Are kids still doing it all? Rise of travel sports and scheduled kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why so many parents are signing their youth kids up for travel. Are rec and local teams terrible from 2nd grade and on? Does every halfway decent kid have to join a travel team if they want to play?

As a parent heavily involved in our rec league and with 3 kids playing rec, the answer is yes. When everyone good leaves for travel, it's hard on the kids who legitimately care and want to play who stay in rec for whatever reason. You find a unicorn team where the players are really working and the coaching is good, but so often it's something parents seem to view as extra babysitting. They aren't fun to sit on the sidelines with because they aren't even there, they don't help out with much (leading to burnout for the few volunteers who do step up), and they don't care if their kids don't care and take the whole team down with a bad attitude. Joy.

This is true.

DD is "pretty good" at basketball. But we keep her in rec because of other activities (band & theater).

This is exactly the child who should be in rec basketball.
But for a kid that wants to play at a higher level, who plays year round, who lives and breathes the sport with a passion - no offense, but she doesn’t want to play with your daughter. She wants to play with other kids who feel the same about basketball.

Totally agree. But honestly, those kids are pretty rare. Instead, the kids who are average, get pulled into the travel world. And those kids would often be better served on rec. "Travel" used to mean elite. Now, it means whatever parent is willing to cut the check

And even though my daughter plays rec, she's probably better than 30-50% of the travel players we've seen. That's not to say that she should be playing travel; its that those other girls should be playing rec.

Or, some sort of level in between.

Rec is often a disaster and parents are willing to pay more to avoid it.

[Anonymous]

Really disagree that the capable and dedicated athletes are rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why so many parents are signing their youth kids up for travel. Are rec and local teams terrible from 2nd grade and on? Does every halfway decent kid have to join a travel team if they want to play?

As a parent heavily involved in our rec league and with 3 kids playing rec, the answer is yes. When everyone good leaves for travel, it's hard on the kids who legitimately care and want to play who stay in rec for whatever reason. You find a unicorn team where the players are really working and the coaching is good, but so often it's something parents seem to view as extra babysitting. They aren't fun to sit on the sidelines with because they aren't even there, they don't help out with much (leading to burnout for the few volunteers who do step up), and they don't care if their kids don't care and take the whole team down with a bad attitude. Joy.

This is true.

DD is "pretty good" at basketball. But we keep her in rec because of other activities (band & theater).

This is exactly the child who should be in rec basketball.
But for a kid that wants to play at a higher level, who plays year round, who lives and breathes the sport with a passion - no offense, but she doesn’t want to play with your daughter. She wants to play with other kids who feel the same about basketball.

Totally agree. But honestly, those kids are pretty rare. Instead, the kids who are average, get pulled into the travel world. And those kids would often be better served on rec. "Travel" used to mean elite. Now, it means whatever parent is willing to cut the check

And even though my daughter plays rec, she's probably better than 30-50% of the travel players we've seen. That's not to say that she should be playing travel; its that those other girls should be playing rec.

Or, some sort of level in between.

Rec is often a disaster and parents are willing to pay more to avoid it.

Right, but its a chicken and egg / Catch-22 thing.

IMO, probably 25-35% of kids on travel don't have the skills to be there.

If those kids played rec, rec would be less of a disaster. So they returned to rec, they'd get more playing time, have more fun, spend less money, travel less, and potentially even grow more as a player.

Essentially, rec would be less of a disaster, if "okay" kids didn't try to move up to travel.

BTW, my daughter, who I said is "pretty good" at basketball, is also on an B-level softball team. So I see both sides of it. She probably couldn't even do travel basketball bc of her softball committments. But I see it that sport too. You watch some C-level teams and think "half of these girls would be better served in rec", but the families won't do rec because the only ones left in rec and the true beginners.

[Anonymous]

I let my kids lead the way. DD loves volleyball and started early but the rec teams were painful. The other girls didn’t even move their feet and let the ball land next to them. When she moved to club, it was a whole new experience. This led to more competitive teams that now travel. I never expected this level of commitment but she loves the sport and is passionate about it. She does other sports too but just for fun.

[Anonymous]

I played grammar school basketball many, many years ago and we traveled all over a two county area to play other schools, so I guess that was travel before there was travel. I loved it and my parents suffered through it…..I guess….but they were very supportive. If a kid is good and has a passion for it that’s great. But if the parents are driving it, that’s bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up in the 90s, kids around me did an instrument plus orchestra or band, maybe math or other tutoring, and sports. But these were rec sports. If you were particularly athletic, you'd maybe do two sports per season. Even for middle and high school, I don't remember kids really going off for travel teams. When did travel sports really take off?

I have an elementary schooler now and am really surprised at the number of kids on travel teams. Are these kids just leaning hard into that one sport? They haven't hit puberty yet. What if things don't work out... do they just go back to rec for that sport? And how do they balance that with other commitments? Even with kids who aren't particularly athletic, 7-8 year olds are signing up for basketball drill classes for 2 or 3 seasons, doing travel soccer, travel hockey, in the school's music program... Are these kids still able to do it all? How? Are they skipping some of their commitments?

How is high school different in terms of activities? Are seniors in high school applying for college as the 2 sport superstar who also learned 2 languages and plays in the regional youth orchestra, while maintaining an above 4 point GPA and setting up their own charity? And then getting rejected from all the Ivys? I'm getting sort of depressed about all the early pressure around me, and college apps are still a decade away!

I have had 3 kids play travel and rec. I’ve coached and organized rec leagues. My 2 cents:

Rec is good for

1. Introduction to a sport
2. Light physical fitness
3. Making/spending time with friends.

Travel is good for (at a good program)

1. Moderate to heavy Physical conditioning.
2. Making your highschool team*
3. College recruiting **

* whether this is necessary to play in highschool depends on your school and your sport. Some schools have cuts for freshman volleyball other schools are literally begging kids to join the lacrosse team (I have personally seen both) if your kid wants to play soccer, baseball or basketball usually some travel is a must (obviously swimming and hockey are their own thing). PROTIP - even if your kid plays a different sport in highschool than the one he played for travel the physical conditioning and training will help him or her. I’ve seen travel soccer players switch to lacrosse and track and do very well.

** You are INSANE if you make college recruiting a major focus before your child’s sophomore year. You just don’t know what his interests are going to be, how puberty will impact his development (many great youth athletes fizzle out because puberty comes late) and his size. If college athletics is a priority then travel is a must.

PROTIP 2 parents of young kids need to keep up with athletics at thier children’s expected highschool. Some programs and schools are more competitive than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up in the 90s, kids around me did an instrument plus orchestra or band, maybe math or other tutoring, and sports. But these were rec sports. If you were particularly athletic, you'd maybe do two sports per season. Even for middle and high school, I don't remember kids really going off for travel teams. When did travel sports really take off?

I have an elementary schooler now and am really surprised at the number of kids on travel teams. Are these kids just leaning hard into that one sport? They haven't hit puberty yet. What if things don't work out... do they just go back to rec for that sport? And how do they balance that with other commitments? Even with kids who aren't particularly athletic, 7-8 year olds are signing up for basketball drill classes for 2 or 3 seasons, doing travel soccer, travel hockey, in the school's music program... Are these kids still able to do it all? How? Are they skipping some of their commitments?

How is high school different in terms of activities? Are seniors in high school applying for college as the 2 sport superstar who also learned 2 languages and plays in the regional youth orchestra, while maintaining an above 4 point GPA and setting up their own charity? And then getting rejected from all the Ivys? I'm getting sort of depressed about all the early pressure around me, and college apps are still a decade away!

I have had 3 kids play travel and rec. I’ve coached and organized rec leagues. My 2 cents:

Rec is good for

1. Introduction to a sport
2. Light physical fitness
3. Making/spending time with friends.

Travel is good for (at a good program)

1. Moderate to heavy Physical conditioning.
2. Making your highschool team*
3. College recruiting **

* whether this is necessary to play in highschool depends on your school and your sport. Some schools have cuts for freshman volleyball other schools are literally begging kids to join the lacrosse team (I have personally seen both) if your kid wants to play soccer, baseball or basketball usually some travel is a must (obviously swimming and hockey are their own thing). PROTIP - even if your kid plays a different sport in highschool than the one he played for travel the physical conditioning and training will help him or her. I’ve seen travel soccer players switch to lacrosse and track and do very well.

** You are INSANE if you make college recruiting a major focus before your child’s sophomore year. You just don’t know what his interests are going to be, how puberty will impact his development (many great youth athletes fizzle out because puberty comes late) and his size. If college athletics is a priority then travel is a must.

PROTIP 2 parents of young kids need to keep up with athletics at thier children’s expected highschool. Some programs and schools are more competitive than others.

This is incredibly sane advice and should be stickied or referred to often for others. Although, there will still be some people thinking they should start trying to mold their 2nd grader into a D1 commit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It might have just been your circle, OP. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and travel soccer was huge where I lived. Kids went off to Canada for hockey camps. Kids were nationally ranked in tennis. NYSMA was big for the band/orchestra kids.

NYSMA! You're taking me back, PP.

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 kids play travel and rec. I’ve coached and organized rec leagues. My 2 cents:

Rec is good for

1. Introduction to a sport
2. Light physical fitness
3. Making/spending time with friends.

Travel is good for (at a good program)

1. Moderate to heavy Physical conditioning.
2. Making your highschool team*
3. College recruiting **

* whether this is necessary to play in highschool depends on your school and your sport. Some schools have cuts for freshman volleyball other schools are literally begging kids to join the lacrosse team (I have personally seen both) if your kid wants to play soccer, baseball or basketball usually some travel is a must (obviously swimming and hockey are their own thing). PROTIP - even if your kid plays a different sport in highschool than the one he played for travel the physical conditioning and training will help him or her. I’ve seen travel soccer players switch to lacrosse and track and do very well.
^^
I agree with this. My son is playing HS basketball. It's just not an option to play - at all - at the HS if you haven't been in a very serious club environment, likely with private coaching on the side. I have no aspirations for my son to play in college at all, but being involved in athletics in HS can be really helpful/formative. We have made club sports a pre-req to that basic American experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up in the 90s, kids around me did an instrument plus orchestra or band, maybe math or other tutoring, and sports. But these were rec sports. If you were particularly athletic, you'd maybe do two sports per season. Even for middle and high school, I don't remember kids really going off for travel teams. When did travel sports really take off?

I have an elementary schooler now and am really surprised at the number of kids on travel teams. Are these kids just leaning hard into that one sport? They haven't hit puberty yet. What if things don't work out... do they just go back to rec for that sport? And how do they balance that with other commitments? Even with kids who aren't particularly athletic, 7-8 year olds are signing up for basketball drill classes for 2 or 3 seasons, doing travel soccer, travel hockey, in the school's music program... Are these kids still able to do it all? How? Are they skipping some of their commitments?

How is high school different in terms of activities? Are seniors in high school applying for college as the 2 sport superstar who also learned 2 languages and plays in the regional youth orchestra, while maintaining an above 4 point GPA and setting up their own charity? And then getting rejected from all the Ivys? I'm getting sort of depressed about all the early pressure around me, and college apps are still a decade away!

I have had 3 kids play travel and rec. I’ve coached and organized rec leagues. My 2 cents:

Rec is good for

1. Introduction to a sport
2. Light physical fitness
3. Making/spending time with friends.

Travel is good for (at a good program)

1. Moderate to heavy Physical conditioning.
2. Making your highschool team*
3. College recruiting **

* whether this is necessary to play in highschool depends on your school and your sport. Some schools have cuts for freshman volleyball other schools are literally begging kids to join the lacrosse team (I have personally seen both) if your kid wants to play soccer, baseball or basketball usually some travel is a must (obviously swimming and hockey are their own thing). PROTIP - even if your kid plays a different sport in highschool than the one he played for travel the physical conditioning and training will help him or her. I’ve seen travel soccer players switch to lacrosse and track and do very well.

** You are INSANE if you make college recruiting a major focus before your child’s sophomore year. You just don’t know what his interests are going to be, how puberty will impact his development (many great youth athletes fizzle out because puberty comes late) and his size. If college athletics is a priority then travel is a must.

PROTIP 2 parents of young kids need to keep up with athletics at thier children’s expected highschool. Some programs and schools are more competitive than others.

+1

This is a great tip. High schools vary so much. For example at my DD’s large public high school: girls volleyball, girls tennis and Pomline are all very very difficult teams to make. Many club volleyball players don’t make the high school team. On the other hand, they barely had enough girls tryout for JV girls basketball (didn’t cut anyone obviously) and apparently that is all typical. 🤷‍♀️ Softball and girls soccer both just totally depend on the year. We also have a large nearby private HS (known for strong athletics) that draws many students away from our public HS so numbers can be quite unpredictable- sometimes leaves lots of room on the competitive HS teams, other years very little. I’m sure at other schools things are different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up in the 90s, kids around me did an instrument plus orchestra or band, maybe math or other tutoring, and sports. But these were rec sports. If you were particularly athletic, you'd maybe do two sports per season. Even for middle and high school, I don't remember kids really going off for travel teams. When did travel sports really take off?

I have an elementary schooler now and am really surprised at the number of kids on travel teams. Are these kids just leaning hard into that one sport? They haven't hit puberty yet. What if things don't work out... do they just go back to rec for that sport? And how do they balance that with other commitments? Even with kids who aren't particularly athletic, 7-8 year olds are signing up for basketball drill classes for 2 or 3 seasons, doing travel soccer, travel hockey, in the school's music program... Are these kids still able to do it all? How? Are they skipping some of their commitments?

How is high school different in terms of activities? Are seniors in high school applying for college as the 2 sport superstar who also learned 2 languages and plays in the regional youth orchestra, while maintaining an above 4 point GPA and setting up their own charity? And then getting rejected from all the Ivys? I'm getting sort of depressed about all the early pressure around me, and college apps are still a decade away!

I have had 3 kids play travel and rec. I’ve coached and organized rec leagues. My 2 cents:

Rec is good for

1. Introduction to a sport
2. Light physical fitness
3. Making/spending time with friends.

Travel is good for (at a good program)

1. Moderate to heavy Physical conditioning.
2. Making your highschool team*
3. College recruiting **

* whether this is necessary to play in highschool depends on your school and your sport. Some schools have cuts for freshman volleyball other schools are literally begging kids to join the lacrosse team (I have personally seen both) if your kid wants to play soccer, baseball or basketball usually some travel is a must (obviously swimming and hockey are their own thing). PROTIP - even if your kid plays a different sport in highschool than the one he played for travel the physical conditioning and training will help him or her. I’ve seen travel soccer players switch to lacrosse and track and do very well.

** You are INSANE if you make college recruiting a major focus before your child’s sophomore year. You just don’t know what his interests are going to be, how puberty will impact his development (many great youth athletes fizzle out because puberty comes late) and his size. If college athletics is a priority then travel is a must.

PROTIP 2 parents of young kids need to keep up with athletics at thier children’s expected highschool. Some programs and schools are more competitive than others.

+1

This is a great tip. High schools vary so much. For example at my DD’s large public high school: girls volleyball, girls tennis and Pomline are all very very difficult teams to make. Many club volleyball players don’t make the high school team. On the other hand, they barely had enough girls tryout for JV girls basketball (didn’t cut anyone obviously) and apparently that is all typical. 🤷‍♀️ Softball and girls soccer both just totally depend on the year. We also have a large nearby private HS (known for strong athletics) that draws many students away from our public HS so numbers can be quite unpredictable- sometimes leaves lots of room on the competitive HS teams, other years very little. I’m sure at other schools things are different.

This is so true. We moved from an area where wrestling is a very popular sport and its very difficult to make the varsity squad.

At the HS that DS will attend, they are happy to get bodies on the wrestling team, and given his experience, he will likely make varsity as a freshman.

Obviously, you want your kid to play whatever brings them happiness, but its also not a bad idea to nudge them into certain sports if your HS isn't as competitive in that sport, if playing in HS is important to them

[Anonymous]

Is it really good for kids to do it all though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why so many parents are signing their youth kids up for travel. Are rec and local teams terrible from 2nd grade and on? Does every halfway decent kid have to join a travel team if they want to play?

As a parent heavily involved in our rec league and with 3 kids playing rec, the answer is yes. When everyone good leaves for travel, it's hard on the kids who legitimately care and want to play who stay in rec for whatever reason. You find a unicorn team where the players are really working and the coaching is good, but so often it's something parents seem to view as extra babysitting. They aren't fun to sit on the sidelines with because they aren't even there, they don't help out with much (leading to burnout for the few volunteers who do step up), and they don't care if their kids don't care and take the whole team down with a bad attitude. Joy.

This is true.

DD is "pretty good" at basketball. But we keep her in rec because of other activities (band & theater).

This is exactly the child who should be in rec basketball.
But for a kid that wants to play at a higher level, who plays year round, who lives and breathes the sport with a passion - no offense, but she doesn’t want to play with your daughter. She wants to play with other kids who feel the same about basketball.

Totally agree. But honestly, those kids are pretty rare. Instead, the kids who are average, get pulled into the travel world. And those kids would often be better served on rec. "Travel" used to mean elite. Now, it means whatever parent is willing to cut the check

And even though my daughter plays rec, she's probably better than 30-50% of the travel players we've seen. That's not to say that she should be playing travel; its that those other girls should be playing rec.

Or, some sort of level in between.

Rec is often a disaster and parents are willing to pay more to avoid it.

Right, but its a chicken and egg / Catch-22 thing.

IMO, probably 25-35% of kids on travel don't have the skills to be there.

If those kids played rec, rec would be less of a disaster. So they returned to rec, they'd get more playing time, have more fun, spend less money, travel less, and potentially even grow more as a player.

Essentially, rec would be less of a disaster, if "okay" kids didn't try to move up to travel.

BTW, my daughter, who I said is "pretty good" at basketball, is also on an B-level softball team. So I see both sides of it. She probably couldn't even do travel basketball bc of her softball committments. But I see it that sport too. You watch some C-level teams and think "half of these girls would be better served in rec", but the families won't do rec because the only ones left in rec and the true beginners.

Sorry but for us the parents ruined rec. It’s not the skills of the kids it’s the coaching and politics of the adults.

[Anonymous]

Not travel, but I can't believe the 6th school basketball team plays three games per week during the season. If you add practices, how does a 6th grader have the time or energy to do another activity (like music or math) and still get homework done? With all these activities, when do kids even have the time to get addicted to phones and video games?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why so many parents are signing their youth kids up for travel. Are rec and local teams terrible from 2nd grade and on? Does every halfway decent kid have to join a travel team if they want to play?

As a parent heavily involved in our rec league and with 3 kids playing rec, the answer is yes. When everyone good leaves for travel, it's hard on the kids who legitimately care and want to play who stay in rec for whatever reason. You find a unicorn team where the players are really working and the coaching is good, but so often it's something parents seem to view as extra babysitting. They aren't fun to sit on the sidelines with because they aren't even there, they don't help out with much (leading to burnout for the few volunteers who do step up), and they don't care if their kids don't care and take the whole team down with a bad attitude. Joy.

This is true.

DD is "pretty good" at basketball. But we keep her in rec because of other activities (band & theater).

This is exactly the child who should be in rec basketball.
But for a kid that wants to play at a higher level, who plays year round, who lives and breathes the sport with a passion - no offense, but she doesn’t want to play with your daughter. She wants to play with other kids who feel the same about basketball.

Totally agree. But honestly, those kids are pretty rare. Instead, the kids who are average, get pulled into the travel world. And those kids would often be better served on rec. "Travel" used to mean elite. Now, it means whatever parent is willing to cut the check

And even though my daughter plays rec, she's probably better than 30-50% of the travel players we've seen. That's not to say that she should be playing travel; its that those other girls should be playing rec.

Or, some sort of level in between.

Rec is often a disaster and parents are willing to pay more to avoid it.

Right, but its a chicken and egg / Catch-22 thing.

IMO, probably 25-35% of kids on travel don't have the skills to be there.

If those kids played rec, rec would be less of a disaster. So they returned to rec, they'd get more playing time, have more fun, spend less money, travel less, and potentially even grow more as a player.

Essentially, rec would be less of a disaster, if "okay" kids didn't try to move up to travel.

BTW, my daughter, who I said is "pretty good" at basketball, is also on an B-level softball team. So I see both sides of it. She probably couldn't even do travel basketball bc of her softball committments. But I see it that sport too. You watch some C-level teams and think "half of these girls would be better served in rec", but the families won't do rec because the only ones left in rec and the true beginners.

Sorry but for us the parents ruined rec. It’s not the skills of the kids it’s the coaching and politics of the adults.

Totally agree. Rec was fine until 10ish and then the adults (ahem…dads) all seemed to go completely crazy. Moved to travel with paid non parent coaches. Far less drama.