Why are youth and high school sports so competitive to get into now?

[Anonymous]

Most parents I know have their kid doing travel bc its the only way to even have a chance to make even a JV team at our local, giant public HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest misconception on DCUM is you all think it's about college recruiting. It's really not. These families can generally afford to send their kid to any college they can get into. The whole travel sports thing is simply a status badge, flashing how much disposable money you can burn, and it's something to talk about and size up other parents. Having sporty attractive kids is a genetic status badge.

No parent thinks their kid is getting a scholarship. Honestly. We know that. We've seen enough of the youth athletes that you notice when 1 kid stands out at a tournament and you say "hmm, maybe that kid has a shot". But 99% of sports parents are pretty honest about their kid's abilities.

In fact, if the kid wasn't recruited (and given money) to go play HS ball somewhere (whether it be football or basketball or baseball), then all the parents know their kid isn't getting a D1 scholarship.

We're not dumb.

But we do it because it teaches valuable lessons. Because the kids are interested in. It rewards hard work. And most of all, its FUN. The kids like it; the parents like it.

Nobody is under any illusions of grandeur. We do it bc our kids like it.

Omg give it a rest. It's just sports. This whole thing where you obsess over some dumb game your kids play and try to act like it's "bigger" than the sport is a cope. In other words, a defense mechanism to rationalize all the money and time you burn on this pointless activity. Your kid can learn the same "valuable lessons" practicing and playing in the backyard with neighbor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know have their kid doing travel bc its the only way to even have a chance to make even a JV team at our local, giant public HS

Who the hell cares if your kid plays on the high school team? High school sports have become ridiculous. There are hundreds of district region and "state champs" every year across all these divisions and classes. Nobody can keep track of this stuff. It means nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

There aren't any more slots for college recruiting in 2024 than there were in 2004, so when youth travel sports apparatus goes 10x, there are still the same handful of winners (college recruits) at the top. For the bottom 99%, it remains a time and money sink. What's astonishing is every local community has these "super star" local athlete kids who were high school graduates recently in say 2014-2020, so parents ought to reference them to see pointless it all was. Either they didn't go to great colleges, or they went D1 and rode the bench and quit, or maybe they did play all four years of college...and now they have a unremarkable 9-5 corporate job paying them $75,000 a year. Nobody cares they were some amazing swimmer or field hockey player or whether they were some obscure player at D1 Maryland or DIII Emerson College in Boston. They're just a dime a dozen washed up athlete. People care what career your kid has after college and who they marry. Are they good people. Do they visit you (parents) often. That's the real scoreboard.

There are more D1 sports in 2024 vs. 2004...so there are more overall slots.

FYI, the recent NCAA settlement has increased D1 football rosters from 85 to 105 players, so in fact there are 24% more football slots starting in Fall 2025.

I don't know if you are specifically talking about the DMV, but perhaps the opposite is true and that is the problem. Caleb Williams was the #1 NFL draft pick and a Gonzaga alum...one of his teammates was also a first round draft pick. James Wood on the Nationals is from Olney and played for SJC before transferring to IMG. Bryce Eldridge is a Madison alum and was a first round MLB draft pick last year. Kevin Durant is from PG County and runs the most elite AAU basketball program in the DMV.

It's probably more damaging and misleading to see these superstars make it to the pros.

You're referencing a few 1 in a 100 million pro athletes. I meant the dime a dozen REALLY good teen local athletes...who you can look up 5 or 10 years later and they're just some fed or working a random email work from home marketing job. It means absolutely nothing that they were a REALLY good teen athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest misconception on DCUM is you all think it's about college recruiting. It's really not. These families can generally afford to send their kid to any college they can get into. The whole travel sports thing is simply a status badge, flashing how much disposable money you can burn, and it's something to talk about and size up other parents. Having sporty attractive kids is a genetic status badge.

No parent thinks their kid is getting a scholarship. Honestly. We know that. We've seen enough of the youth athletes that you notice when 1 kid stands out at a tournament and you say "hmm, maybe that kid has a shot". But 99% of sports parents are pretty honest about their kid's abilities.

In fact, if the kid wasn't recruited (and given money) to go play HS ball somewhere (whether it be football or basketball or baseball), then all the parents know their kid isn't getting a D1 scholarship.

We're not dumb.

But we do it because it teaches valuable lessons. Because the kids are interested in. It rewards hard work. And most of all, its FUN. The kids like it; the parents like it.

Nobody is under any illusions of grandeur. We do it bc our kids like it.

Omg give it a rest. It's just sports. This whole thing where you obsess over some dumb game your kids play and try to act like it's "bigger" than the sport is a cope. In other words, a defense mechanism to rationalize all the money and time you burn on this pointless activity. Your kid can learn the same "valuable lessons" practicing and playing in the backyard with neighbor kids.

Look, 60 girls came to the my DD's softball tryouts. 12 made the team. She did the work to make that team. No backyard wiffleball game is going to teach that lesson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

There aren't any more slots for college recruiting in 2024 than there were in 2004, so when youth travel sports apparatus goes 10x, there are still the same handful of winners (college recruits) at the top. For the bottom 99%, it remains a time and money sink. What's astonishing is every local community has these "super star" local athlete kids who were high school graduates recently in say 2014-2020, so parents ought to reference them to see pointless it all was. Either they didn't go to great colleges, or they went D1 and rode the bench and quit, or maybe they did play all four years of college...and now they have a unremarkable 9-5 corporate job paying them $75,000 a year. Nobody cares they were some amazing swimmer or field hockey player or whether they were some obscure player at D1 Maryland or DIII Emerson College in Boston. They're just a dime a dozen washed up athlete. People care what career your kid has after college and who they marry. Are they good people. Do they visit you (parents) often. That's the real scoreboard.

There are more D1 sports in 2024 vs. 2004...so there are more overall slots.

FYI, the recent NCAA settlement has increased D1 football rosters from 85 to 105 players, so in fact there are 24% more football slots starting in Fall 2025.

I don't know if you are specifically talking about the DMV, but perhaps the opposite is true and that is the problem. Caleb Williams was the #1 NFL draft pick and a Gonzaga alum...one of his teammates was also a first round draft pick. James Wood on the Nationals is from Olney and played for SJC before transferring to IMG. Bryce Eldridge is a Madison alum and was a first round MLB draft pick last year. Kevin Durant is from PG County and runs the most elite AAU basketball program in the DMV.

It's probably more damaging and misleading to see these superstars make it to the pros.

You're referencing a few 1 in a 100 million pro athletes. I meant the dime a dozen REALLY good teen local athletes...who you can look up 5 or 10 years later and they're just some fed or working a random email work from home marketing job. It means absolutely nothing that they were a REALLY good teen athlete.

Dude, you are SO bitter and resentful. Why are you on this thread ranting about this? And even more telling, why are you “looking up” random teen athletes from years ago?

Your posts reek of insecurity and straight up jealousy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

There aren't any more slots for college recruiting in 2024 than there were in 2004, so when youth travel sports apparatus goes 10x, there are still the same handful of winners (college recruits) at the top. For the bottom 99%, it remains a time and money sink. What's astonishing is every local community has these "super star" local athlete kids who were high school graduates recently in say 2014-2020, so parents ought to reference them to see pointless it all was. Either they didn't go to great colleges, or they went D1 and rode the bench and quit, or maybe they did play all four years of college...and now they have a unremarkable 9-5 corporate job paying them $75,000 a year. Nobody cares they were some amazing swimmer or field hockey player or whether they were some obscure player at D1 Maryland or DIII Emerson College in Boston. They're just a dime a dozen washed up athlete. People care what career your kid has after college and who they marry. Are they good people. Do they visit you (parents) often. That's the real scoreboard.

There are more D1 sports in 2024 vs. 2004...so there are more overall slots.

FYI, the recent NCAA settlement has increased D1 football rosters from 85 to 105 players, so in fact there are 24% more football slots starting in Fall 2025.

I don't know if you are specifically talking about the DMV, but perhaps the opposite is true and that is the problem. Caleb Williams was the #1 NFL draft pick and a Gonzaga alum...one of his teammates was also a first round draft pick. James Wood on the Nationals is from Olney and played for SJC before transferring to IMG. Bryce Eldridge is a Madison alum and was a first round MLB draft pick last year. Kevin Durant is from PG County and runs the most elite AAU basketball program in the DMV.

It's probably more damaging and misleading to see these superstars make it to the pros.

You're referencing a few 1 in a 100 million pro athletes. I meant the dime a dozen REALLY good teen local athletes...who you can look up 5 or 10 years later and they're just some fed or working a random email work from home marketing job. It means absolutely nothing that they were a REALLY good teen athlete.

You seemed to describe Kevin Plank to a tee...obscure player at D1 Maryland. Life worked out well for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

No kid was paying a ton of money to play a sport starting at 7 years old. The early 80s kids played maybe middle school and then high school. The real talented athletes would go on to play in college and a very few went pro. There were recruiters and rankings but there weren’t so many parents who thought they could buy the talent necessary to go D1 or pro.

I know too many former pro athletes who went to college then professional for maybe 5-10 years. They would then come home lost, not knowing anything but what they’ve been doing every day for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

No kid was paying a ton of money to play a sport starting at 7 years old. The early 80s kids played maybe middle school and then high school. The real talented athletes would go on to play in college and a very few went pro. There were recruiters and rankings but there weren’t so many parents who thought they could buy the talent necessary to go D1 or pro.

I know too many former pro athletes who went to college then professional for maybe 5-10 years. They would then come home lost, not knowing anything but what they’ve been doing every day for years.

I don’t understand this “tons of money” argument. My kid plays two travel sports and we have never paid more than around $500-$1000 per season.

It’s not nothing, but it’s not exactly breaking the bank either.

And the bolded can be applied to literally *anything*. Why do you think mid-life crises exist?

[Anonymous]

My daughter, who is a high school freshman, asked the same question. She wants to know why everything has to be so competitive because it takes the fun out of the game. I wish parents and coaches would remember these are still kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

No kid was paying a ton of money to play a sport starting at 7 years old. The early 80s kids played maybe middle school and then high school. The real talented athletes would go on to play in college and a very few went pro. There were recruiters and rankings but there weren’t so many parents who thought they could buy the talent necessary to go D1 or pro.

I know too many former pro athletes who went to college then professional for maybe 5-10 years. They would then come home lost, not knowing anything but what they’ve been doing every day for years.

I don’t understand this “tons of money” argument. My kid plays two travel sports and we have never paid more than around $500-$1000 per season.

It’s not nothing, but it’s not exactly breaking the bank either.

And the bolded can be applied to literally *anything*. Why do you think mid-life crises exist?

I guess I’ve read so many posters saying they spend well over $10,000 for club sports and thousands for private tutors and it takes their whole weekends and travel costs add up.

Do mid-life crises start at 30 years old? Because so many of them are done by then without any other skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only this frenzy in certain sports and in over-populated 'super zip code' metros. Move to the exurbs or flyover country and youth sports are still chill. It's because these wacko striver parents are all living through their kids. And no matter how much dough they blow and summers and weekends wasted carting kids everywhere, they still won't go D1. These arrogant sports-obsessed parents think they're hot s*** when they're really literally being scammed and coerced out of their money...and 99% chance the kid will end up at the same college anyone else can go to with the same CV.

+1. This is the blunt reason. Parents have lost all perspective about what youth sports should be and the experience their kids should have playing them. City rec league sports used to be a way for neighborhood kids to build friendships, get exercise, stay in shape and learn sportsmanship. Now it's all about parents paying a fortune for some travel league headquartered hundreds of miles away so they can spending every weekend driving 100-200 miles to play baseball. The parents hope that maybe this will help their kid stand out well enough to maybe get recognized for a scholarship, but the odds of this are firmly stacked against them. Kids would be better off if sports reverted back to how they were 20+ years ago and academics became the focus once again for getting into a good college.

Pretty sure athletic college recruiting was a thing 20 years ago. I don’t think you realize it’s always been a thing going back to the early 1900s.

The difference is back then the Ivy schools were actually best in the country in sports like football but they still just took kids from Andover or other elite private schools who were white and Protestant. Not the best athletes or students.

The current system ramped up in the 1980s…and went to another level in just the last 5 years with the transfer portal, NIL $$$s and soon paying athletes directly to play.

No kid was paying a ton of money to play a sport starting at 7 years old. The early 80s kids played maybe middle school and then high school. The real talented athletes would go on to play in college and a very few went pro. There were recruiters and rankings but there weren’t so many parents who thought they could buy the talent necessary to go D1 or pro.

I know too many former pro athletes who went to college then professional for maybe 5-10 years. They would then come home lost, not knowing anything but what they’ve been doing every day for years.

I don’t understand this “tons of money” argument. My kid plays two travel sports and we have never paid more than around $500-$1000 per season.

It’s not nothing, but it’s not exactly breaking the bank either.

And the bolded can be applied to literally *anything*. Why do you think mid-life crises exist?

I guess I’ve read so many posters saying they spend well over $10,000 for club sports and thousands for private tutors and it takes their whole weekends and travel costs add up.

Do mid-life crises start at 30 years old? Because so many of them are done by then without any other skills.

Most travel sports don’t cost anywhere close to $10,000. Don’t be stupid.

And who cares if an adult starts feeling lost in life at 30 or 40 years old? What about the lawyer in golden handcuffs who realizes at 35 that he hates his job and his life, but what the heck is he going to do now? It’s no different, so stop pretending that it there is some sort of unique let down for athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter, who is a high school freshman, asked the same question. She wants to know why everything has to be so competitive because it takes the fun out of the game. I wish parents and coaches would remember these are still kids.

Academics are also extremely competitive in schools like Langley, McLean, Oakton, Madison, Woodson, etc... Sports are no different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Most travel sports don’t cost anywhere close to $10,000. Don’t be stupid.

And who cares if an adult starts feeling lost in life at 30 or 40 years old? What about the lawyer in golden handcuffs who realizes at 35 that he hates his job and his life, but what the heck is he going to do now? It’s no different, so stop pretending that it there is some sort of unique let down for athletes.

I spend 25k/year on my 15 years old to play tennis. That includes lessons, tournaments, travels, etc... I also spend 40K/year on my 17 years old play golf year round. Yes, it is expensive.

[Anonymous]

Most kids especially boys want to be good at sports so that when they get to high school, they become jocks and sleep with a lot of girls. That's not hard to understand.