I was first a capoeira mom. Capoeira is Afro-Brazilian martial arts that combines dance with acrobatics, and music from the berimbau, the drum, and the tambourine to regulate the tempo. It was developed by African slaves in Brazil. They disguised their martial arts practice sessions as dance rituals. With Mestre Tico Tico, both our children excelled in martial arts. At some point, our son moved on to join a soccer team with his friends, and our daughter moved on to ballet, then gymnastics. There was a short period when our son tried baseball, but the schedule was too rigorous. We couldn’t keep up.
Our daughter tried multiple sports. Tennis, basketball, volleyball, and golf. She even does step and cheer. Let me just say that country step is not the same as city step, but I appreciate that there is a teacher brave enough and who appreciates affirming and exposing kids to a different form of sport and cultural expression. Never heard of it? The AI search result describes it as “an African-American percussive dance tradition where the body is used as an instrument to create complex rhythms and sounds through synchronized footsteps, claps, stomps, and spoken word.” In my high school days, the cool kids did step squad. I had no rhythm and wasn’t fast enough. I sang opera instead. Kudos to the caring high school step coach.
Our son started wrestling in middle school. I became a bit apprehensive after watching his first match. Sure, he was good at it, but I was certain that he would hurt someone else’s baby. From the stand, I shouted “that’s someone’s kid; be gentle.” Of course, all the parents looked at me. The first game was hard to watch. The following games were away, then the pandemic hit. He picked up cross-country running. He also tried and failed at basketball, though he insists that it’s because I “chose not to invest in his basketball potential.” Damn straight! We invested in his intellect.
This spring, I went to my first college lacrosse game. I had never been to a lacrosse game before. The nephew of a beloved friend invited us to his final game. I did not expect it to be a contact sport. The players hit each other with their sticks and shoved. Odd!
Even though I never played any sport in my life, I have become a sports mom. Cheering for kids—whether on or off the field—fills me with great joy.
