I have to chime in on the sports discussion because I was a MG kid IQ over 140 and a HG athlete. I was the top recruit in the country for my sport and was asked to graduate high school early because I was that good. My Mom said no so I graduated on time and went to the top school in the country for my sport- which is also a top university. I was on the National Team and competed internationally. I also had a career ending injury in college which changed my whole life. What I learned is that my sports training made me more prepared for the corporate world than most of my fellow students. There has been research that says an Olympic athlete can accomplish in 6 hours what a normal person does in 8. In a corporate setting- I understand team, and how individual accomplishment can help a team more than someone who never played sports. That being said, most of my friends know what my background is and make a lot Of assumptions about howvi am going to raise my kids and that I will be a pushy sports Mom. Both are really good athletes- my dd may even be great- but she is only 7 and time will tell. My gifted ds9( not sure where on the spectrum he falls but would guess between MG and HG) is a good athlete but it took a lot to get my parents to understand that athletics are not his greatest gift- his brain is. My friends are shocked he has dropped out of sports because the culture here is more more more sports. They ask about it EVERY time I see them. I happily say he prefers to have his nose in a book- he is just going to be a different kid. Maybe I feel a little bit like I need to justify his lack of sports participation- since they always ask him to play or why isn't he playing. But really I am just speaking the truth. I will often chime in and say- after my 13 knee surgeries I am perfectly happy having an academic
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Sports can create people that greatly contribute to the world as they are not all dumb jocks
