Travel sports are killing American families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

Why do you think it's about other people caring? You must not be or never have been an athlete. The athletes care. My son loved playing lacrosse for as long as he could. There are no rec lacrosse teams after 6th grade around here. No desire to play in college, but he didn't keep playing because people cared that he played club lacrosse. What a weird argument against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

Ha ha this is so nihilistic but I love it!

I agree, this is a great summary of what happens. If nothing matters, no one cares, and no kid will make it to the Olympics, isn't it ridiculous that we we believe that spending this much time and money over 5-10 years is necessary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

Why do you think it's about other people caring? You must not be or never have been an athlete. The athletes care. My son loved playing lacrosse for as long as he could. There are no rec lacrosse teams after 6th grade around here. No desire to play in college, but he didn't keep playing because people cared that he played club lacrosse. What a weird argument against it.

But lacrosse is a weird sport with weird equipment, of course there is no wide interest in it: probably the people in clubs are the only ones playing (another reason for no one caring).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a total racket but “killing the American family” seems a bit much.

Our neighbors are getting divorced and she has alluded to the fact that spending most weekends apart as she took one child out of state for a soccer tournament and her husband took a different child to a different region for another sport didn’t help. They did this for like five years including the day after thanksgiving etc. This doesn’t seem great for communication particularly if you both work during the week and seems to provide a lot of temptation to cheat if you were so inclined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

Obviously it's ridiculous but we have a whole thread dedicated to "ruined American families" with people voicing this sentiment in unjoking terms. You may think you're joking but for sure people agree with you anyway. We see loads of negativity around sports but nobody starts threads to bash the musicians, chess players and spelling bee aficionados.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a total racket but “killing the American family” seems a bit much.

Our neighbors are getting divorced and she has alluded to the fact that spending most weekends apart as she took one child out of state for a soccer tournament and her husband took a different child to a different region for another sport didn’t help. They did this for like five years including the day after thanksgiving etc. This doesn’t seem great for communication particularly if you both work during the week and seems to provide a lot of temptation to cheat if you were so inclined.

My kid does travel baseball. So much opportunity to cheat with the overnight tournaments out of town in hotels with alcohol mixed in!

There are comedy routines about it on FB reels. Definitely a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is another way (and I say this as a travel parent for the worst sport in travel — soccer — for the past six years)

But for hockey there is a youth league in Fredericksburg, Va for roller hockey that has created an oasis from travel for a nominal rec league fee - and if you can’t pay - the league will!

They have free clinics on Saturdays to learn to skate and learn to play. Three age divisions elementary, middle and high school. Coed teams. This is the way!

https://www.fyrhl.org/home

BTW: if there are any HBO Real Sports producers on here the rise of this greedy and unregulated enterprise of travel youth sports would make a phenomenal doc. Michael Lewis even offers a foundation in his book profiling his experience with his daughter’s travel softball team. Insidious.

Thanks for this recommendation! Will look for this book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

Obviously it's ridiculous but we have a whole thread dedicated to "ruined American families" with people voicing this sentiment in unjoking terms. You may think you're joking but for sure people agree with you anyway. We see loads of negativity around sports but nobody starts threads to bash the musicians, chess players and spelling bee aficionados.

I haven't heard of spelling bee parents paying thousands of dollars to put their spelling bee-ers in spelling bee clubs and wasting their weekends in spelling bee tournaments. Is there a whole industry taking advantage of these poor parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

Obviously it's ridiculous but we have a whole thread dedicated to "ruined American families" with people voicing this sentiment in unjoking terms. You may think you're joking but for sure people agree with you anyway. We see loads of negativity around sports but nobody starts threads to bash the musicians, chess players and spelling bee aficionados.

I haven't heard of spelling bee parents paying thousands of dollars to put their spelling bee-ers in spelling bee clubs and wasting their weekends in spelling bee tournaments. Is there a whole industry taking advantage of these poor parents?

You don't get it - it isn't wasting a weekend if people enjoy it. It might be for you, but definitely not for us.

[Anonymous]

My son plays travel soccer out of the area about six times a year. There is a monetary difference but it's no more difficult than middle school sports in the middle of the work day and busses to and from

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

Obviously it's ridiculous but we have a whole thread dedicated to "ruined American families" with people voicing this sentiment in unjoking terms. You may think you're joking but for sure people agree with you anyway. We see loads of negativity around sports but nobody starts threads to bash the musicians, chess players and spelling bee aficionados.

I haven't heard of spelling bee parents paying thousands of dollars to put their spelling bee-ers in spelling bee clubs and wasting their weekends in spelling bee tournaments. Is there a whole industry taking advantage of these poor parents?

Yes, yes there is. Costs hundreds/thousands for the materials, private coaches ($50-200 per hour), entrance fees ($750) then travel to the various qualifying competitions. Must be terrible on the family life. All those hours studying alone or in groups. Sounds a lot like a travel sport.

https://theconversation.com/what-it-takes-to-become-a-spelling-bee-champ-206046
https://money.com/national-spelling-bee-costs/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad. The amount of time and money spent for 5-10 years and then poof!

Most kids will not play in college, most will not get scholarships, none will make the Olympics.

Life goes on. No one cares if you were in a club team and most won’t even care of you play D1.

Once you get have a job, get married and have kids none of this matters. No one cares.

No, then you start your own travel team and continue your lifelong passion coaching, teaching others, etc.

I'm not musical but don't begrudge people who spend a lot of time learning their instrument who will never play in college, get a scholarship, join the symphony, and will get a job like everyone else that has nothing to do with music. I don't care what they do with their time and money. They can play their instrument on the side as much as a former athlete can play their sport in the adult clubs out there.

Do you understand humor when you see it? Does it have to start with "knock-knock" or "yo mamma" for you to tell it's a joke?

Obviously it's ridiculous but we have a whole thread dedicated to "ruined American families" with people voicing this sentiment in unjoking terms. You may think you're joking but for sure people agree with you anyway. We see loads of negativity around sports but nobody starts threads to bash the musicians, chess players and spelling bee aficionados.

Who isn’t mocking spelling bee aficionados? I thought we all were?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know people lament travel sports, but I guess the alternative is to look at European soccer and basketball development.

In Europe, kids are selected to play for academy teams as early as 5. Ajax in Holland basically has boarding school for players staring at 5.

You basically have groups of kids groomed for pro leagues at very young ages. Everyone remaining knows they are only Rec players. There isn’t as much pressure because you never play against these pro kids. They exist in their own world. There are no college sports, so again, it’s either pro or rec.

The other difference is they don’t start playing real games until like 15. Up until that, it is all skills development, conditioning and training.

Maybe that is a better system even though perhaps harsher. Kids know at a fairly young age that it’s only Rec from here on out and there is not the false thinking everyone will be a D1 athlete.

What? How can you lock in ongoing affinity for a sport and predict genetics and athleticism at the age of 5?