My son is 11 and very reluctantly does a lot of sports. He is in a small school with very few boys in his class. The backstory is that my husband is quite sporty, still plays 5 a side football and it's all he and his dad ever talk about, there is always a match on in the background when we visit. My side of the family is the complete opposite, nerdy, into individual solitary type interests such as books, art, film, DIY, music.
My son is usually doing a different sport every evening after school, some of them he does willingly such as soccer and hockey with his school, but my husband is insisting he also does 2 other sports as well, which he really doesn't want to do. It's a constant battle trying to get him to go. I've said I'm not having any more to do with it and maybe it's time to listen to our son and stop forcing him to go. He insists that's wrong and we have to make him go and our son is just being lazy. He's insisting because he thinks it's essential for his mental health and it's a way to be part of something and not be isolated and so he can meet more boys than just the handful in his class. He keeps pointing to my brothers and saying my parents failed them by not forcing them to do sports... 2 of my brothers have probably had undiagnosed depression /social anxiety but I don't know if that's why.
My son is very bright, he's musical and plays 2 instruments and sings in a choir which he seems to really enjoy, but my husband thinks that's a waste of time and he needs to give them up, especially as the choir and band will be clashing with 2 of his sports. In his free time however, my son is completely addicted to screens and gaming and ignores the rest of the family, so my husband thinks it's the only way to get him away from screens.
Who's right? I feel it's taking a toll on our younger kids as we're constantly ferrying 11yr old around to matches and training and the younger ones (2 girls) haven't got to do any sports themselves.