Life Is A Team Sport with Candace Parker | Cocktails & Convos
We sat down with WNBA star Candace Parker for this episode of Cocktails & Convos and talked about the importance of team sports (especially for young girls) and what Candace's parents did to produce such high-achieving children. Scroll down to listen to the podcast and then read the key takeaways.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Candace and both of her brothers are highly successful. One brother's a doctor and the other is a retired NBA player so naturally we were curious about what her parents did to raise three high-achieving adults. Candace says one of the biggest principles her parents instilled was finishing what they started. They weren't allowed to quit just because they were bored or the game got tough. That even went for board games!
Candace's parents also made things uncomfortable for them, because they wanted their children to learn what success tasted like even when things were hard.
Family dinners were a regular part of Candace's upbringing, which she also credits to her and her brothers' success.
As successful as she and her brothers are, Candace says she's more proud of her brothers as fathers and uncles than as a doctor and basketball star. Their character is what is most impressive rather than their achievements.
It's no surprise that Candace is a big believer in team sports but Candace goes so far as to say that everything in life is a team sport. She wouldn't have made it through much in her life without the values she learned from team sports. She believes all children should be involved in some group or club. It doesn't have to be a sport, but an organization with a clear goal and group effort to achieve that goal.
Girls benefit from team sports, especially when played from a young age because they learn skills early on that they'll take with them into their careers, into the boardroom. Those skills will help them in a male-dominated workforce.
The two major things team sports teach kids is that even if you fail, you have to get back up and second, in order to get back up, you've got to get your mind right. Self-talk can make all the difference.
It's fine to play a sport or join a club purely for enjoyment and fun, but it's also important to set decently high standards and goals so our kids know what it's like to excel at something and master a particular skill or sport.
It's our job as parents to encourage our kids to try new things and open themselves up to different possibilities. They won't know what they like and what they're good at, if they don't try a variety of activities.
Girls tend to drop out of team sports around age eleven, which is also when their confidence drops so keep your daughters in sports. It will help keep their mental and emotional health up and build their confidence. Girls especially are susceptible to outside influences and the peer pressure to drop out of the sport often leads to the dropout.
We have so many biases we need to shift and women’s sports is another bias. We have to accept that we might be the only girl playing a particular sport, or playing solo in the open gym.
MORE ABOUT CANDACE:
Candace Parker is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. She's one of the most decorated female basketball players to ever put on a uniform, with a WNBA Champion, WNBA Finals MVP, 2x WNBA MVP, 2x Gold Medalist, and WNBA Rookie of the Year just to name a few of her many accomplishments throughout her career. She was also the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. Off the court, Candace is mom to 8-year-old daughter Lailaa, a renowned broadcaster, and an inspiring role model for young women everywhere.
Follow Candace on INSTAGRAM.
Find out more about Candace's career, tour dates, and other updates on her WEBSITE.