WORD FROM THE Y: Go out and play

As the summer comes to a close and school looms on the horizon, we start the annual transition from summer sports into our fall activities. Some kids are trading in their baseball gloves or maybe goggles for high tops and cleats.

Organized sports are a great outlet for our youth, but aren’t always a good match for all children. I remember my youthful summers vividly and fondly as we didn’t need organized sports to simply play.

We spent countless hours playing baseball in the Berkeley Glenn fields opposite the railroad tracks (now overgrown with weeds and trees).

Our deal with the janitor, Randolph, was we’d keep the fields free from trash and he’d keep the grass low. We had bases, a raised pitching mound, and even mowed the infield. When football season approached, we actually created stripes down the field (8 yard increments instead of 10) – there was always a game going on. As the shadows began to extend onto the field from the tree-line, we’d rush home for dinner then go outside again to play kick the can in the dusk before bedtime.

I fell asleep through sheer exhaustion every day in the summer — things have changed.

Kids just don’t play like they used to. The click-click-click sounds of baseball cards attached to the spokes of a bicycle wheel has been replaced by the clicking sounds of fingers on gaming system controls and tapping on keyboards.

There’s a lot more distractions and options for today’s youth than when I was growing up. I think we had four television channels – now you can get more than 60 with a “basic package.”

We had Atari — one button. Now you have the Wii and PS3 and remotes with more things to push than inside an airplane cockpit.

Today images of missing children adorn the milk cartons of which our children drink at school. You know what was on my milk carton in school? MILK.

We’ve created a culture of children that don’t go outside and parents who are afraid to let their children roam free for fear of them ending up on one of those milk cartons. It’s led to the “fattening” of today’s youth.

Our kids are more obese now than ever before. Unhealthy kids become unhealthy adults. It’s critical we get them active and the solution is so simple — put play in your day. Not every child will enjoy organized sports, but every kid loves to play.

Today, we have to be intentional to get our kids physically active. There’s less than two weeks before school starts (and two months of daylight savings).

Parents must set a positive example for their kids — go outside together and kick the ball, run around the yard, chase firefly’s, play hide and seek, walk up and down your street, whatever it takes to get our children more active. Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity can make a world of difference.

We have to lead our children out the back door.

Editor’s Note: Jeff Fife, born and raised in Waynesboro is the executive director of the Waynesboro Family YMCA. He graduated from Radford University and Waynesboro High School.

Voices from the Y is a weekly column featuring members of the Waynesboro YMCA staff.