Why club sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a social/status thing for the parents often. People get caught up in the whole thing and believe their kid is a better or more serious player. Meanwhile travel soccer at that age is pay to play and there is a team for anyone who wants to do it. The 2 travel players on our rec team aren’t even that good.

And by the way rec soccer is robust in elementary school and both my kids found teams with good players where everyone showed up for practices and games and tried.

I think it differs in communities then. By first 90 percent of the kids switch to club teams in our area so it’s just what everyone does. The kids on rec tend to be special needs situations or kids not really playing in any competitive way.

This comment is an example of parents trying to make it a big deal that their kids plays in a club, a pay to play activity. The whole “my child is too good to play with the special needs and non-competitive kids, they need to travel 100 miles to find other sporty kids”. That’s parents trying to find status. It doesn’t work because it’s way too common to sign kids up for club sports so it doesn’t really work.

Then they end up playing in the rec leagues anyway, "Just to show off" how they spent all year practicing multiple times per week, but everyone is underwhelmed.

When they lose to rec players, they say, "but it doesn't matter", because we're in the advanced social club and you aren't so there hah!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like these threads reveal 3 groups of families.

The families whose kids aren’t into sports and have no idea why anyone would pay for any organized sports.

The families with athletic and talented kids who have very strong interests in sports and a good chance at college and pro options.

The families with kids who are into sports but aren’t particularly talented or athletic but are good enough to play in HS and even college because they put in the work. I think this is the group where travel sports can be such a mixed bag of experiences.

The families with

There is a 4th group of parents/kids that are delusional they will play in college because there is always a team willing to take their money and keep the dream alive, even though that coach knows that kid has zero chance.

Thats not an insignificant group…I would guess 20-30%+ of HS travel kids.

Lots of travel sports don’t even pretend to be seeking college recruitment. It is just a way to play at a higher level than rec. It costs money because field time and tournaments and umps cost money. It’s not a status symbol or a waste of money. This is just what it costs to play beyond rec. No one is getting rich.

What travel sports have no college recruitment possibility?

Do you mean like travel rugby or something?

No. Softball for example has A, B, and C level teams. Most C and plenty of B kids have no realistic hope of recruitment. It’s not even on their radar and not the reason they are doing their sport.

I think a lot of it just comes down to money. Some people wouldn’t spend $3k a year for an activity that wasn’t leading “somewhere.” Others are perfectly fine with it. It’s just for fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like these threads reveal 3 groups of families.

The families whose kids aren’t into sports and have no idea why anyone would pay for any organized sports.

The families with athletic and talented kids who have very strong interests in sports and a good chance at college and pro options.

The families with kids who are into sports but aren’t particularly talented or athletic but are good enough to play in HS and even college because they put in the work. I think this is the group where travel sports can be such a mixed bag of experiences.

The families with

There is a 4th group of parents/kids that are delusional they will play in college because there is always a team willing to take their money and keep the dream alive, even though that coach knows that kid has zero chance.

Thats not an insignificant group…I would guess 20-30%+ of HS travel kids.

Lots of travel sports don’t even pretend to be seeking college recruitment. It is just a way to play at a higher level than rec. It costs money because field time and tournaments and umps cost money. It’s not a status symbol or a waste of money. This is just what it costs to play beyond rec. No one is getting rich.

What travel sports have no college recruitment possibility?

Do you mean like travel rugby or something?

No. Softball for example has A, B, and C level teams. Most C and plenty of B kids have no realistic hope of recruitment. It’s not even on their radar and not the reason they are doing their sport.

I think a lot of it just comes down to money. Some people wouldn’t spend $3k a year for an activity that wasn’t leading “somewhere.” Others are perfectly fine with it. It’s just for fun.

This. My DD has played B level softball for 4 years. She's good. Bats 5th. Always in the starting 9 on defense on Sundays.

And her dream college doesnt even have a softball program.

Folks outside of this world think we're all obsessed with college recruitment or scholarships. But we're really not. We just have kids that really love their sport, want to do well in it, and we want to support them in that goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the goal is to be around other kids who also want to play and aren't just there for the snacks.

That’s right! Club sports are for SERIOUS kids. Not those wussies who just want to have fun!

Ugh, and these are the kinds of parents you have to deal with. The absolute worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm someone who would never do club/travel with my kids so I can't say for sure. But, I think it's for a status symbol or college resume building. Maybe parents are trying to live through their kids.

Lol, I would love to hear more of your “never” and “always” parenting wisdom. I bet there’s a lengthy list!

Sorry to say but my kid played club soccer through high school and this is definitely what I observed. Parents revolved their lives around their kids’ sports to the detriment of family time and they were absolutely doing it in the hopes that their kids would get recruited for college. Anyone saying this isn’t true is lying. Most families I know are transparent about it - “club is how you get recruited.” Sadly, club is a business and leads so many kids to believe they’ll get recruited from there to good schools.