TORN BETWEEN playing sports and making music? (Shutterstock).

To our readers: The Tribune is launching a new feature called “Tell it to The Jury.” Our “jurists” – who shall remain anonymous – are an Orange County trio of a grandmother, a female college student, and a middle age guy. In each installment , we will pose a question we think is of wide interest along with the “verdict” of our panelists.

If you’d like to send an anonymous question to The Jury, click here: Submit a Question to our Panelists

The Question: My dad is really a sports “nut” and he loves to watch me play sports, which I’ve been doing since I was, like, 6. Now I’m 16 and playing basketball is getting dull and I want to spend my spare time doing other stuff like playing music. Every time I bring up the subject with my dad, he either gets irritated or sad. He says if I quit I’d be letting myself, my teammates and him down. What’s my play here?

Grandma’s Verdict: I absolutely think that you should get to make your own decision regarding whether you continue to play sports. If you are in the middle of a season now, I agree with your dad that it would let your team down to quit now, so you should complete it.

If not, then you should go ahead and concentrate on your music, or whatever interests you. Have a heart to heart talk with your dad. Let him know that you love him, and respect his opinion, however you just don’t enjoy playing anymore, and that you hope that he will respect your opinion that it’s time to move on to other interests.

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Middle-Age Guy’s Verdict: You’re obviously a good basketball player so if you plan to pursue other interests you need to become terrible at basketball to avoid disappointing your father. Here’s your game plan: next time you’re on the court take every opportunity to sink a three pointer, even when it looks impossible. In fact, the more impossible, the better. And don’t hesitate to shout something like, “ALL THREES, ALL DAY!” while you’re taking those shots. This risky behavior will have you sitting on the bench in no time. Your father won’t get to see you play so he’ll have to get used to the idea of you pursuing your musical interest. The problem is if you’re as good as I think you are, you could end up leading the league in 40-point games.

Your father will be ecstatic, but you can kiss that Grammy goodbye. Best to give your dad two more years of joy. If you give up sports at 18 he’ll just have to deal with it. Hopefully, you have a little sister or brother.

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College Student’s Verdict: Do what makes you happy. It’s your life not your dad’s. The only person you’d be letting down by not pursuing music and continuing basketball is yourself. Your teammates will understand your decision and eventually so will your dad. Explain to him again how basketball doesn’t feel the same anymore and give it time. Pursue music if it makes you happy. You only get one life, so live it to the fullest how you want.