Reply to How much is too much for kids sports?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Gymnastics is a scam. No girl with a typically developing body can go very far in the sport, but greedy organizers will take your money and suck up all your time until puberty hits. If you're going to force a sport, pick one that works with normally developing bodies of all types. Track and field, soccer, swim, etc. You can't always predict how children will grow.[/quote]

Meh. I am 5’2 and my daughter is petite. Our options are limited. The short girls can have one sport.[/quote]

Huh? Plenty of short kids excel in soccer, lacrosse, softball… the best kid on our baseball team is the shortest. [/quote]

What age is the best kid on the baseball team the shortest? Guaranteed you're not talking about high school for any of these sports. There is a huge disadvantage to being a late blooming boy.  This is well known.[/quote]

The kids are 10. The OP is asking about a 9 year old and this is the elementary age forum.

At this age you shouldn’t limit your kid’s athletic pursuits based on height. Let them try different things.[/quote]

Ok. I did, and my destined to be short 10 yr old chose gymnastics. She didn't like softball, soccer, dance, or swimming. That doesn't mean she doesn't have a normally developing body or that it will be a shock that she's not 5'7". It also should be a shock that a 5'9" mom and 6'4" dad have a daughter that might be too tall for gymnastics. That doesn't make gymnastics and inherently bad sport anymore than basketball will probably not be in my daughters future, not that she even wants to try it beyond one season when she complained about going.[/quote]

Haha, the second case was us!  Our poor DD absolutely LOVED gymnastics but we had to gently steer her away and t’get her interested in sports like basketball and volleyball.  She is 12 and on track to be 6 feet.

That being said, gymnastics is great and I don’t understand why so many people sh!t all over youth sports unless they’re going to go pro.  Can’t the love of gymnastics be enough while it lasts?[/quote]

Because most youth sports are a giant money sucking scam. Not all of them, but it sure seems like the majority of kidsports parents I know are being fleeced for the big bucks, while their families' limited free time is stolen by sports practice and toruneys and hours long drives. And none of them are going to be elite athletes. Sorry but I don't think that is a model of healthy athleticism.[/quote]

So which extracurriculars meet your standards for being worthwhile?

Theater kids spend hours at rehearsals, vocal lessons, etc. Most of them won’t make it to Broadway.

Band kids spend hours practicing instruments, taking private lessons, etc. My husband was very involved with a musical group that involved traveling out of state a few times per year (he has find memories of this). But most people aren’t going to sell out arenas.

I mean, there are so many activities that people do for the passion of it, not because some end goal of being “elite.” And yes, activities that take a lot of time cost money because outside of county subsidized rec programs, which are good for beginners/casual players, there are expenses with getting coaches/teachers and equipment.

It seems like there’s a weird subset of people on this board who just hate sports though because this riles people up more than any other kid activity. [/quote]

I don't think anyone I disputing that kids spend time devoted to activities that they may not do as an adult. But the amount of time and money that is expected for youth sports is often so much higher than many other activities. I know a lot of kids that are in school plays and musicals spending hours on rehearsal but not on acting coaches and private voice lessons. In fact I bet there are many highschoolers who got some part in a play or a crew just by auditioning, without any prior experience. But you rarely see someone that has never played soccer suddenly make their high school soccer team. Traveling out of state a couple of times a year is nothing compared to multiple weekends driving hours or traveling for tournament after tournament. Sure some kids are devoted to these activities at a young age but most start much later. [/quote]

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