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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the travel sports community is one type of community and having various communities is a healthy thing.

The problem I see with the travel sports community is that it’s limited to players whose parents have enough disposable income to pay and enough free time to do all that travel. [b]Very insular.[/b]

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That has not been our experience with travel soccer, where my kids have played with a diverse group of players.

The original question is interesting and complex, so much so that I have a hard time coming deciding whether the answer is "yes" or "no." My perspective is informed by years of having multiple kids play travel sports. I also have one child who was not an athlete. In addition to travel sports, my kids have been involved in theater and scouts.

Pros of travel sports include:
Chance to meet kids and families with similar interests 
Promotes connections outside of school, which is very important because the availability of school socialization can change (not just COVID school closures, but also request boundary adjustments)
A larger time commitment enables people to really get to know each other 
Provides training in the sport, making it more likely that kids will be able to play their sport in college 
Opportunity to meet people from different parts of the region (on higher level teams)

Reasons why travel sports are bad:
Very time-consuming which does not allow much time for free play during the younger years. This is an impediment to meeting other families in the neighborhood.

Limited control over team placement - Unlike scouts, a church, or a theater group, frequent cuts and demotions in travel sports separate kids from their friends. With the time commitment, it can be difficult to maintain the connections you make with so much adjustment from year to year. The more you rely on travel sports for social aspects, the more difficult it becomes to not be emotional about changes to team compositions through cuts or movement to higher or lower levels.

Looking back at our experience in travel sports, there was probably more good than bad. At the same time, I regret letting my boys quit scouting because scouting provides a more stable way to form long-term relationships than travel sports. I feel strongly that every kid should have an outlet outside of school, which could be anything from a group of neighborhood friends who are available to hand out regularly to a travel team. In all honestly, looking back at my kids' lives from beginning to end, I have fewer regrets about travel sports than I do about the significant time I spent volunteering at their schools.

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