They are too stupid to make sense |
Didn't read all of the discussion, but higher competition is the direct result is more people competing for less resources. There's really nothing else to it. With population in the world going up and up, and the ability to immigrate, depending on the location, the competition will only get worse. There are a few countries with more than a billion people. Probably a good percentage of South America has already moved here, just talk to someone from the South and they'll tell you they have relatives all over the place. Just imagine your own family and adding an outsider to it each and every year, keeping resources the same. This is what is happening on the larger scale. |
I won’t pretend to know anything about the NFL or NBA. I do know that most athletes around us had parents who were also athletes whether they were high school, college or pro. These kids are built for the sport and their parents know how to navigate the system. My kid loves to play basketball. We have the money to pour into coaching. Dh and I are average height and no amount of money or coaching is getting him in the NBA. We are hoping he can make the high school basketball team. |
I think what’s hard for a lot of us is we grew up in a time when things were less competitive but we grew up in families without a lot of money. So if you had the money, there was a lot of opportunity and you could join a swim club, join a gymnastics team, or get into a good private school as long as you could pay for it.
I remember thinking as a kid that I just needed to make money so I could give my kids those things. But now there is an order of magnitude more of people who are trying to get the same things, and in most places there aren’t more swim clubs being built, more competitive gymnastics programs being opened, or more elite private schools opening. We thought we could just earn more money and that would earn us access, but the finish line has been moved and the bar has been raised along the way. |
Everything you listed matters only if you care about prestigious colleges. And here is a secret for you: which college your child attends stops mattering in 8th grade. Is your child smart, hardworking, honest and have good friends? Congratulations, they will win at the most intense competition on the planet - life. Most of their life’s trajectory is predicted by their character which changes little after adolescence. |
I keep reading this.. we want our kids to be able to play on the high school team.. and in order to do that they must start the sport in elementary school and get lots of private coaching etc. Why? Why is it so important to play on the high school team? There are lots of sports organizations available where the kids can keep playing well into their high school years. Why do so much work to be able to play in high school? The same parents frown upon those who do outside academic enrichment and even criticize those who get tutors for their kids in AP classes. Why is it okay to start coaching for athletics at a young age in the hopes of being able to play on high school teams but not okay to do academic enrichment? The culture is messed up with so much focus and importance on sports. |
There are actually few sports that continue to offer programs for HS students who don’t make a HS team, especially for girls. Most travel clubs are selective enough by HS that if you don’t make the HS team, you don’t make the club team. It’s also nice to be able to do a HS sport because of the cost and experiences it provides. It’s great to find opportunities outside of school, but HS sports provide transportation, happen on school grounds, and are low-cost or free. They also are the center of things like school assemblies, spirit days, and other events, for better or for worse. So I think in some ways people don’t care as much about the actual HS sport of team so much as getting access to the full HA experience. |
I get the school spirit/community part. But surely people who are shelling out thousands of dollars on club sports and traveling don’t care about high school sports being free or that the transportation is provided.. i think its more about prestige, about being able to brag that my kid plays on the high school team and mostly about college admissions.. |
Kind of? But no. What is happening is that the top standard of living keeps going up and up. Like Warren Buffet said, even John D. Rockefeller could not live how ordinary people do today. The problem is that even with all the advancements in technology that have allowed us unprecedented standards of living, the goalposts of what is “enough” keep moving, and we keep clamoring to follow. The man behind the curtain is doing an incredible job making us dissatisfied, fearful, and climbing all over each other to try and “win” and outperform others. This is also causing a lot of environmental destruction and devastation, not the other way around. The best way forward is that we opt out en masse and push back and say no. Instead, we do what we need to get by and put our energy into helping others and taking care of the land. But I know that will not happen, because history only keeps repeating itself and humans are imperfect and will be until the end. El mundo es como es. |
NP- Sports are a huge part of my kids' lives in high school. I can't imagine them not doing sports: it's half their day, every day, a source of fun, social time, physically great for them, mentally great for them. As someone without unlimited means, doing it at school is key in terms of cost. I'd be pretty upset if teams were so cut-throats kids could not play. |
+1 my young HS aged DD doesn’t play a school sport and feels a bit left out. Most of her friends (not all) play a sport and are often too busy to hang out- and by HS age a lot of the sports are running for most of the year (offseason workouts, club or travel team, skills camps etc). My DD is actually pretty athletic but never focused on one sport when younger- played rec everything at some point or another and did summer swim team. Our HS is huge and very competitive. She regrets not focusing on one sport at a younger age, and I kind of regret not encouraging her do so! She may go out for track and field this spring, which is no-cut. A lot of kids just want to be part of something at school, socialize and get to know new friends, keep busy etc. There aren’t many rec sport opportunities for high schoolers. Generally if you didn’t make your high school team, you will not make a club/travel team either. With a few exceptions. In our area the only rec sport I’ve seen that goes up to age 18 is rec boys basketball. There is a new program for rec girls volleyball that goes up to age 16 or so. Most of the Rec soccer leagues only go up to age 14-15. All rec programs for softball/baseball end by 14ish. And the fact is, most kids quit altogether if they don’t make their high school team. |
Pp here. My kid who plays basketball is in 7th grade. He was playing rec and most of his friends have moved on to AAU and travel. He played rec and was one of the best. Being best in rec is not getting you on a high school team. He has been working all summer in attempts to get onto a more competitive middle school basketball team. Absolutely none of this pushing is from us. I didn’t even learn about all these skills clinics and training until after he did not make a competitive team last year. Now that I know a little more, I realize how ridiculous it is that he had a chance with no real training besides dad coached rec soccer. At least in our area, youth basketball ends in 8th. I’m sure there are other leagues but our area I think kids either play on a competitive team and/or high school team or you stop playing to specialize in other sports or you basically are cut. My friend’s son loved basketball but he was short and not that good. He tried out for freshman team, got cut and no longer plays in any teams. Like I said, the basketball rec teams end in 8th. |
DP For basketball, there are always going to be coaches of elite travel teams and high school teams that will be more than willing to give a reasonably athletic, exceptionally tall kid a shot, even if that kid is significantly less skilled than a shorter player who has been privately coached since he was five years old. Why? Because you can still teach the tall kid basketball. You can’t teach the short kid to be tall. |
It’s only natural to want to play and represent your school when you have been working on that sport for several years. It adds a lot of socializing and meaning to high school, which for some kids is otherwise not a fun experience. I’m thankful that I was able to participate in HS sports in a place that wasn’t very competitive to make the team. |
Same. High school sports are the most fun anyhow. College and long bus rides or flights every week to games sux. |