Not sure how this area compares with others, but I feel your pain about how sports-focused life for kids seems to be. My son is 7 and has now perfected the line "I don't care for sports." But he can't avoid it. His reading groups in 1st grade are named for sports teams, and god bless the sorry child who doesn't know who the Terrapins are (that would be my son.) Only required activity at aftercare -- bball. Endless games to watch in the gym, no exceptions. I feel like it is hard to get away from sports.

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue here is that there are no real options here for recreational sports involvement once you get much beyond second grade.

It's either all or none for older elementary and beyond.

In other places we have lived there are more recreational options for elementary kids. Here, there are virtually none.

Uh, hello? You are very misinformed. Have you not heard of Stoddert soccer? Goes all the way up. Totally non-competitive. Both my kids dropped out by third because they are hard core athletes and could not deal with the low level of play. I would have loved Stoddert as a kid. Also, Bethesda League Lacrosse? They have both rec and travel levels for all age groups. The rec is really, really, not competitive. Anyone can join a team. The list goes on, Jellef Basketball league? One on One Basketball? Really, PP, you are just not AWARE of all the basic, rec level sports leagues out there. There are plenty and they are very accessible.

We were with our kids a lax tournament (Beach lax) recently. Several DC area teams were there as well as teams from all over Maryland, a few from New York/Long Island and other farther places. Now, this is NOT a top lacrosse tournament. It doesn't even go past U13, has no college recruiters and is a really low level tournament, mostly just for fun. For the most part, the DC area teams got killed. The kids from every where else have much, much more intense lax programs that start much, much younger.

There are cities and areas of the country that sleep, eat and breathe ( name sport) just for the littlest kids sports teams. Seriously, OP, Washington is way, way down at the bottom for competitive sports.

Academic achievement is the sport of Washington,my friend.

Yes, this is what I was wondering if changed. How long have kids been on travel teams starting at 8 years old? Were 8 year old sports always this competitive?

I think the real issue, as a few people have noted, is how early the competitive leagues start these days. Our son has a friend who as an 8 year old was on travel baseball and basketball teams, and going as far as Richmond on the weekends (which isn't super far, but at 8...). That to me is ridiculous.

My kids all play on travel leagues and parents make more of it than necessary. Fortunately they also play in the alley with other neighborhood kids - kickball, wiffle ball, basketball and some made up games.

My kids are lucky to have so many resources available to them - competitive sports is one place where they learn that hard work pays off, life isn't always fair, and its the team that matters on a weekly basis.

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue here is that there are no real options here for recreational sports involvement once you get much beyond second grade.

It's either all or none for older elementary and beyond.

In other places we have lived there are more recreational options for elementary kids. Here, there are virtually none.

I am not sure where you live in this area, but I have not found this to be true at all. There are rec leagues pretty much through HS for most sports.

I think the issue here is that there are no real options here for recreational sports involvement once you get much beyond second grade.

It's either all or none for older elementary and beyond.

In other places we have lived there are more recreational options for elementary kids. Here, there are virtually none.