Gifts for Sports Fans

None of the 'kids' in our family ever played football on a team, although my youngest son dearly wanted to. When he was 8-years-old there was a sign-up for recreational football in our area. He wanted to play so badly, but the weight requirements were between 65-95 lbs. He was small for his age and weighed just 60 lbs. He begged and begged the couch to consider him, saying he'd eat a bunch, drink lots of milk... whatever it took! But couch explained ... gently, to this disappointed boy ... that he had to enforce the weight requirement. He said if a 95 lb. boy landed on a 60 lb. boy, he'd get 'hurt'!

My 'very disappointed' boy finally ended up playing soccer, but he always wished he could have played football. Today he is a huge pro-football fan, following his favorite teams and keeping up with player stats, etc. He's now the father of two boys and hoped that one of them would want to play football -- but as fate would have it, the oldest boy prefers 'baseball'!

When our youngest son played soccer in the Central California Youth Recreational Soccer League, hubby & I were talked into becoming referees. Turned out to be the most fun ever! We had a great group of dads (and one mom - ME) who volunteered their time every Saturday for 4 months each year. A better, more involved group you'll never find.

Bob & I were referees for two years while our son was in the 6 to 12 year age group for this league. That's US, in the back row - Bob second from the right, Pat third from the right! Weren't we 'cute' in our ref uniforms? :)

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN by thehotbutton
Browse more March madness Buttons

Bracketology 2 by thehotbutton
design your own tee shirt using zazzle.com

My sister's husband, Michael, has been a fan of Ice Hockey his entire life. In his youth, he played hockey in amateur competition and later was a coach for his son's team. Michael lives in western New York State and when he learned that the 1980 Winter Olympics were to be held in Lake Placid, NY, he immediately set about getting tickets.

Between February 12 to February 24, 1980, Michael was present in the Olympic Fieldhouse and the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, NY to watch twelve ice hockey teams from around the world compete for a medal in the final rounds. The 'highlight' of his trip was the day the United States won the gold medal with a win over the Soviet Union that became known as the "Miracle on Ice".

If you're a Sports Fan, the most enjoyable gifts are those that relate to your favorite sport. Mine is BASEBALL and I love the baseball memorabilia I've acquired over the years.

I also have special memories of my time as a soccer referee in our youth league in California. My favorite momento is a regulation soccer ball signed by all the referees I worked with in our youth soccer league as a 'going-away' gift when we moved.

In addition to the wonderful memories of my children's days on sports teams, we have a wide variety of sports-related gifts to remind us all of those fun days.

Whether you are a sports participant, a parent or grandparent of a child participating in a sport, or a sideline fan of sports, sports-related gifts are a special reminder of your favorite sport.