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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's clear parents today have lost the plot. Back in the day... things were very seasonal. Hockey, skiing, and basketball in the winter. Track and volleyball in the spring. Baseball in the summer. Football and soccer in the fall.

And all of it was normal and affordable for everyone. My big sport was hockey, but we'd get on the train to Montreal and stay with the families with our jersey numbers. Not a big expense for anyone.

This is Canada though. And I can guarantee we were all better hockey players than anyone in the DC area paying thousands for their travel whatever. We played hockey on backyard rinks and footie hockey everywhere. Money wasn't the thing.

More importantly, there was such a wide variety of sports that changed with the season and were available to anyone, regardless of income bracket.

We've lost it with hyper-specialization and the money and time that goes into it. Your kid is not going to the NHL. You are not making a living in volleyball and crew. You are not going to play in the Premier League.

If you are 6'10, basketball might be an option in Turkey. If you are 390 lbs and can lift heavy things, maybe the CFL is viable.

But this obsession by DC area parents for a singular specialization in a sport for their 10 year old is bizarre. And quite sad. [/quote]

It is still the case that youth sports in Canada are much more affordable than here, rep and travel hockey included. We are paying multiples of what we used to in Ontario. Or have simply dropped some sports like squash that were $200 CAD a year but would be $1800+ a year here (same amount of court time in both programs). For ice it’s easy, there were as many rinks as Starbucks and public ice time is free. For the other sports, I assume it’s because public facilities are better and many youth sports are subsidized, though squash was at a private facility in both cases. Also in some sports (not just hockey), the level is much better but without the competitive focus. In Canada you don’t hear parents of 10 year olds talking about sports as a university pathway.

We miss it.[/quote]

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