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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is a question I want to ask the regular parents.  This question is specifically about the parents who post in the 'soccer' forum, the parents that make their kids swim 5 days/week, the parents that make sure their kids are on travel teams for multiple sports, the dance moms....

Do you think it is all worth it in the end for these parents?

The endless practices, games, tournaments, travel among most sports.  The 5am swims in the cold dark winter.  Fretting and obsessing over which travel club and team is the best.  Which 8 year old female player is better than the other, faster than the other, stronger than the other.  Fighting with coaches for more play time, obsessing over stats, grabbing for resources, yelling at refs....

At such an early age, could the kid REALLY want this?

Very few make it to an elite athletic professional level and even then, is it so wonderful?

What is it all REALLY for?

Any thoughts appreciated.  [/quote]

My kids participate in the same all-consuming sport I did as a child.  My parents say it was worth every penny and every minute, not because I did well (although I did), but because of what it taught me and because it kept me out of trouble since it took up all my time (although I wasn't a trouble-prone kid anyway).  My parents can see the long game.  I can only see the short game since we're still in it (my kids are not out of college), but I would say the same up to this point.  So yes, I imagine it will be worth it in the end to us parents.

I think the things you all list are not the same.  Early morning alarms to get up for the sport?  Yes.  Obsessing over which kid is better?  Nope.  Fighting with coaches, etc.?  Also nope.  Perhaps in other sports, not in ours.  Or maybe I should say perhaps for other people, not for us.  Either way, there is a lot of effort involved on the parents' part, for sure, but the drama you described is not something we buy into.

Yes, my kids have wanted this since they were very little.  And they have been totally obsessed since that time.  This is driven by them - we started them out in multiple sports and this is what they want to do, although they are good at multiple other sports and could have been very competitive at some of them.  It's something they think about, talk about, and dream about all the time.

I was a professional in this sport for a few years and it was wonderful.  Not compatible for me long-term based on how I wanted to live my life, but I am friends with people who are still pros and thy are very happy.  Obviously there's no way to tell whether or not that would happen for my kids and whether or not their experience would be the same as mine, and the goal of all of this is not to go pro but to enjoy every step of the way.  If they choose to do something else at some point I will not feel like this has all been a waste because we are not playing to some sort of end game.

So what's it all for?  In our case, it gives our girls a sense of strength, both physically and mentally.  They have been tough kids since they are little and they are able to prize their bodies as not just something to look at but as something strong and useful.  It also gives them a huge sense of responsibility and a sense of satisfaction with their accomplishments.  They see how hard work pays off and they get used to losing and winning gracefully.  I don't know how I'd feel with boys or with girls who did another sport, but for us, it's more rewarding on a regular basis than I think you give it credit for and it's not nearly as stressful and you are imagining.  Again, this is our situation, so others' experiences may vary.  [/quote]

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