Reply to Why do kids here in the US spend so much time and effort on sports?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP is not asking "why do kids do sports at all." She's asking why we have a culture where sports take up so much time to the exclusion of other things. I am from the US and I often wonder the same thing. I worked hard to raise a kid who is well-rounded. She has a physical activity that is not a sport (dance, we don't do competition dance, just performance and classes), and a solo sport she likes (rock climbing). She's also dabbled in tennis, soccer, and basketball. She also loves art and music. She also has downtime (she likes to read for pleasure and to do art on her own time). And then of course school.

I do not understand how/why many kids are dedicating 20+ hours a week on a single sport or on multiple sports. Unless your kid actually has the talent/dedication (and often natural body type) to go pro or be very competitive at the college level, or is just uniquely passionate about their sport, I don't get it. It's just a lot of time to spend on one thing. Wouldn't you rather your kid become an adult who not has athletic skill but also can play an instrument, has relaxing hobbies/interests, and knows how to deal with unscheduled time? It just seems weird to me.[/quote]

But it's not really 20+ hours on "one thing."  It sounds like OP's kid plays multiple sports; why is your daughter's dance and rock climbing and art inherently better than someone else's soccer and swimming and karate or someone else's violin and piano and science olympiad?  Most these are hobbies than can follow them into adulthood and you can't really predict what tween passions will actually stick long term.  FWIW, my sister grew up doing ballet and cello; I did figure skating and viola.  As an adult she still plays the cello; I still do a performance-based physical activity (and skate for fun occasionally) but haven't touched my viola in nearly a decade.

Maybe soccer/swim/karate kid will grow up to only pursue one of those sports or get really into Crossfit or whatever.  Maybe they'll give them all up and discover painting as an adult.  Maybe your daughter will later decide she really missed out on not doing travel field hockey.  You're letting your daughter do what she wants to do and OP is letting her son do the same.  I don't see what the issue is?[/quote]

1) There are absolutely travel and club sports that require 20+ hours a week of practice and games during the season. And kids who play multiple sports just do this year round, and if sports overlap it may be well over 20+ hours. Kids who do competitive swimming plus a comptetitive team sport, for instance, my have days where between their early morning swim and club sport practice, they are dedicating 5-6 hours to sports in a single day, while also spending 6-7 hours at school.

2) Many other activities just involve one or two classes a week, with no games. It's a much lower time commitment. Even something like an instrument, unless you are crazy about it, you are talking about maybe one lesson a week (50 minutes) and then daily practice which is often like 15-30 minutes. Many families who do this don't require practice on the weekend either, because they are reasonable and don't want to ruin it for their kids. And because it's individual and not inherently competitive, it's easy to customize the time on practics/lessons based on your family's schedule and the child in question, whereas club/travel sports will have requirements where you don't really have a choice and your kid can be penalized if they miss practices or even open gyms.

3) And the obvious difference between a kid who is doing maybe one rec league sport, one school club, and then one non-sport interest is that this kid is well rounded. They may spend 20+ hours total on extra-curriculars during the week, but that will include time doing exercise/athletics, time engaging with art or music, down time engaging with their interests at home in their own way, etc. There are inherent benefits to diversifying your kids interests and letting them try things that don't require a very high time commitment. Many parents actually value these things. Club/travel sports do not leave ANY room for it. It's all or nothing.[/quote]

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