Why club sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Since you already say you would never do it and have no experience in it, your negative projection is just an assumption.

For our kids it was, as PP mentioned, that they wanted to play with kids who wanted to play, were competitive, and were committed and didn’t skip games. None of our kids wanted to play in college and we certainly weren’t looking to live our lives through elementary sports.

I’d have invested in a country club to give them life long sports rather than start paying for club in elementary. That age requires a parent to go to out of state tournaments and is fundamentally hard on families/ especially families of multiple kids and single parents. We too felt the pressure of the rat race- got one child involved in club lax and saw what a huge jerk off circle and money waste it is for 90% of the kids there. Paying for all that disruption without any plan to play in college seems rough, unless maybe you only have one child. Was too hard and costly with three, for us anyway

How does the country club plan work for kids who aren't interested in golf, tennis or swim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simply because it is a better experience than recreational soccer: the coaches are much better, the competition is better, and they have more field time and practice time. If our kid wants to play soccer, we will do it right. We don't even tell people we play for a club, and our kid's 529 plan is already fully funded, so none of the crazy stuff people have made up (bragging, scholarships, illusions of grandeur) apply. It's just better soccer and, therefore, a better experience.

Your kid won’t even play high school though

Maybe. Some of the families in our club team look down on high school soccer, but I'll still try to encourage it because I think it is a healthy, positive complement to more competitive soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Since you already say you would never do it and have no experience in it, your negative projection is just an assumption.

For our kids it was, as PP mentioned, that they wanted to play with kids who wanted to play, were competitive, and were committed and didn’t skip games. None of our kids wanted to play in college and we certainly weren’t looking to live our lives through elementary sports.

I’d have invested in a country club to give them life long sports rather than start paying for club in elementary. That age requires a parent to go to out of state tournaments and is fundamentally hard on families/ especially families of multiple kids and single parents. We too felt the pressure of the rat race- got one child involved in club lax and saw what a huge jerk off circle and money waste it is for 90% of the kids there. Paying for all that disruption without any plan to play in college seems rough, unless maybe you only have one child. Was too hard and costly with three, for us anyway

How does the country club plan work for kids who aren't interested in golf, tennis or swim?

They become overweight adults?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in second grade and a few of her friends are playing club soccer. I am trying to understand why you would do this with kids their age? I am not opposed to sports but it seems too intense for their developmental stage. Is the goal a scholarship?

The parents were not athletes themselves or else they wouldn’t do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simply because it is a better experience than recreational soccer: the coaches are much better, the competition is better, and they have more field time and practice time. If our kid wants to play soccer, we will do it right. We don't even tell people we play for a club, and our kid's 529 plan is already fully funded, so none of the crazy stuff people have made up (bragging, scholarships, illusions of grandeur) apply. It's just better soccer and, therefore, a better experience.

Second Grade. Repeat Second Grade. Your kid doesn't the competition to be better in Second Grade.

[Anonymous]

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.

I think it's a keeping up with the Joneses thing for a lot of families, and for others they just think their kid has a lot of potential and could maybe even have a career as an athlete, or an Olympian who makes a living off endorsing products.

Most career athletes start very young nowadays, so if you don't start your kids young, you are probably closing that door. There's nothing wrong with closing that door for your child. A lot of doors are already closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simply because it is a better experience than recreational soccer: the coaches are much better, the competition is better, and they have more field time and practice time. If our kid wants to play soccer, we will do it right. We don't even tell people we play for a club, and our kid's 529 plan is already fully funded, so none of the crazy stuff people have made up (bragging, scholarships, illusions of grandeur) apply. It's just better soccer and, therefore, a better experience.

Second Grade. Repeat Second Grade. Your kid doesn't the competition to be better in Second Grade.

No, they need the skills, though. A lot has changed since we grew up - kids start younger and are much better now.

[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.

I think it's a keeping up with the Joneses thing for a lot of families, and for others they just think their kid has a lot of potential and could maybe even have a career as an athlete, or an Olympian who makes a living off endorsing products.

Most career athletes start very young nowadays, so if you don't start your kids young, you are probably closing that door. There's nothing wrong with closing that door for your child. A lot of doors are already closed.

This has not been my experience at all. Most of the parents we have met in travel have no illusions about their kids playing in college, and the cost of travel just isn't a big deal to them. Travel is just an overall better experience than Rec (I'll say starting in middle school, rec in elementary is fine because most families haven't left yet at that point.) We ultimately left Rec because families didn't prioritize showing up to games and practices and every year several new kids would add to the team and have no clue what to do. This is fine in 2nd. Its pretty frustrating in 6th to play softball or baseball with kids who can't field an easy grounder and don't know what a force is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think it's a keeping up with the Joneses thing for a lot of families, and for others they just think their kid has a lot of potential and could maybe even have a career as an athlete, or an Olympian who makes a living off endorsing products.

Most career athletes start very young nowadays, so if you don't start your kids young, you are probably closing that door. There's nothing wrong with closing that door for your child. A lot of doors are already closed.

This has not been my experience at all. Most of the parents we have met in travel have no illusions about their kids playing in college, and the cost of travel just isn't a big deal to them. Travel is just an overall better experience than Rec (I'll say starting in middle school, rec in elementary is fine because most families haven't left yet at that point.) We ultimately left Rec because families didn't prioritize showing up to games and practices and every year several new kids would add to the team and have no clue what to do. This is fine in 2nd. Its pretty frustrating in 6th to play softball or baseball with kids who can't field an easy grounder and don't know what a force is.

This is all smoke and mirrors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think it's a keeping up with the Joneses thing for a lot of families, and for others they just think their kid has a lot of potential and could maybe even have a career as an athlete, or an Olympian who makes a living off endorsing products.

Most career athletes start very young nowadays, so if you don't start your kids young, you are probably closing that door. There's nothing wrong with closing that door for your child. A lot of doors are already closed.

This has not been my experience at all. Most of the parents we have met in travel have no illusions about their kids playing in college, and the cost of travel just isn't a big deal to them. Travel is just an overall better experience than Rec (I'll say starting in middle school, rec in elementary is fine because most families haven't left yet at that point.) We ultimately left Rec because families didn't prioritize showing up to games and practices and every year several new kids would add to the team and have no clue what to do. This is fine in 2nd. Its pretty frustrating in 6th to play softball or baseball with kids who can't field an easy grounder and don't know what a force is.

This is all smoke and mirrors

How so? Most rec leagues are decimated by 14u, if not 12u. What experienced middle schooler wants to play on a team full of newbies? I'm not exactly sure what you think is a "status symbol" about something that costs $2400/year.

[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.

I think it's a keeping up with the Joneses thing for a lot of families, and for others they just think their kid has a lot of potential and could maybe even have a career as an athlete, or an Olympian who makes a living off endorsing products.

Most career athletes start very young nowadays, so if you don't start your kids young, you are probably closing that door. There's nothing wrong with closing that door for your child. A lot of doors are already closed.

I think this is the main reason people start club sports young: if their kids show an interest and potential in a sport, they don't want to close doors. Rec sports are great for so many reasons, but they are not on a competitive track. Most high-level athletes begin young in a pyramid-style system, and the best rise to the top, but it's tough to get to the top if you're not a part of the system, and the longer you wait, the harder it gets to join the system.

[Anonymous]

Interesting so on this thread we have future d1 scholarship athletes and olympians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting so on this thread we have future d1 scholarship athletes and olympians

You definitely have former D1 scholarship athletes, most likely some parents of future D1 scholarship athletes, and maybe parents of an Olympian or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simply because it is a better experience than recreational soccer: the coaches are much better, the competition is better, and they have more field time and practice time. If our kid wants to play soccer, we will do it right. We don't even tell people we play for a club, and our kid's 529 plan is already fully funded, so none of the crazy stuff people have made up (bragging, scholarships, illusions of grandeur) apply. It's just better soccer and, therefore, a better experience.

Second Grade. Repeat Second Grade. Your kid doesn't the competition to be better in Second Grade.

No, they need the skills, though. A lot has changed since we grew up - kids start younger and are much better now.

2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting so on this thread we have future d1 scholarship athletes and olympians

Most posters seem to be saying quite the opposite. No one on our travel team thinks their kid is playing in college.