Missing out on childhood for tournaments, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am adamant that sports not take priority.

I say this as the sister of an elite athlete who had no childhood. I was constantly being dragged to meets. Was not allowed my own EC's. Couldn't hand out with friends on weekends. Until I turned 16 and they were ok with leaving me alone on the weekends, my entire life came second to his.

My parents paid for OOS college as an apology, but the wounds run deep.

This is not at all what we are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you who are so committed to sports etc, what if your child has siblings? what if your child's bday falls on the games weekend? I cannot imagine driving 6hr+ for a kid's game unless my child was a prodigy.

Siblings do travel sports too. Parents switch off. If the birthday was on a tournament weekend, that would be great. They love their sport and have so much fun chilling in the hotel pool and having huge group dinners in whatever city we are in. We usually do something else fun in the city like a pro sporting event, go karts or something like that too. There's a decent amount of downtime and they love having that time with their teammates who are their friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am adamant that sports not take priority.

I say this as the sister of an elite athlete who had no childhood. I was constantly being dragged to meets. Was not allowed my own EC's. Couldn't hand out with friends on weekends. Until I turned 16 and they were ok with leaving me alone on the weekends, my entire life came second to his.

My parents paid for OOS college as an apology, but the wounds run deep.

This is not at all what we are talking about.

Sure it is. If the athlete isn't getting a childhood the siblings aren't either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you who are so committed to sports etc, what if your child has siblings? what if your child's bday falls on the games weekend? I cannot imagine driving 6hr+ for a kid's game unless my child was a prodigy.

PP here. I never celebrated a birthday without my sibling's sport involved until I was in college m

[Anonymous]

Crazy parents living vicariously through their kids. No wonder kids are anxious and depressed. Most posters will not agree but you all are depriving kids of their childhoods and this schedule is unhealthy for kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy parents living vicariously through their kids. No wonder kids are anxious and depressed. Most posters will not agree but you all are depriving kids of their childhoods and this schedule is unhealthy for kids

Yes travel sport are not really fun. Watch the kids. They look miserable, afraid to make a mistake, never smiling, constant pressure from parents, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you who are so committed to sports etc, what if your child has siblings? what if your child's bday falls on the games weekend? I cannot imagine driving 6hr+ for a kid's game unless my child was a prodigy.

If your child’s birthday is on a Wednesday what do YOU do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy parents living vicariously through their kids. No wonder kids are anxious and depressed. Most posters will not agree but you all are depriving kids of their childhoods and this schedule is unhealthy for kids

I think it’s the kids studying too much and trying to get into top colleges who are stressed out. It’s nit the kids literally doing what fixture’s recommended for stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry OP. I am like you in that I want a balanced life with some flexibility on weekends for social events, community events, nature, spontaneity. But as you see on this post, there are many who want an ultra-structured life for their kids.

You can’t change them so just do what a PP said and book around your children’s 3-4 closest friends. And hopefully a few of the rest will be free too.

It is not that we want an ultra-structured life for our kids. Believe me, DH and I would have much preferred our youngest stick with rec sports like our oldest has. This is what SHE CHOSE and we ALLOWED because it makes her so happy. It is not at all my preference to have so much of her time taken up by her sport. But she is the happiest she has ever been and for that, DH and I are thrilled.

Cosigning this post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you who are so committed to sports etc, what if your child has siblings? what if your child's bday falls on the games weekend? I cannot imagine driving 6hr+ for a kid's game unless my child was a prodigy.

It's an effing birthday. Celebrate it the next weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I remember looking at the team and thinking there is maybe 1 to 2 girls who standout. The rest are all average or below.

Maybe you need to look at your definition of average. Otherwise, you must be on a really crappy ECNL team. ECNL players in this area (at least girls) are, by definition, well above "average".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry OP. I am like you in that I want a balanced life with some flexibility on weekends for social events, community events, nature, spontaneity. But as you see on this post, there are many who want an ultra-structured life for their kids.

You can’t change them so just do what a PP said and book around your children’s 3-4 closest friends. And hopefully a few of the rest will be free too.

It is not that we want an ultra-structured life for our kids. Believe me, DH and I would have much preferred our youngest stick with rec sports like our oldest has. This is what SHE CHOSE and we ALLOWED because it makes her so happy. It is not at all my preference to have so much of her time taken up by her sport. But she is the happiest she has ever been and for that, DH and I are thrilled.

Cosigning this post.

Too bad you don't care about her siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all of you who are so committed to sports etc, what if your child has siblings? what if your child's bday falls on the games weekend? I cannot imagine driving 6hr+ for a kid's game unless my child was a prodigy.

It's an effing birthday. Celebrate it the next weekend.

Why should siblings come last just because they're failures?

[Anonymous]

This thread is extremely toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am adamant that sports not take priority.

I say this as the sister of an elite athlete who had no childhood. I was constantly being dragged to meets. Was not allowed my own EC's. Couldn't hand out with friends on weekends. Until I turned 16 and they were ok with leaving me alone on the weekends, my entire life came second to his.

My parents paid for OOS college as an apology, but the wounds run deep.

This is not at all what we are talking about.

Sure it is. If the athlete isn't getting a childhood the siblings aren't either.

Mostly 1 parent takes the travel athlete and the other kids are at home with the other "having a childhood".