Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Sports are not a waste of time at all. It’s what kids are supposed to do, play games. I loved playing Lacrosse and Basketball, running back and forth across the field or court. There needs to be more intramural teams that play after school for fun. Not everyone wants to take sports seriously or have parents who think their kid is the future Tom Brady.

Sports for fun needs to be prioritized.

Kids can and should do it in an unorganized way though. Kids are too overscheduled.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Sports are not a waste of time at all. It’s what kids are supposed to do, play games. I loved playing Lacrosse and Basketball, running back and forth across the field or court. There needs to be more intramural teams that play after school for fun. Not everyone wants to take sports seriously or have parents who think their kid is the future Tom Brady.

Sports for fun needs to be prioritized.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These make me a bit sad for girls. I had no eye hand or eye foot coordination, didn't enjoy the repetitive nature of swimming but was a damn good dancer then figure skater then cheerleader (I did all 3 over the years and cheered in college). I took absolute JOY in moving to music and had both a natural talent for it and love for it that made me work hard to build my skill.

I never once was body shamed in it or felt I had to be skinnier for my activity (vs the general be skinny pressure on girls). Maybe I would have been if I was at very high elite levels, but aren't all high elite athletes under body pressure whether its strength or weight or whatever. I am naturally petite which helped me with cheer and skating but that was no different than being naturally tall helping for basketball or tall and lean helping for cross country.

I just makes me sad that parents wouldn't let their kids do an activity out of potential future fears that gave me and many others such joy. I've circled back on all them in my adult life (just started taking skating lessons again after a 25 year hiatus) and I get energized from it in a way i never have any other physical or artistic persuit.

+1 I loved dance, and made national teams. My dad, in particular, decided dance wasn't really a good thing for me and forced me to play "real sports". I made teams, but never excelled the way I did in dance. Luckily a high school coach figured out my dance ability made me a natural hurdler and I ended up running track in college. But even now, in my mid-40s, I'm bitter about this.

Cheer and dance objectify and demean young women in really toxic ways. No to both!

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

No, I don’t think this is a typical sentiment outside of dcum. Also pro dancing here.

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These make me a bit sad for girls. I had no eye hand or eye foot coordination, didn't enjoy the repetitive nature of swimming but was a damn good dancer then figure skater then cheerleader (I did all 3 over the years and cheered in college). I took absolute JOY in moving to music and had both a natural talent for it and love for it that made me work hard to build my skill.

I never once was body shamed in it or felt I had to be skinnier for my activity (vs the general be skinny pressure on girls). Maybe I would have been if I was at very high elite levels, but aren't all high elite athletes under body pressure whether its strength or weight or whatever. I am naturally petite which helped me with cheer and skating but that was no different than being naturally tall helping for basketball or tall and lean helping for cross country.

I just makes me sad that parents wouldn't let their kids do an activity out of potential future fears that gave me and many others such joy. I've circled back on all them in my adult life (just started taking skating lessons again after a 25 year hiatus) and I get energized from it in a way i never have any other physical or artistic persuit.

+1 I loved dance, and made national teams. My dad, in particular, decided dance wasn't really a good thing for me and forced me to play "real sports". I made teams, but never excelled the way I did in dance. Luckily a high school coach figured out my dance ability made me a natural hurdler and I ended up running track in college. But even now, in my mid-40s, I'm bitter about this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never in a million years, would I allow DD to become an empty-headed, vapid, cheerleader.

This + poms

I think Poms is most popular down South and the Midwest. Have you seen the Pom teams and dance teams in the D1 college division? They are remarkably talented. Watch videos from some of their competitions and explain why you have a problem with it. These girls are not super thin. For the most part their weight is right where it’s supposed to be and they are strong.

Just like female sports teams there are mediocre dance teams but the top Pom teams are on par with the colleges top sports team with regard to the work put in and the results.

Except for things like pay. Or scholarship money. Or future career prospects. But sure other than those minor things for which no one looks at colleges, these are great.

The sports teams getting paid significant money starting this year are football players, basketball players and hockey players. some athletic programs like tennis, swimming, diving, wrestling, volleyball are being discontinued because they don’t produce revenue for the school. The court decision to pay college athletes will cause a lot more programs being dropped to focus on academics because money is tight.

What does the activities you choose have anything to do with future careers? Most college students don’t get sports scholarships so that doesn’t matter.

Most parents encourage their kids to pursue activities they enjoy as long as they don’t see them as dangerous. They are realistic and do not force their child in a sport that the parents think would be the best bet at a scholarship. That’s crazy.

You offered nothing that would dissuade a dancer from choosing a dance team or dance pom for a college activity. Harvard university competed in a national contest for the first time. They have a ways to go but they’ll make it.

Anonymous wrote:Hockey - the practice times for our local team are ridiculous
Ballet and gymnastics. My sister and I were pretty involved in these growing up and they were incredibly toxic environments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never in a million years, would I allow DD to become an empty-headed, vapid, cheerleader.

This + poms

I think Poms is most popular down South and the Midwest. Have you seen the Pom teams and dance teams in the D1 college division? They are remarkably talented. Watch videos from some of their competitions and explain why you have a problem with it. These girls are not super thin. For the most part their weight is right where it’s supposed to be and they are strong.

Just like female sports teams there are mediocre dance teams but the top Pom teams are on par with the colleges top sports team with regard to the work put in and the results.

Except for things like pay. Or scholarship money. Or future career prospects. But sure other than those minor things for which no one looks at colleges, these are great.

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.