Why do kids here in the US spend so much time and effort on sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh god

Ok? I literally just said that people who want to do travel sports are too losers. What's the oh God for?

No, you are the loser, did your kid not make the cut and you can't afford the fee or something? It's ok, not all kids are athletic, don't project your ego onto your kids and ruin them.

I'm not a loser, nor are my kids. We've all dine just fine without sports.

[Anonymous]

OP, my husband (who immigrated here as a teenager) has the same reaction. He plays and watches sports himself and has been happy to encourage rec level sports for the one of our 2 kids who has a really strong interest. But he draws the line at travel or HS sports. He keeps pointing out that almost no one from the DMV suburbs is going to play at a pro or Olympic level, and only a small number of kids are going to play at the college level. At the same time the amount of homework a rigorous HS curriculum entails isn't very conducive to 5-7 day/week sports commitments. So he is actively discouraging our soccer & basketball obsessed kid from considering more competitive leagues.

So why the obsession? I get the sense from other families that there is a misconception that sports are really helpful for college. I only have one data point but my current freshman was pretty disinterested in sports and he did great in the admissions process.

Personally I wish there were more options like MSI Classic league, which is a notch above rec and a notch (or more) below travel. It's a good balance for regular exercise, teamwork, and competition - without overtaking the rest of life. I wish there were other avenues like this for other sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh god

Ok? I literally just said that people who want to do travel sports are too losers. What's the oh God for?

No, you are the loser, did your kid not make the cut and you can't afford the fee or something? It's ok, not all kids are athletic, don't project your ego onto your kids and ruin them.

I’m so confused . 21 cab you do something for me

[Anonymous]

Because people have bought the bogus dream that maybe their kid is the next star of whatever sport and it will be their ticket to cheaper university and being millionaires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because people have bought the bogus dream that maybe their kid is the next star of whatever sport and it will be their ticket to cheaper university and being millionaires.

Alternatively, wait for it, the KID loves to play.

My child was the kid skipping on the sidelines of whatever DC tried. But we said you had to do something active and part of a team even if just rec b/c we think there are certain values in it. DH was an athlete; I was not. Neither was hoping or even wanting our child to play at the higher levels. But, in MS, DC found something and wanted to do it. Then more. Then more. Now would like to play in college. This is DC's dream, not ours. We are not expecting a scholarship and it's a sport in which it ends at college.

So, while there may be some parents who are as you describe, there are many that are not. But, go ahead and paint with the broad brush. And FTR, before you give more snark, my kid is an honors/AP student with all As (I take that back, 1 high b+ currently) and all around good kid. Some kids are capable of doing well on all fronts.

[Anonymous]

I have multiple children playing club sports and previous posters have nailed it - it's with a goal of having a prayer of making a high school team (and my kids have a ton of fun playing now). Our HS teams are wildly competitive. The only kids with a shot have been playing club sports since elementary school. If our high schools would commit to supporting more teams (Varsity A/Varsity B, JV A, JVB,) etc - enough to match the interest - I know my family would be more relaxed about the effort in earlier years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because people have bought the bogus dream that maybe their kid is the next star of whatever sport and it will be their ticket to cheaper university and being millionaires.

Alternatively, wait for it, the KID loves to play.

My child was the kid skipping on the sidelines of whatever DC tried. But we said you had to do something active and part of a team even if just rec b/c we think there are certain values in it. DH was an athlete; I was not. Neither was hoping or even wanting our child to play at the higher levels. But, in MS, DC found something and wanted to do it. Then more. Then more. Now would like to play in college. This is DC's dream, not ours. We are not expecting a scholarship and it's a sport in which it ends at college.

So, while there may be some parents who are as you describe, there are many that are not. But, go ahead and paint with the broad brush. And FTR, before you give more snark, my kid is an honors/AP student with all As (I take that back, 1 high b+ currently) and all around good kid. Some kids are capable of doing well on all fronts.

Damn

[Anonymous]

Team sports bring the benefits of team work (relying on others, others relying on you), feedback cycles, dealing with disappointment and failure, competing for something, pushing yourself beyond what you thought your body could do, a necessity for time management, self confidence (especially for girls), easy way to meet friends and integrate in new places, a fun way to stay fit in adulthood, and a life long commitment to fitness/exercise.

For non-team/ball sports it is way easier to learn things when they are young - like mountain biking and skiing - and that balance and coordination will stay for life and help in other parts of being human.

It would be great if any of my kids played in college in some capacity, but that isn’t the goal or the reason - so much of that is based on things outside of their control and education and sport opportunities doesn’t always dovetail perfectly. We are also in a situation where we don’t have to rely on sports for opportunity or to get out of a bad situation, we can afford their education.

As an adult I still play team sports as well as run, ski, bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Team sports bring the benefits of team work (relying on others, others relying on you), feedback cycles, dealing with disappointment and failure, competing for something, pushing yourself beyond what you thought your body could do, a necessity for time management, self confidence (especially for girls), easy way to meet friends and integrate in new places, a fun way to stay fit in adulthood, and a life long commitment to fitness/exercise.

For non-team/ball sports it is way easier to learn things when they are young - like mountain biking and skiing - and that balance and coordination will stay for life and help in other parts of being human.

It would be great if any of my kids played in college in some capacity, but that isn’t the goal or the reason - so much of that is based on things outside of their control and education and sport opportunities doesn’t always dovetail perfectly. We are also in a situation where we don’t have to rely on sports for opportunity or to get out of a bad situation, we can afford their education.

As an adult I still play team sports as well as run, ski, bike.

Not many people play team sports as adults dear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my husband (who immigrated here as a teenager) has the same reaction. He plays and watches sports himself and has been happy to encourage rec level sports for the one of our 2 kids who has a really strong interest. But he draws the line at travel or HS sports. He keeps pointing out that almost no one from the DMV suburbs is going to play at a pro or Olympic level, and only a small number of kids are going to play at the college level. At the same time the amount of homework a rigorous HS curriculum entails isn't very conducive to 5-7 day/week sports commitments. So he is actively discouraging our soccer & basketball obsessed kid from considering more competitive leagues.

So why the obsession? I get the sense from other families that there is a misconception that sports are really helpful for college. I only have one data point but my current freshman was pretty disinterested in sports and he did great in the admissions process.

Personally I wish there were more options like MSI Classic league, which is a notch above rec and a notch (or more) below travel. It's a good balance for regular exercise, teamwork, and competition - without overtaking the rest of life. I wish there were other avenues like this for other sports.

A sane sports parent! I wish we could clone you.

Long ago I read a suggestion to try to discuss the reality that most kids will never know or have on a team a player who makes in the pros or even gets a chance to play on a d1 team. Watch the reactions from the other parents. I did it once and several parents who I thought were sane were so upset they could barely talk. One dad walked away so angry he never talked to me again. Their middle school aged kids were nothing special but they were certain their child had exceptional talents that meant they would likely have a chance at the pros. My kids are grown now and I've seen what happened to the kids who were stars on their hs teams. Many parents are so fired up that their kid get to have their moment on college signing day at their high school, that they'll happily send their kid to No-Name-Instutuion in Nowheresville to play at a "college" that offers no academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Team sports bring the benefits of team work (relying on others, others relying on you), feedback cycles, dealing with disappointment and failure, competing for something, pushing yourself beyond what you thought your body could do, a necessity for time management, self confidence (especially for girls), easy way to meet friends and integrate in new places, a fun way to stay fit in adulthood, and a life long commitment to fitness/exercise.

For non-team/ball sports it is way easier to learn things when they are young - like mountain biking and skiing - and that balance and coordination will stay for life and help in other parts of being human.

It would be great if any of my kids played in college in some capacity, but that isn’t the goal or the reason - so much of that is based on things outside of their control and education and sport opportunities doesn’t always dovetail perfectly. We are also in a situation where we don’t have to rely on sports for opportunity or to get out of a bad situation, we can afford their education.

As an adult I still play team sports as well as run, ski, bike.

Not many people play team sports as adults dear

25%, that is 1 in 4. I agree it should be higher, perhaps there is a lack of opportunity in our community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Team sports bring the benefits of team work (relying on others, others relying on you), feedback cycles, dealing with disappointment and failure, competing for something, pushing yourself beyond what you thought your body could do, a necessity for time management, self confidence (especially for girls), easy way to meet friends and integrate in new places, a fun way to stay fit in adulthood, and a life long commitment to fitness/exercise.

For non-team/ball sports it is way easier to learn things when they are young - like mountain biking and skiing - and that balance and coordination will stay for life and help in other parts of being human.

It would be great if any of my kids played in college in some capacity, but that isn’t the goal or the reason - so much of that is based on things outside of their control and education and sport opportunities doesn’t always dovetail perfectly. We are also in a situation where we don’t have to rely on sports for opportunity or to get out of a bad situation, we can afford their education.

As an adult I still play team sports as well as run, ski, bike.

Not many people play team sports as adults dear

25%, that is 1 in 4. I agree it should be higher, perhaps there is a lack of opportunity in our community

Or it could be because are busy being adults. There is a reason being a kids is better than being an adult.

[Anonymous]

My son does travel baseball and rec basketball. Winter rec basketball is two hours a week- one hour of practice and one hour game (personally, I don't think it's enough practice, but it's very light in terms of commitment). If you do spring, summer, or fall basketball in his league, there's no practice, just one game weekly.

His travel baseball team is not an elite showcase team, which is what I think some people here are imagining. Generally, there are two hour practices twice a week and one doubleheader on Sunday, usually in Fairfax/Arlington/Alexandria. Our coach picks 3 or 4 tournaments a season, most of which are within an hour's drive. One tournament is out of town, which yes, is a commitment for sure.

No one in our family has any delusions of grandeur of anything beyond making it through each travel season and then reevaluating whether the commitment to travel baseball is good for our family and our son. He does it because he loves baseball and has fun. That is all. He did rec baseball until he aged out.

[Anonymous]

That's another thing I hate about these travel sports. Kids age out of rec. Why? Why does a certain age mean that you can no longer play a sports just for enjoyment and fun?

[Anonymous]

In my smallish friends, relatives and coworker circle, I do know apx 10 college athletes accepted to D1 & 2 schools with full or partial scholarships in the past 7 years... basketball, football, track, and soccer. In the PAST YEAR alone one of my cousin's daughters was just awarded a soccer scholarship (her sister now recruited), one coworker with a daughter recruited for basketball with stipend, two coworkers with sons recruited for football and another coworker's son for soccer. All top state schools.

I am not counting on any scholarship for my basketball-obsessed son but I hope his sports involvement will give him a boost. Even as an experienced travel player, he had a tough time making his middle school team.