My parents put me into figure skating, young, and apparently i was pretty good, but by the time i was 7 they couldn't afford the coaching / rink time / skates...
The skating coach tried to persuade my mom to put me into hockey, as it was much cheaper.
Mom didn't want her darling child hurt.... so it was soccer instead, which was becoming big at the time in the USA [1970's]
Played for several years and was good at that , eventually making it to the "travel team". My Parents stated fighting around this period, and the time and travel commitment of soccer games didn't help . One guy got cut from the travel team after the 1st year, that was me. The Coach was the father of another of the players , and i was certainly better than the coaches kid, but that was my first lesson in nepotism. But admittedly , i wasn't putting forth 100% anymore. Probably i would have been more attuned to a sport that allowed the use of hands ? * So Dad comes home from work the day I am cut from the team, and i am Crying outside. He sits with me for a few minutes to talk about it, and it's never mentioned after that. Dad is busy with my siblings also, work, money issues and the impending divorce.
So, I start getting after-school jobs instead, and i sort of follow the path Use2Betrix goes down. Still i play various pickup/ intermural games of football / baseball/ volleyball etc and when teams are picked, am usually one of the first players to be claimed by a 'captain'.
Did i have potential ? Maybe... Did i follow parents expectations possibly to my sporting detriment ? yes.... Would a caring inspiring and able coach have helped my attitude ? certainly.
Fast foward 25+ years, I have a child "late" in life, and decide that i need to get rid of the belly paunch, and be able to run around with my kid without being winded. So we take up martial arts, and when the "parents / grandparents" day happens at school, I'm one of 2 parents actually running around having fun with the kids on the playground after lunch ,out of about 80 parents attending. The other parents are talking amongst themselves or looking at their phones.
Two suggestions for BOP :
* find a different sport to start engaging in, one where it's more individual acheivement + struggle. You won't measure up as high in your old sport of cricket, but in a new sport, you can only get better from a low baseline.
** Consider coaching, not the guy who just barks orders from the the side of the field ; but maybe the assistant coach, who runs laps with the team , gets on the ground and stretches with the players, etc.
My best sporting compliment this month was after "sparring" a guy 20 years younger, and he walked away mumbling " Dang, that's some 'old man' strength".
Faint praise maybe, but I'll take it.
A quote from the Gym we attend __ " Come Train !! The largest room in the world , is your room for self-improvement "