Anonymous wrote:

Let me add - encourage sports you like to watch and enjoy. Kids tend to do better and excel in sports that their parents love to watch them play. My husband hates soccer and I hate baseball.

This.

Love taking my kids to lacrosse practices and games but couldn't wait for them to be done with soccer. Thankfully they both prefer lacrosse.

Anonymous wrote:Some sports you can try at anytime if you just want to play at the recreational "rec" level (basketball, soccer, softball). Hockey is one you need to start early. Most places have you do skating lessons, then specific hockey skating lessons (its different skates, stops, etc), then a "learn to play" program before you get on a team. If you're 10 and wanting to try hockey, you will be behind.

PPs, what makes figure skating so expensive? The lessons?

My kids were on travel teams by the age of 10. They were skating at 2. Both play D1 hockey. It's a very specific skill sport that is VERY competitive, there aren't that many teams compared to many sports. Just letting people know.

Let me add - encourage sports you like to watch and enjoy. Kids tend to do better and excel in sports that their parents love to watch them play. My husband hates soccer and I hate baseball.

My kid plays soccer- pros are that the games are short. No endless baseball games, thankfully. They get a ton of exercise running around. This area also has a lot of options- rec, travel lite, travel etc. Con is that a lot of kids play soccer so if you’re goal is to be a stand out, you’ll have a lot of competition.

Swim seems terrible if you’re competitive because of the terrible hours. Summer swim only is another story.

Some kids love team sports with lots of rules; some hate it. You have four little kids...you'll just need to let them try things and pay attention to what they respond to. I realized my oldest kid was not ever the best on the team but loved team sports - loved the challenge of learning the rules, trying to score, playing with other kids. That kid played team sports through high school (varsity) and travel soccer). Younger kid hated team sports as a kid - hated having rules and being accountable to other people. That kid was much happier playing tennis, ice skating, learning golf. As a high schooler, the rules-avoidant kid is extremely self-motivated, performs at a fairly high level at her sport, trains harder than her peers...all qualities I would have never anticipated when she was literally picking flowers during 7yo soccer games.

Okay, now I know that I am privileged that I can afford for DD to figure skate. But the likelihood that your child will progress to the point that it’s going to cost 50K a year are slim, and IMO is not something you need to consider if your little one really wants to skate. My 12 year old has been skating for 8 years but is still a pretty low level (relatively speaking, she can do doubles). Lessons are about 1K a month, ice time 200, once a year-ish new skates so 1K, figure skating costume $150 for one season (maybe another for a show or Christmas program) and then a few hundred dollars for competition and testing fees. Skating is a major ding in our budget but it’s not what kids who go to Nationals are laying.

It’s not the sport I would have chosen for her, but it’s nice because she loves that there is this one area in her life where she can do something she loves with nobody pressuring her but herself.

Anyways, something to consider is that when you’re exposing a kid to a sport, that doesn’t mean you have to actually sign them up for a sport. DD discovered figure skating when she saw people doing it at the mall.

Also I think swimming and track and field are nice because they are sports available at high schools but that kids of most skill levels can still do (at least I think that’s the case?). I think a lot of kids quit sports when school teams start requiring try outs.

If your kid becomes a serious swimmer, you will be getting up at ungodly hours of the day to take them to practice (i.e., 4 am) often 4-6 days a week. But, other than that, it's a great sport!

Let ‘em play whatever they like

People here talk about tennis being expensive and that is probably true if you want to do it at a competitive level, but if you just want your kid to get exercise and work on hand-eye coordination - it is actually very manageable for parents and pretty affordable to take rec or YMCA classes once or twice a week. We have a kid who does baseball and he also plays tennis once a week for more exercise and because it is a good sport to know as an adult (no adult stays in shape by playing baseball). Swimming starts out being easy on parents (practices at predictable times, you can choose which meets to sign up for) but if your kid is serious eventually it is hard to avoid morning practices, which are brutal. It is not cheap but also not crazy expensive.

Personally I hate baseball because it takes so much time, the games are super boring to watch until the kids are older, and the kids don't even get a lot of exercise. We tried to discourage one of my kids from getting into baseball but he was very stubborn so now that is his sport, I wouldn't recommend it though.

Anonymous wrote:I have several young children, all under the age of 4, mix of boys and girls. Obviously we will try to expose our kids to different activities and let them choose, but realistically it is difficult to introduce every child to every sport out there. What are some little known pros and cons and considerations of different sports for kids? For example, I recently learned about exorbitant costs involved with higher level figure skating that I never would expected in a million years. What are some other lesser know considerations that parents may want to think about when suggesting new sports for their kids?

Depends what kind of studs you raising?

Anonymous wrote:Some sports you can try at anytime if you just want to play at the recreational "rec" level (basketball, soccer, softball). Hockey is one you need to start early. Most places have you do skating lessons, then specific hockey skating lessons (its different skates, stops, etc), then a "learn to play" program before you get on a team. If you're 10 and wanting to try hockey, you will be behind.

PPs, what makes figure skating so expensive? The lessons?

not PP but former figure skater- you go from taking group lessons to needing one-on-one coaching ($$$) if you get to the next level. Boots and edges can be $1000 and you go through several boots per season. Costumes cost $500 and up. Travel to competitions. Ice time rental so you can use the entire rink to practice your programs. Paying a choreographer. I am SO glad my kids didn't go into figure skating.

to OP, I played a lot of sports growing up and wanted to expose my kids to as many as possible- we did so many things. The fact of the matter is, you don't pick the sport for the kid. If they don't like it, they won't stick with it. If they like it, they'll want to do it- and you'll either figure out the cost or you won't. That said, running is cheap!

Some sports you can try at anytime if you just want to play at the recreational "rec" level (basketball, soccer, softball). Hockey is one you need to start early. Most places have you do skating lessons, then specific hockey skating lessons (its different skates, stops, etc), then a "learn to play" program before you get on a team. If you're 10 and wanting to try hockey, you will be behind.

PPs, what makes figure skating so expensive? The lessons?

Individual sports are quite expensive. Figure skating, tennis, fencing, high level gymnastics are all very very very expensive. Team sports less so but if you're on travel teams can get there. Hockey will break you.

We only have one kid so it's a little easier for us. When she was younger we put her in things we thought we'd like or she would like. She is a pretty vocal kid so she let us know if she like it our not. We had one rule if we had paid for the class she had to finish the class to the end. If it was something open ended we had her do 3 months. We wanted her to learn perseverance and not quitting just because things were hard.

As she's gotten older (8) she now asks to try things. She hasn't picked anything yet. We've tried ballet, figure skating, gymnastics, hockey, soccer, track, cross country, swimming and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We are currently trying Krav Maga and Fencing.We've learned a lot about her as a person through all this and mostly it's that she's not a sport girl. But she does love her musical instrument. She's been playing for 4 years.

If you did not know figure skating was expensive you have a very great deal to learn.

Do what’s in your area that works for the kids and your budget - both in time and costs. Pay actual attention to how each of your kids is developing physically and skills wise as they age. Be realistic. Do not over assess. But, do understand where your kids - each of them - are likely headed physically. A girl who is likely to grow to 6 feet is going to have a very difficult time in gymnastics beyond a certain age and level. So nudge each kid towards sports that they physically may more easily be good at.

Also - understand right off the bat - kids will change. They grow at different paces. They learn at different paces. One kid may be good at soccer. Another might like softball. That’s fine. Do not limit kids based on what other family members may be doing. We are a “X” family, is stupid.

Finally, understand right now that no volunteer coach will do much to teach your kid anything about a sport. That is up to you. A baseball practice where your kid gets 10 swings, fields 8 ground balls and 8 pop ups does nothing for skill development. You must do it yourself, or hire someone to do it.

I tell the story all the time: our friends’ oldest son is the best friend of a guy who is one of the top 20 paid MLB players. He grew up in our area and the kids met in grade school. We know the guys parents a bit as they often played as subs in our card group. The guy is bulked out now, but as a high school kid he was very normal size. He and his dad spent about an hour a day working on his baseball skills. Everyday. For years. Obviously it worked. The guy is a top player and makes 8 figures a year. Sure he has great natural ability, but he also had way more skill than his early contemporaries because of all the time spent.

I have several young children, all under the age of 4, mix of boys and girls. Obviously we will try to expose our kids to different activities and let them choose, but realistically it is difficult to introduce every child to every sport out there. What are some little known pros and cons and considerations of different sports for kids? For example, I recently learned about exorbitant costs involved with higher level figure skating that I never would expected in a million years. What are some other lesser know considerations that parents may want to think about when suggesting new sports for their kids?