You sound like an awesome dude OP, don't let the haters get you down. It feels an awful lot like some people never got over middle school. This sub, and reddit as a whole, has always had a really hard time empathizing with anyone who didn't grow up as some kind of nerd or introvert.

I grew up in a family where I was the one who was really good at reading/academics and my brother was the musician, but we were both hardcore extroverts and we both wanted to do sports related stuff as well (I liked bodybuilding and my brother was more interested in martial arts and hockey), and both of our parents were introverted nerd-types who were still really pissed off about middle school. We were strongly encouraged not to be "meatheads" or "dumb jocks" and there was a lot of negativity based around playing on a team, i.e. "what's the matter, can't think for yourself, need a whole team to do it for you?". They're both much better now, but when we were little kids it was just one negative stereotype about athletes after another. Even now that we're adults we both get our share of "meathead caveman" jokes at family gatherings.

By all means everyone can do whatever they want, but when you're a kid it can be really damaging to know that your parents don't give a shit about what actually makes you happy. I would hope all the people saying "I would only support my kids if they did something I view as intelligent" really think about what they're saying.