Are travel sports bad for community?

[Anonymous]

Travel Sports improve the local community on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel Sports improve the local community on weekends.

How so?

[Anonymous]

By this definition, anything kids do outside of their neighborhood is bad for the community.

Church
Music lessons
Private schools
Divorced parents
Dance teams
....the list is endless

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Travel Sports improve the local community on weekends.

How so?

More available parking!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in some cases travel sports can create a stronger community.

+1. I’m much closer with the travel families than my neighbors.

But that’s a problem

Says who? You really don't see how/why travel sport families of a particular sport will likely have more in common than people who have homes near each other?

I don't know if it's a problem or not but reality is these relationships with travel families are a moment in time. Ask me how I know. Wait until your kid doesn't make the team or needs to switch teams or just ages out. Your strong community won't be so strong. The travel community is a community of convenience.

So is your neighborhood. When people move trey rarely stay in touch.

My kids still are in touch with kids from their sports teams because it builds a bond. Even long after they leave the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By this definition, anything kids do outside of their neighborhood is bad for the community.

Church
Music lessons
Private schools
Divorced parents
Dance teams
....the list is endless

Sort of. Travel sports take up way more time than a church for example though. It's not just that's it out of the house, it's that it takes up so much time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids have nothing in common with most of the kids in our neighborhood, so I am glad that they have multiple circles of friends in the area from their travel/club sports who they hang out with (either team-related or during their free time).

Do they have to have everything in common with the neighborhood kids to hang out with them or possibly become friends though? No one has everything in common.

[Anonymous]

Travel takes up more time than any of these other activities listed. But keep justifying all the costs - both monetary and time from family events and holidays.

But yes, I missed the days where kids had lots of unstructured free time to roam the neighborhood on their bikes.

It will be interesting to see if in the next generation or two, the kids of today stop with the travel nonsense and competitiveness

[Anonymous]

A thing I love is going to our kids’ HS on weekends to walk/run the track and seeing so many kids out there playing sports, ranging from the travel kids on HS teams to moms and dads teaching their toddlers. I recommend that everyone do this if you don’t already. It’s really cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel takes up more time than any of these other activities listed. But keep justifying all the costs - both monetary and time from family events and holidays.

But yes, I missed the days where kids had lots of unstructured free time to roam the neighborhood on their bikes.

It will be interesting to see if in the next generation or two, the kids of today stop with the travel nonsense and competitiveness

I'd bet alot of kids will stop with their own kids. I don't believe that many kids really want to be this busy or involved in such high level of activities. Some won't because this is what they know and are used to. Kids today can't imagine living our lives as k8ds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel takes up more time than any of these other activities listed. But keep justifying all the costs - both monetary and time from family events and holidays.

But yes, I missed the days where kids had lots of unstructured free time to roam the neighborhood on their bikes.

It will be interesting to see if in the next generation or two, the kids of today stop with the travel nonsense and competitiveness

My youngest son is on his bike and out the door the minute he gets home from a travel soccer game (since middle school). He's 15 now and can play two tournament games and then come home and head to the neighborhood park to meet up to play pick-up basketball with his friends (some of who are on different travel teams or play different sports or no organized sports). A lot of kids are roaming on bikes and meeting at parks to play pick-up and heading to Chipotle after, etc., or back to a friend's house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in some cases travel sports can create a stronger community.

+1. I’m much closer with the travel families than my neighbors.

But that’s a problem

Says who? You really don't see how/why travel sport families of a particular sport will likely have more in common than people who have homes near each other?

I don't know if it's a problem or not but reality is these relationships with travel families are a moment in time. Ask me how I know. Wait until your kid doesn't make the team or needs to switch teams or just ages out. Your strong community won't be so strong. The travel community is a community of convenience.

So is your neighborhood. When people move trey rarely stay in touch.

My kids still are in touch with kids from their sports teams because it builds a bond. Even long after they leave the team.

Both my sons have played on quite a few different travel teams, and a few different Clubs over the past 7-10 years. They have a friend on nearly any DMV team that they now play against...and some of those friends from long ago ended up at the same private high years later and now they are playing together again. My kids also would return to playing Futsal with their former teammates every winter. With the way kids socialize now, they are in touch due to the age of the internet and xbox and fortnite, etc. One of my sons is switching teams next year and two of the kids are kids he played U9-U13 with.

You will find it's a pretty small community--at least for the kids that having been at it a long time and filtered out to the top. And my older one is now on a college team with a few former opponents and teammates--not from our immediate area/neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in some cases travel sports can create a stronger community.

+1. I’m much closer with the travel families than my neighbors.

But that’s a problem

Says who? You really don't see how/why travel sport families of a particular sport will likely have more in common than people who have homes near each other?

I don't know if it's a problem or not but reality is these relationships with travel families are a moment in time. Ask me how I know. Wait until your kid doesn't make the team or needs to switch teams or just ages out. Your strong community won't be so strong. The travel community is a community of convenience.

So is your neighborhood. When people move trey rarely stay in touch.

My kids still are in touch with kids from their sports teams because it builds a bond. Even long after they leave the team.

Both my sons have played on quite a few different travel teams, and a few different Clubs over the past 7-10 years. They have a friend on nearly any DMV team that they now play against...and some of those friends from long ago ended up at the same private high years later and now they are playing together again. My kids also would return to playing Futsal with their former teammates every winter. With the way kids socialize now, they are in touch due to the age of the internet and xbox and fortnite, etc. One of my sons is switching teams next year and two of the kids are kids he played U9-U13 with.

You will find it's a pretty small community--at least for the kids that having been at it a long time and filtered out to the top. And my older one is now on a college team with a few former opponents and teammates--not from our immediate area/neighborhood.

Also our experience. The kids move around, and still end up with friends/former teammates.

[Anonymous]

I’m not in the DMV and don’t really get this thinking…our travel team kids are local kids. Maybe it’s just the geographic area you are talking about and how densely packed the area the club teams are pulling from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in some cases travel sports can create a stronger community.

+1. I’m much closer with the travel families than my neighbors.

But that’s a problem

Says who? You really don't see how/why travel sport families of a particular sport will likely have more in common than people who have homes near each other?

I don't know if it's a problem or not but reality is these relationships with travel families are a moment in time. Ask me how I know. Wait until your kid doesn't make the team or needs to switch teams or just ages out. Your strong community won't be so strong. The travel community is a community of convenience.

That’s true for a lot of communities. Work friends disappear when you retire. The mom groups that are so tight when their kids are infants or preschoolers fade away when their kids start going to different elementary schools. That doesn’t make the friendships at those points in time any less enriching.