When Sports and Academics Clash

I am into sports. My wife is the brains of the outfit.

Now our worlds are colliding inside our daughter Celine, 7, who is both a brain and a jock.

Here is our problem, if you want to call it that. Celine is a very good soccer player. She scored 30 goals in her nine-game indoor season and she already has eight goals in two games during the outdoor season. I believe she needs to move to the next level and play in an organized league with coaches and better players.

My wife Abs and I made that decision a few weeks ago.

But Celine threw a wrench in that. She recently tested in the 99th percentile and has been accepted into a magnate school and we've heard there is an hour of home work each night.

Soccer requires two practices a week and a Saturday game. Can we handle it as a family? And there is one more thing. We also have Little B and we do not want to ignore him.

He needs attention also and said he wants to play fall soccer when he begins kindergarten.

Friends say we must send Celine to the better school. People who've seen Celine play say it would be an injustice to keep her in recreation soccer. I also believe athletics is important in developing leaders. Did you know that every woman executive in a Fortune 500 company played team sports?

So now we are debating. Do we push academics? Do we push sports? Or do we do both?

If anybody wants to throw their two cents in I am all ears. Email me at Terry.Foster@detnews.com. I can also be reached at 313-222-1494.