Mindset of Travel Sport Parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

But to clarify, we don't push. Thankfully the kids are athletically inclined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

Intense 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I find perplexing about these recurring negative “travel sports” posts is the implication that involvement is parent-driven.

In my experience, by about age 9, it’s pretty hard to force a kid to do any activity (scouting, music, sports) that they don’t want to do. Are there overly-invested parents? Absolutely. But most kids who do travel sports are doing it because they love something and want to do it with peers who are similarly skilled and driven.

Now is the travel sports industry as it currently exists ridiculous? Absolutely. But there’s no great alternative for kids who want to focus seriously on one thing. Rec sports are awesome. There needs to be a place for kids to dabble and try new things. But the alternative is also valid, even if the current vehicle isn’t great.

I agree with this whole heartedly and have talked with so many other parents about this issue. Options in between rec and travel are few and far between.

I wish there some some sort of intermediate level that involves try outs so it’s not just any kid who signs up on the team, but also not a travel level team.

Like I would love for my baseball kid to be able to play on a local DC area team with other talented kids who make the cut and to be able to do lots of extra clinics, camps, scrimmages, etc. specifically for this level of player. And then have games be amongst other DC area teams. At least until 13/14U or so. I know a lot of people who would pay for this for a number of sports. I do think there is a soccer version of this (ADP?) and it seems very popular.

So if anyone out there reading this wants to invest in mid level competitive sports I can tell you there is an untapped market!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I find perplexing about these recurring negative “travel sports” posts is the implication that involvement is parent-driven.

In my experience, by about age 9, it’s pretty hard to force a kid to do any activity (scouting, music, sports) that they don’t want to do. Are there overly-invested parents? Absolutely. But most kids who do travel sports are doing it because they love something and want to do it with peers who are similarly skilled and driven.

Now is the travel sports industry as it currently exists ridiculous? Absolutely. But there’s no great alternative for kids who want to focus seriously on one thing. Rec sports are awesome. There needs to be a place for kids to dabble and try new things. But the alternative is also valid, even if the current vehicle isn’t great.

I agree with this whole heartedly and have talked with so many other parents about this issue. Options in between rec and travel are few and far between.

I wish there some some sort of intermediate level that involves try outs so it’s not just any kid who signs up on the team, but also not a travel level team.

Like I would love for my baseball kid to be able to play on a local DC area team with other talented kids who make the cut and to be able to do lots of extra clinics, camps, scrimmages, etc. specifically for this level of player. And then have games be amongst other DC area teams. At least until 13/14U or so. I know a lot of people who would pay for this for a number of sports. I do think there is a soccer version of this (ADP?) and it seems very popular.

So if anyone out there reading this wants to invest in mid level competitive sports I can tell you there is an untapped market!

I thought BCC has BCC Select for this very purpose up to 13. Also, I know there is a fairly active Babe Ruth league in NoVa for kids 14-18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

Intense 😂

Sorry, where exactly did I give details that you allow you to decide if it arrives at the level of intense or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

Does your sport travel to interesting locations? I mean, my kid plays in national tournaments in the Southeast (nowhere near any beach)...it's traveling, but a far cry from a vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

Intense 😂

Sorry, where exactly did I give details that you allow you to decide if it arrives at the level of intense or not?

We can use our imaginations on this one Jan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the DMV and live elsewhere now. We allow intense travel sports because where we currently flat out sucks and we need an excuse to travel as much as we can. People (family, DCUM, work) judge if you travel 3/4 weekends for "vacation" but they're accepting if it's for sports. So, that's what we do.

Does your sport travel to interesting locations? I mean, my kid plays in national tournaments in the Southeast (nowhere near any beach)...it's traveling, but a far cry from a vacation.

Usually we're in a city. Last year was Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Louisville. Spooky Nook is frequent is the exception and we're there a few times a year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I find perplexing about these recurring negative “travel sports” posts is the implication that involvement is parent-driven.

In my experience, by about age 9, it’s pretty hard to force a kid to do any activity (scouting, music, sports) that they don’t want to do. Are there overly-invested parents? Absolutely. But most kids who do travel sports are doing it because they love something and want to do it with peers who are similarly skilled and driven.

Now is the travel sports industry as it currently exists ridiculous? Absolutely. But there’s no great alternative for kids who want to focus seriously on one thing. Rec sports are awesome. There needs to be a place for kids to dabble and try new things. But the alternative is also valid, even if the current vehicle isn’t great.

I agree with this whole heartedly and have talked with so many other parents about this issue. Options in between rec and travel are few and far between.

I wish there some some sort of intermediate level that involves try outs so it’s not just any kid who signs up on the team, but also not a travel level team.

Like I would love for my baseball kid to be able to play on a local DC area team with other talented kids who make the cut and to be able to do lots of extra clinics, camps, scrimmages, etc. specifically for this level of player. And then have games be amongst other DC area teams. At least until 13/14U or so. I know a lot of people who would pay for this for a number of sports. I do think there is a soccer version of this (ADP?) and it seems very popular.

So if anyone out there reading this wants to invest in mid level competitive sports I can tell you there is an untapped market!

Sometimes there is. It is not always the answer. My daughter did a year of rec plus/travel lite before doing full on travel. It was much better than just rec, but it just made her really, really, really want to do full-on travel at a high level. I do think it was a great middle alternative, but for some kids, travel sports really are the place to be.

[Anonymous]

I’ll bite. We have two kids in travel sports. My son plays volleyball and my daughter plays soccer. For my daughter, the farthest we’ve ever traveled is a few hours by car.

My son travels, quite a bit more, to play boys teams at their level. This year they flew to Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Orlando. They drove to a few other tournaments that took 4-5 hours to get there.

I played at a collegiate level and my husband coached at a collegiate level. Not sure if our kids will go on to play in college, but they love their sports and they are good at them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. We have two kids in travel sports. My son plays volleyball and my daughter plays soccer. For my daughter, the farthest we’ve ever traveled is a few hours by car.

My son travels, quite a bit more, to play boys teams at their level. This year they flew to Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Orlando. They drove to a few other tournaments that took 4-5 hours to get there.

I played at a collegiate level and my husband coached at a collegiate level. Not sure if our kids will go on to play in college, but they love their sports and they are good at them.

Whoops. Forgot to add that the only reason my son flies to play is that there aren’t that many competitive boys volleyball teams in this areas. When they go to local tournaments, they play the same 5-6 teams…. And win.

At the larger tournaments, they are actually challenged.

[Anonymous]

we have traveled to Europe with soccer (and as parents, we go because it is fun).

Our kids have made great friends through travel sports and have had great coaches. It is worth it to us for those experiences. Some of the worst kids and parents we had to interact with were on rec teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. We have two kids in travel sports. My son plays volleyball and my daughter plays soccer. For my daughter, the farthest we’ve ever traveled is a few hours by car.

My son travels, quite a bit more, to play boys teams at their level. This year they flew to Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Orlando. They drove to a few other tournaments that took 4-5 hours to get there.

I played at a collegiate level and my husband coached at a collegiate level. Not sure if our kids will go on to play in college, but they love their sports and they are good at them.

Is men’s volleyball an NCAA sport?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. We have two kids in travel sports. My son plays volleyball and my daughter plays soccer. For my daughter, the farthest we’ve ever traveled is a few hours by car.

My son travels, quite a bit more, to play boys teams at their level. This year they flew to Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Orlando. They drove to a few other tournaments that took 4-5 hours to get there.

I played at a collegiate level and my husband coached at a collegiate level. Not sure if our kids will go on to play in college, but they love their sports and they are good at them.

Is men’s volleyball an NCAA sport?

Yep, around here, George Mason is the best Men’s volleyball team. Their matches are so fun to watch!

[Anonymous]

Travel parents aren't a monolith. My kid's team has a good group of parents that actually don't much like to travel.

We take turns taking 3-4 kids to tournaments in driving distance (nearly all), and games are livestreamed so you can watch from home if not there.

The kids enjoy the bonding, and the parents basically only have to travel for one tournament a season (which significantly reduces the travel budget).

It's the kid's activity and while most of us go to games where an overnight is not involved, the overnight travel arrangement works well for us.