Bravo's Newest Home Run - Sports Kids Moms and Dads, Episode 1 by Kristy Lussier
After viewing the first episode, I can say one thing is for sure: this is going to be an interesting season!
Of course the whole of the episode focused on introducing the audience to each parent and their “sport kid.” First up to bat were Craig and his 8 year old son Trenton, the football player. From the start it’s quite clear Craig is basically living his own lost identity through his son. He fully admits never achieving his dream of being a football player in the NFL, so he hopes Trenton will live that dream for him. Trenton states at one point “My dream is to be a football player in the NFL and win a super bowl.” I can’t help but wonder if he would even know football so well unless his father did, so is it really Trenton’s dream, or his father’s pressure on him to achieve the same goal. One thing that did disturb about this segment: It seems Trenton does nothing but practice and run stairs, all week long, 7 days straight. Where does school fit into his schedule? Does he even go to school?? Why can’t Dad just let this kid be a kid and have a little fun sometimes?
Next we met Sharon and her daughter Sarah, the cheerleader. Sarah is really cute and, quite frankly, seems to enjoy what she does. She always looks like she’s having fun, and that’s great, but what made Sharon stand out was that she seemed to be more nervous and agitated about her daughter’s performances than Sarah actually was. I, myself, was in dance as a child, and on competitive dance squads in high school and college, so I know where Sarah is and what she’s going through. But Sharon, let the girl perform!! Let her coach COACH her, and don’t butt in! If there’s one thing I learned it’s that having a parent who supports is much more useful around competition than having a parent who directs. Nonetheless, later in the episode, Sarah participates in a competition, and does a pretty snazzy job. She falls on one stunt during her second team performance, but she seems like she’ll bounce back fine.
Then we met Kim and her son Bryce, the figure skater. He’s 16 years old, and surprisingly, has only been skating for 6 years. Honestly, he is a beautiful skater (my mom skated, so I am familiar with the sport). We also met three of Bryce’s coaches who appear to be on the top of their game. Bryce actually attends a charter school for about 4 hours a day, and I am glad to see at least one of these Sports Kids goes to school. Bryce appears to have a passion for what he does, and his mother too; so much that she admitted later in the episode, during a practice, she gets so nervous when Bryce performs, she gets sick and sometimes can’t even watch his skating. This will be something interesting to watch progress throughout the season.
Karen, a recently divorced mother of 5, has two daughters who are Equestrian (horse) riders. But the daughter and Sport Kid we focus on is Karli, who had the most in-depth (aired) interview on the episode. Karli truly is a lover of horses and enjoys riding tremendously. But the show didn’t seem to reflect greatly on her mother’s involvement in her sporting career. Oppositely, this episode showed how much her mother is struggling financially to uphold her daughters’ activities, even taking a second mortgage on their house to buy her a horse. My heart goes out to Karli and her sister because it’s obvious they are very talented. I anxiously wait to see what happens next week.
Finally we met TJ and her daughter Lindsay, the basketball player. And guess what? TJ actually IS the coach of her daughter’s team, so all that yelling I saw in the previews for the show became justified and clear! TJ used to play basketball for her college team, and now has passed the talent on to her daughter, who plays really well. Living with your coach must be a struggle, and even TJ admits “When I coach, it’s hard to remember that I’m mom too.” Both TJ and Lindsay take basketball seriously, and it works for them; that dynamic comes off in the episode, and it seems TJ was a very proud parent. She pointed out that her daughter was already receiving letters from colleges about playing. In fact, TJ was the only parent to express how proud she was of her “Sport Kid.” In some of the other segments, the parents were more or less showcasing their children, instead of praising them for the accomplishments. I think this alone is what will make for an exciting season of the show!
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