Sports that aren’t a huge time / money commitment
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Anonymous
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DH and I were chatting about what sports to put our toddler DD in when she is old enough and the convos quickly turned to what we didn’t want her in!
He says we need to do all we can to steer her away from hockey, which he played, and where ice time is early, equipment is expensive, and games were far to drive to. I countered back that we should also avoid my sport, golf, which had pricy lessons, long tournaments, and big time commitments. So what sports aren’t a big time suck on time and money? Everything we can think of has obvious or hidden costs and time constraints (one set of friends have to volunteer 75 hours for their child’s swim team each season, another spends over $10k on travel soccer fees). Disclaimer: of course we want our kid to find her passion (if it’s even sports), and we plan to expose her to lots of different types, both individual and team, plus learning to swim of course. This is a more lighthearted post vs “don’t stifle or force your kid” post... |
Anonymous
| Nothing to do with water, frozen or liquid. |
Anonymous
| Track |
Anonymous
| I don't think it really boils down to what particular sport or activity it is. If your child wants to do something at a truly elite or recruiting level, it will get pricey. You can pursue almost any routine sport at a rec level at an affordable cost (swim, football, lacrosse, field hockey, track, basketball, softball, you name it), you'd just need to avoid the skiing/hockey/golf kind of sports where a separate membership or club buys you more access. Whether rec level gets you onto the (free) school team completely depends on your area and the sport, though. |
Anonymous
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i prefer sports you can "do anywhere" - like basketball, soccer, track/running, even baseball might qualify. Anything you can do just by going outside. At least that's what I would start with.
Alas, neither of my kids like any of those. Despite your desire, OP, in the end, many kids choose the sports of their parents as parents and child are often happiest and know the most about. |
Anonymous
| Track, cross country running, etc. |
Anonymous
| Cross country running or skiing. You can socially distance with either. |
Anonymous
Skiing is very expensive - lift tickets, equipment, clothing, travel costs. |
Anonymous
| Cross country and ultimate frisbee |
Anonymous
| Soccer can be low key if you stick to rec teams. One practice a week, one game a week. Don’t stress about travel. |
Anonymous
| I agree with posters above , I think any sport is cheap as long as it’s recreational. If it’s something like dance or gymnastics and they invite your kid to be on the competitive team , the cost is going to triple because their time spent there is also going to triple. Then you’ll also have to pay for the competition/meet fees, and the uniform fees. This past season we spent over $200 just for one competition leotard for gymnastics. |
Anonymous
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Golf is where it's at for girls in terms of college scholarships, so your investment while she's young may pay off! Plus, you already know how to do it so it's something you could do together.
But seriously, don't listen to me, my daughters and I ride horses and my husband is always aghast at how much it all costs. He almost choked when he found out the horse my daughter was petting was for sale for a quarter of a million dollars. (Not our horse, just to be clear). |
Anonymous
| Track |
Anonymous
| NP here. Can someone explain to me why travel soccer is so expensive? You need two goals, a couple balls, and a referee for an hour. The kids usually buy their own cleats, shin guards and uniforms. Why is it $10k? |
Anonymous
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One of my kids is a swimmer, and we don't have to volunteer anywhere near 75 hours! Summer swim is six credits, so one job at a meet (and I'm there anyway to watch her) plus you can get credits for social activities and/or food donations so it's really easy to do. Winter swim is 8 hours, but you also have the option to just pay a $75 fee at the end of the season.
My other kid does martial arts. Other than driving to and from class, there's almost no investment other than the annual fee on my part. |