Orphan Sports

When I came downstairs my parents handed me a copy of that days Style Section of the Washington Post. There was an article in the Kid's Post that morning, a "Sports Round-Up,” brief paragraphs about various sporting events around the world that week and the author's feelings about them. One of those paragraphs was about the World Swimming Championships being held in Spain. As a swim family we had been following the World Championships pretty closely. We knew how remarkable the accomplishments of the swimmers had been. As a swimmer I could only dream, but never achieve, that level of expertise. However, the author certainly did not think very much of those

ents. His comment was that you could walk those distances faster than the world record setting swimmer’s butterfly time, what kind of comment was that? He seemed to think it a waste of time and column inches even to write about swimming.

How rude! I have been swimming for the past nine years and I know the pressures put on swimmers at my level, the intensity of those pressures in the World Championships are immeasurably greater. And I know the feeling of disappointment when athletes can not prove to others that what they are doing is good enough, or even worthwhile. In the four years I swam on my high school team our principal never came to a meet, but he never missed a football game. This sports writer seemed to feel the same way, and his commentary indicated he knew nothing about swimming as a competitive sport.

Sometimes people can dismiss a mainstream sport. Baseball for

Some topics in this essay:
Soccer League, Orphan Sports, World Championships, Swim League, Sports Round-Up”, Swimming Championships, Kid's Post, Washington Post, orphan sports, swim league, world championships, football game, times article, corporate sponsorship, venue sport, hit ball, mile shoes, people watch,