Positives of doing travel sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always think this when the little league world series is televised in August-Sept. It's kids who are the best on their local little league teams who form an all star team and that team plays all over the state, all over the district, regions, and then forms the national team that goes to Williamsport Pa. I don't think kids are getting added/dropped; often the announcers will say how the kids have been together since age 8-9 and are playing on the national stage at age 12-13. I always think those friendships must be so tight for those boys and for their parents. I realize only 1 team will make it to Pa. and it's unlikely to be yours, but it would be so fun to play all around the state, region, district, as far as they could get. And I imagine the kids have a ball staying in one hotel after the next.

Bc it's a family friendly telecast, the announcers always get into the kids' personal history, and I think the challenge is if you have a job or a professional life requiring your constant presence. Seems like for many kids on the team -- their dads own their own business (a large enough one w employees who'll manage it when he's out of town 2-3 days/wk all summer) and moms are SAHMs. Can't imagine how it'd work if the parents were doctors or lawyers or had any kind of job where they worked for others -- it'd be hard to say you just aren't available for much of the summer bc you're following your 12 yr olds baseball team to rural Pa.

Williamsport reminds me of the idyllic boys of summer experience every year. Damn -- I would take 3 months off work to drive the team around if my DS were to get on an all star team that was on that road.

Honestly a lot -- though not all -- parents in our travel league do have a lot of the "live vicariously thru my kid" mentality and that's what keeps them going from one tournament to the next every weekend. In their minds -- they never got to do this as kids and their kids are gaining skills, forming tight friendships, and just having fun as they go from city to city and hotel to hotel and they don't want to take that away. It's not a bad reason, though keep in mind that it is the kid's decision -- should he want to quit the team eventually to focus more on school and school friends and not being away every weekend; or should he want to just quit the sport -- you don't want to be that parent that is completely devastated and feeling like they've lost their own social life bc that travel league will continue w/o you and those parents won't honestly have time for you bc they will still be going from tournament to tournament every weekend.

[Anonymous]

I loved it, but ideas a girl in the 80s.

The first team I landed on stayed together from 4th-11th grade. We won multiple VA State champs, Regionals, etc. we did not have open tryouts. The roster changed very little.

My boys play and they've had a constantly different team and many different coaches in the 2-3 years they've played.

I don't like the business it has become or how gigantic some of the clubs have gotten.

The heart is missing. It's a $ game now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved it, but ideas a girl in the 80s.

The first team I landed on stayed together from 4th-11th grade. We won multiple VA State champs, Regionals, etc. we did not have open tryouts. The roster changed very little.

My boys play and they've had a constantly different team and many different coaches in the 2-3 years they've played.

I don't like the business it has become or how gigantic some of the clubs have gotten.

The heart is missing. It's a $ game now.

+1. It's still fun but not nearly the same as it was in the 80s and 90s as there is a LOT more turnover now with the kids as parents try to steer them to other clubs where they'd have a better shot at getting noticed for scholarships etc. and with the coaches as they hop around to get with better clubs for higher salaries. It is way more of a business, and while the kids are friends -- it's not the same deep bonds as back in the day -- largely due to how much of a business it is now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved it, but ideas a girl in the 80s.

The first team I landed on stayed together from 4th-11th grade. We won multiple VA State champs, Regionals, etc. we did not have open tryouts. The roster changed very little.

My boys play and they've had a constantly different team and many different coaches in the 2-3 years they've played.

I don't like the business it has become or how gigantic some of the clubs have gotten.

The heart is missing. It's a $ game now.

Some people in the U.S. soccer community insist that we shouldn't think in terms of teams. Make everything "club-centric" or "player-centric." If that means the roster changes almost completely, so be it.

These are the same people who have no sympathy on the birth-year age group change. They simply don't seem to understand that playing with friends is important to people.

[Anonymous]

we are a travel hockey family. I have absolutely no hope or expectation that my child will play in college. There comes a point in hockey where you have just outgrown a rec/house team and you don't really have a choice but to play travel if you want to progress and continue to grow with the sport. The amount of time and money is a little nutty. Well, the money is really nutty. And I can't stand some of the other parents. But, my kid loves hockey. We aren't living vicariously through him because none of us ever played it. We are on our 7th year of travel. Some kids are the same. Some aren't. Played for a variety of coaches. He wants to play in high school. We do it because he loves it. And to be honest, those tournaments are where a lot of close bonds among the team are formed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we are a travel hockey family. I have absolutely no hope or expectation that my child will play in college. There comes a point in hockey where you have just outgrown a rec/house team and you don't really have a choice but to play travel if you want to progress and continue to grow with the sport. The amount of time and money is a little nutty. Well, the money is really nutty. And I can't stand some of the other parents. But, my kid loves hockey. We aren't living vicariously through him because none of us ever played it. We are on our 7th year of travel. Some kids are the same. Some aren't. Played for a variety of coaches. He wants to play in high school. We do it because he loves it. And to be honest, those tournaments are where a lot of close bonds among the team are formed.

Ditto, but travel soccer. We spend probably $5k per kid on soccer all in per year. We can afford it. If we couldn't, we wouldn't do it. Our kids are active, disciplined, hard working, have learned to weather ups and downs/wins and losses, etc. They've made great friends, had a lot of fun, gotten better at their sport, learned great leadership and time management skills as well as how to function as part of a team. In travel soccer, yes, there are politics, jackass parents/coaches/kids, expenses, inconveniences, etc. but for the most part, the pros have far outweighed the cons. Our kids make a commitment each year - if they decide they've had enough, they'll finish their season and then move on (assuming they're not in a situation where they need to be removed immediately). Not sure if they'll play in college - that's up to them and it's not necessarily the end game until they set that as their goal when they get to high school. We're focused on the journey and feel it's helping them prepare for life as a grown up. Plus, it's what they love to do, the same way some kids love music or math or video games. We know it's not for everyone and we don't think other individual or team sport options (including not playing at all) are less valid or valuable. My kids have other interests (sports and non-sports), but they choose to spend the majority of time outside of school on soccer. There are certainly worse things.

[Anonymous]

My granddad told my dad there's no such thing as wasted money on sports and music.

He didn't envision $2,000 a year just on *travel* (on top of the soccer itself), so there's a limit to that. But in general, it's a great activity.

[Anonymous]

If you have to ask why spending time with your kid alone in a car talking, having them make friendships with kids form other teams that last a long time over q common bond, parents that can relax and not worry what they have to wear to a dinner party full of judgmental people, sitting with a cooler of beer at a hotel pool while eating the local fare,

guess it isn't for you.

btw the myth about turn over isn't as high as people think. Coaches prefer to keep kids who already know how the team plays. sure kids drop off, rosters expand at certain ages but most of the kids stick together and form life long relationships

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time I'm in a hotel in a random city -- think Tulsa or Raleigh or Cincinnati -- I run into hordes of preteens/teens and some parents in town for a sports tournament. Just talking to some of these people they're often in town from cities all across the country for a national tournament. Did you do this kind of travel sport yourself or with your kids? I know everyone here always says it's terrible -- very costly; on the road all the time; no family life etc. But I don't know -- something about it looks appealing. If you play on the same team thru middle and high school, you are traveling with the same kids for almost 7 yrs. I'd imagine those are some tight friendships amongst the kids and the parents. Plus the family is together and frankly who else are you hanging out with in Tulsa? And what are you really missing out on on the weekends in Reston or Burke?

Why are people so down on travel sports? Is it just about cost? I imagine it's thousands of dollars per yr but then everyone posting here always brags about "only" making 300k, so is it that big of a sacrifice to spend 15k on a travel sport?

The teams are constantly changing. Player are dropped, new players added, etc. The cost is ridiculous. And the outcomes are marginal. Would you do all of that for a DIII scholarship? This should not be something that you want for your life or your kid unless you kid truly is a standout athlete.

These families wouldn't do it if it were a true hardship for them.

I played on a club team that traveled a lot. Yes, it cost my parents money and we spent summers traveling. For me, it ended up paying for college (DI - to PP, DIII don't offer athletic scholarships). But most importantly, the things I learned from playing team sports and from playing at an advanced level have served me very well in life. I can't overstate how much it gave me. My mom was friends with teammate's moms so hanging out with them wasn't so painful for her. And once I could drive myself to practices, it was much better.

[Anonymous]

OP, playing competitive sports kept me off drugs. No question. I have a curious nature and had friends in HS who were into drugs. I absolutely wanted to spend afternoons and weekends hanging with them, but my travel team prevented it. Thank god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time I'm in a hotel in a random city -- think Tulsa or Raleigh or Cincinnati -- I run into hordes of preteens/teens and some parents in town for a sports tournament. Just talking to some of these people they're often in town from cities all across the country for a national tournament. Did you do this kind of travel sport yourself or with your kids? I know everyone here always says it's terrible -- very costly; on the road all the time; no family life etc. But I don't know -- something about it looks appealing. If you play on the same team thru middle and high school, you are traveling with the same kids for almost 7 yrs. I'd imagine those are some tight friendships amongst the kids and the parents. Plus the family is together and frankly who else are you hanging out with in Tulsa? And what are you really missing out on on the weekends in Reston or Burke?

Why are people so down on travel sports? Is it just about cost? I imagine it's thousands of dollars per yr but then everyone posting here always brags about "only" making 300k, so is it that big of a sacrifice to spend 15k on a travel sport?

The teams are constantly changing. Player are dropped, new players added, etc. The cost is ridiculous. And the outcomes are marginal. Would you do all of that for a DIII scholarship? This should not be something that you want for your life or your kid unless you kid truly is a standout athlete.

These families wouldn't do it if it were a true hardship for them.

I played on a club team that traveled a lot. Yes, it cost my parents money and we spent summers traveling. For me, it ended up paying for college (DI - to PP, DIII don't offer athletic scholarships). But most importantly, the things I learned from playing team sports and from playing at an advanced level have served me very well in life. I can't overstate how much it gave me. My mom was friends with teammate's moms so hanging out with them wasn't so painful for her. And once I could drive myself to practices, it was much better.

LOL, and despite all my grammatical errors above, I was smart and good at sports.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not my thing. I have always wondered why people do this and spend money on it. Seems like such a waste, more for the parents entertainment than for the kids. I guess if your child really likes the sport then ok, but still I have a hard time believing that many children are really that into that particular sport. I would rather be at home with the whole family, just hanging out.

[Anonymous]

My two kids like their travel teams. One had no overnight tournaments last year. The other had a tournament in VA which was a lot of fun for the team. We spend a lot of money on travel because they play year-round (indoor in winter, summer team), have an occasional private training session, and some camp in the summer, and occasionally go to pro games. They aren't heavily involved in other sports, they make close friends outside of their small school, and it keeps them off electronics at home. We are a committed family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not my thing. I have always wondered why people do this and spend money on it. Seems like such a waste, more for the parents entertainment than for the kids. I guess if your child really likes the sport then ok, but still I have a hard time believing that many children are really that into that particular sport. I would rather be at home with the whole family, just hanging out.

Parent with no skin in the game here - very young kids - but don't the kids HAVE to be good at the sport to even be considered for these teams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not my thing. I have always wondered why people do this and spend money on it. Seems like such a waste, more for the parents entertainment than for the kids. I guess if your child really likes the sport then ok, but still I have a hard time believing that many children are really that into that particular sport. I would rather be at home with the whole family, just hanging out.

These are weird comments. Plus, PP, if you think when your kid is 13, 14, 15+ that they'll want to be hanging out with you at home, that's hilarious.