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

[Anonymous]

There is an ancient Latin phrase that roughly translates 'Sound Mind in a Sound Body'. Meaning, physical rigor is part of mental rigor.

Historically, most high end schools were boys only. It seems the way these schools dealt with the teen years was to make the kids do sports. I guess wearing these guys out was a way to deter their instincts for making trouble.

At some public schools, the sports program is the way to keep the kids coming to school. At some of the lower tier 'colleges', i.e. Menlo College where my sibling taught, you still have guys coming to class dreaming of football. In all honesty, they're not going to get recruited for the NFL but it is their only mental landscape. And so schools like Menlo feel they MUST have these sports programs to keep the students enrolled. In this latter case, sports is used as a carrot to keep tuition dollars coming.

Some colleges promote sports to keep the alumni money flowing because the alumni attend the games. These schools tend to be the southern schools.
The northern schools actually seem proud that they have losing sports teams, i.e. Columbia football, because those schools have never needed to rely on sports for the alumni financial commitment to continue flowing.

Lastly, sports does force one to structure their time in school. If you know you have practice at a particular time or a game, you make sure you get your homework done by a certain time, get enough rest, eat propertly, take it easy at the party, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

It doesn't. Many local rec league sports go all the way through high school in Fairfax County--which is nice because it is basically impossible to make the high school teams.

All the parents I know just want their kid to be able to play in high school. No one has delusions beyond that. I feel bad for the boys who have only played popular rec sports showing up for tryouts and being shocked that they are cut the first night--no one told them they had to do years of travel to even have a shot.

Is the bolded true? Is it really so hard to make the hs team that, unless you've done years of travel teams, there's almost no chance?

It depends on the school and the sport. In some high schools even kids who have played travel for years will be cut.

But that’s okay because there are still rec and travel options.

Some sports stop rec at 8th grade but there are club options. Others have walk on high school teams, like football, where they keep huge rosters.

[Anonymous]

1. I don't count football because no sane parent lets their child play tackle.
2. For boys, at our FCPS, every normal sport is basically impossible to make the team. No one is making baseball/basketball/soccer etc without playing travel for years.

It is unfortunate that these large public high schools have so few chances for kids to play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

Why is that travel sports' fault that there's an age ceiling for rec?

I don't know all the ins and outs of baseball to say for sure why there's an age limit, but once you reach age 13 in travel, you move to a regulation-sized baseball field, which has the same size diamond has MLB. This is significantly larger than a Little League-sized field, especially the outfield. Finding those sized fields to accommodate all the rec players 13 and older isn't easy. Our little league doesn't have any fields that size, so his league ends at 12. Other leagues may have one field that is larger and they can keep going. But for my son, he has aged out.

Many rec leagues have Babe Ruth baseball which goes through high school. There should be one assigned to your zip code.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People can earn millions from sports - Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Tom Brady, Lionel Messi...

It is worthwhile for kids to pay attention to sports.

OMG. They are they extreme exception. I hope you realize that.

[Anonymous]

Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

Or at least get an admissions boost - I think that’s the real driver, more than the hope of funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

In my circles, people just want their kid to have a chance to play in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

In my circles, people just want their kid to have a chance to play in high school.

Sure, there’s that. But among people I know, part of the reason is to have a college hook, something to talk about as an interest, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

Many are called but very very few are chosen

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

Or at least get an admissions boost - I think that’s the real driver, more than the hope of funding.

Yes definitely helped my cousin get into all the state schools he applied to. Football team, bencher, but he’s also very smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

Many are called but very very few are chosen

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Not sure about the scholarship. Our club is very transparent that a) very few kids go D1 (and even fewer play when they get there), and b) scholarships are not abundant and, for those who get them, they amounts are small. Only the "Joe Burrows" of the worlds get full scholarships (I'm just picking a star; no idea if he got one). D3 gives no athletic scholarships. So, I think that is not the expectation for everyone.

What is hoped for is the hook needed to be accepted to certain schools. This is very common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

It doesn't. Many local rec league sports go all the way through high school in Fairfax County--which is nice because it is basically impossible to make the high school teams.

All the parents I know just want their kid to be able to play in high school. No one has delusions beyond that. I feel bad for the boys who have only played popular rec sports showing up for tryouts and being shocked that they are cut the first night--no one told them they had to do years of travel to even have a shot.

Is the bolded true? Is it really so hard to make the hs team that, unless you've done years of travel teams, there's almost no chance?

Definitely true for our school district. Even some travel kids won’t make teams. Any exceptions would be incredibly rare.

Same at our kids HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Definitely true for our school district. Even some travel kids won’t make teams. Any exceptions would be incredibly rare.

Same at our kids HS.

In NoVA for basketball... we were told our DS must play on a FCYBL travel team to have a shot at making JV or V HS basketball team (as well as MS team). Being an AAU player not good enough unless coming from a known top tier AAU team.

True?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many UMC white parents hope their kids will get college sports scholarships, I think.

In my circles, people just want their kid to have a chance to play in high school.

Same. Kids love it and want to play HS. The college thing (admissions, not scholarships) is a distant third.