Fatherhood and Sports: Lessons from Chuck Araneta

Off the Record with Migs Bustos returned with another episode that talked about important aspects of sports other than statistics. What made this episode interesting is that his guest in the form of Chuck Araneta, and Migs Bustos have two things in common: they're sports fans and they're also fathers.

Araneta, who was actually one of the first to produce podcasts at a time when it wasn't even a thing yet, started out as a sportswriter for a media outlet before gaining traction in the sports media until he now finds himself working with the likes of Sev Sarmenta, Richard del Rosario, and Ryan Gregorio. "All I wanted was to prove myself," he quipped.

The discussion centered around how Chuck Araneta fulfills his "daddy duties" even while was working as a sportscaster. Araneta revealed the one common trap that young fathers usually fall into. "We want our kids to look at us as their best friends. It's like I would want to be the buddy of my child when he/she grows up. When that happens, you would lose your authority over your child. That's the one thing that I've learned and I have to change. When my kids see me as their playmate, they don't see me as a person of authority. You need to balance it. Of course, you can have fun with your kids but there has to be a fine line. Sometimes, you need to say 'Child, I need to discipline you because this is what you did and it's wrong',"

Araneta also dug into the mental health of not just fathers but also of kids especially during these trying times where kids are stuck at home and cannot play outside. "There are higher admissions of depression by men compared to women because we (men) keep our feelings to ourselves. It's the same thing for kids. Kids have a harder time not just communicating how they feel but processing how they feel. This pandemic has changed all of our children,"

Chuck also admitted that he tried to incorporate basketball into the childhood of his kids. "Their toys at home would be basketball. When there was an NBA (National Basketball Association) store here in Manila, I bought stuffed toys of NBA players instead of dinosaurs. I would turn on the TV and it would play basketball 24/7. I didn't work," Then, he realized something. "Because I'm in the world of sports and because I have to leave on afternoons to cover games, it's like my kids are equating basketball to work meaning basketball is the reason why daddy isn't at home. Because of that, he sulked a little at the sports because that's the reason why I'm not at home to play with them,"

Araneta then said, "I told them that it's okay if they don't play basketball as long as they have sports because, for me, the values that sports teach us, physical conditioning, being able to work together as a team, sacrificing and discipline,  are the important things  For all athletes who became fathers, discipline is really one of their focuses for their kids because they want their kids to learn the value of discipline,"

In the end, Chuck Araneta explained what he would do if kids want to become basketball players down the road, "I'm gonna be all in 100%,"

Screenshot is from pinoyliga.com Facebook page