Recently I was talking to a friend and somehow we got on the subject of sports practices and how I could not wait for my three-hour soccer practice while she dreaded her two-hour softball practice. I asked myself: Am I nuts?

I recall in Wayne Gretzky's autobiography a story about a woman coming up to him with her son and asking him to tell her son to skate three hours a day, like he did. He simply said that he could not. He practiced because he wanted to. I think people need to realize that sports are for FUN.

Some people constantly complain about double session practices, late practices, and traveling to places they have not even heard of for a game. I realized last year that I did not enjoy playing soccer for my school, so this year, I played on a town travel team, which was less competitive and had a great time. So if you find yourself loathing practice, think about moving to a less competitive venue. l