Hard Work and Effort

Today, he is playing for his middle school team as a starter. Does he still want to make it to the NBA? Of course. Does he know that he probably won’t? Yes. He found that out without me telling him.

Let the kids dream. They’ll be better people at the end of the day if you let them chase their dream rather than crush it.

If your child has big dreams and wants to become the best athlete they can be, consider getting personalized training and support. Visit Athletes Untapped to find experienced coaches near you who can help your child achieve their goals.