Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

Yes, I know several pros, and a lot of the best American players do come from the burbs. Most of their parents were coaches or former players though, and not the sort to behave like d*cks on the sidelines.

Oh you do? Male soccer players?

Anonymous wrote:OP your husband needs to join an adult soccer team or some type of club. He needs to get his own life and stop trying to live vicariously through his child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

Yes, I know several pros, and a lot of the best American players do come from the burbs. Most of their parents were coaches or former players though, and not the sort to behave like d*cks on the sidelines.

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

on the mens side where they are competing with hundreds of millions this is true. On the women's side, it's very much pay to play and the best still come up though elite clubs that aren't cheap

Yeah, I have to laugh at these people who are overly involved in kids’ sports, take it so seriously. I mean, really, unless you absolutely love watching children play sports, which I doubt, it’s kind of like watching kids play on a playground. There is no future in it. It’s good exercise and a good lesson in teamwork, but that’s it. Why parents get so overly involved and invested is beyond me. I have seen this play out time and time and time again, and not one of the kids played past college or even in college at all. Don’t stress, your kid is not the next Messi.

This is idiotic. Laugh away. You are missing the point. Badly. Melissa isn’t the next Meryl Streep, but we definitely get her ready for school plays and watch with interest. Same with Tyler and science fair, and he may not even study science. The question to me is not why parents invest in their children’s sports (it has zero to do with thinking your kid will be a pro for 99.99% of interested parents), but why they don’t invest so much more in other activities, some of which may have more impact longer term. Just being honest. You can either pretend to be apathetic or indifferent, or truly be so - that’s your business. But don’t judge others for being interested and don’t think for a second you have put your finger on the heterogeneous motivations at work here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

on the mens side where they are competing with hundreds of millions this is true. On the women's side, it's very much pay to play and the best still come up though elite clubs that aren't cheap

Yeah, I have to laugh at these people who are overly involved in kids’ sports, take it so seriously. I mean, really, unless you absolutely love watching children play sports, which I doubt, it’s kind of like watching kids play on a playground. There is no future in it. It’s good exercise and a good lesson in teamwork, but that’s it. Why parents get so overly involved and invested is beyond me. I have seen this play out time and time and time again, and not one of the kids played past college or even in college at all. Don’t stress, your kid is not the next Messi.

Anonymous wrote:Just started travel this year, so maybe my expectations are off. Wanted to get a gut check:

Spouse gets a little enthusiastic on the sidelines. Never calls out any individual player by name (other than our kid), but may call out if the defense or offense is lacking. Nothing mean-spirited, mostly encouragement. Sure, there were also some private parent-to-parent conversations on the sideline that may have been more critical, but nothing loud enough for a player or even another parent in the stands to hear . . . unless they were eavesdropping.

Yesterday, after the tournament weekend, spouse gets a call from the OWNER of the club dressing him down for his sideline behavior. Another parent on the team got the same call. I would have thought adults could have a conversation with each other, or even with the coach, before involving the owner of the entire organization.

IS THIS NORMAL?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

on the mens side where they are competing with hundreds of millions this is true. On the women's side, it's very much pay to play and the best still come up though elite clubs that aren't cheap

Yeah, I have to laugh at these people who are overly involved in kids’ sports, take it so seriously. I mean, really, unless you absolutely love watching children play sports, which I doubt, it’s kind of like watching kids play on a playground. There is no future in it. It’s good exercise and a good lesson in teamwork, but that’s it. Why parents get so overly involved and invested is beyond me. I have seen this play out time and time and time again, and not one of the kids played past college or even in college at all. Don’t stress, your kid is not the next Messi.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.

on the mens side where they are competing with hundreds of millions this is true. On the women's side, it's very much pay to play and the best still come up though elite clubs that aren't cheap

Anonymous wrote:Really, does anyone here personally know anyone who became a successful professional athlete? Anyone??? The best athletes are not coming out of the burbs, and most elite soccer players aren’t even American.