Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:baseball. My son likes it but doesn't practice outside of scheduled practices. he is on a rec team and games are long and boring and kids don't get exercise, also games are at different times so hard for family to have a consistent schedule.

Activity I most don't regret (so far) is music. Kids can practice On.Their.Own. in their room without me having to drive them anywhere!!!!! I take them to orchestra rehearsal once a week and private lessons once a week - much less work than baseball and they are getting more out of it (of course for a kid who is good at baseball and works hard at it, I'm sure situation would be different).

Yes about music!! We have the same situation with orchestra and private lessons, and I agree completely! If you have musically inclined kids who don’t mind practicing, music can work out great so far as activities go.

Yes, music gets expensive but is life-enriching for motivated kids with good aptitude. DC has a heavy workload at school but playing for regional orchestras brings them joy.

Skiing. No future for that kind of sport due to global warming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids HS and college aged. Here is my list of what I do not regret and what I regretted.

Do not regret: hip hop competition dance, travel soccer, math competitions/classes, robotics competitions/classes, rock climbing, swim

Regret: theater, chess club/competitions, martial arts

Why theater?

Because of the focus on physical cuteness and appearance, the insane parents (who made the travel soccer parents look mellow and laid back), and the intensity of the rehearsal schedules.

Rehearsal schedules are intense but the rest I don’t agree. Theater is by far the most inclusive and diverse group of people we and our kids interacted with.

Just goes to show maybe the activity isn’t the problem. It’s the organization you happen to pick.

Anonymous wrote:Apollo Ono started as a speed roller skater. Our son did speed roller skating in elementary. Great way for an adhd kid to work out that excess energy!

And I'll bet your son ate like crazy! Speed skating burns a ton of calories.

And thanks for bringing up Ono. I was mesmerized watching him compete.

We have skate (then 'sock'!) races at the end of general sessions on Saturday mornings. The competitive skaters on quads usually beat out the general public but lose every time to the inline skaters who are often also hockey players. Those guys will often do both ice and roller and win even when skating backwards!

A very good friend of ours had three boys who played hockey, which isn't always the easiest here in the South, and they literally traveled all over, including up to Canada. No regrets at the time but now wishes they'd tried their hand at other sports too. It was hockey year-round and the back of her large SUV was always loaded with gear.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do kids in this sport tend to try both ice and roller and then choose one? What are the differences between the two sports that make someone choose one or the other? I have only seen talented roller skaters on the streets, with amazing skills, and I didn’t realize it was an organized sport.

Street skaters do indeed have amazing skills! So do some of the weekend night skaters at the rink.

It's really rare for a 'skater' to do both ice and roller (VA native Natalie Motley is an exception)....and I think they 'pick' based on what they're first exposed to or get the opportunity to try. Ice skaters have to deal with the cold, roller skaters with the smell of stale popcorn. /s

If you want to see it done beautifully, check out Rebecca Tarlazzi (ITA) on youTube. The South Americans also have a terrific roller tradition too, especially in team/group events.

Well, I learned something new today. She is amazing and to my amateur eye, she looks like a figure skater on ice. Cool sport!

Apollo Ono started as a speed roller skater. Our son did speed roller skating in elementary. Great way for an adhd kid to work out that excess energy!

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were more rec leagues for late bloomers. My DS is in middle school and getting really into baseball and basketball ball but has sort of missed the boat when it comes to playing on a team because he just wasn't interested when he was younger.

Agree. Rec league phases out around middle school, and the school teams were so competitive at DC’s school, you had to already be a star to make the team. There really isn’t a good place for kids who just want to play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This area is competitive, selective, and has a lot of parents with a lot of money.

This is true of almost any urban or suburban area in America. You might be surprised how much worse Texas, CO, and CA can be than here, or even Florida where certain sports never stop. I don't think it's at all specific to DC/NOVA/MD.

I hear in other parts of the country, kids get homeschooled and such when they are really good at sports. THat would be unheard of (or really frowned upon) here.

That happens in the DC area, as well. I know of several kids who have special school arrangements to allow them to play their sport.

Dance has been the most pleasant surprise for us. I didn’t realize my DD would build such a tight camaraderie with the girls at her studio. She spends a lot of time there and comes home happy. Good exercise too!

Parent of college / late HS students. I regret all except rec sports and free after school school clubs!

Signed,
parent who spent too much time and money on travel baseball and basketball

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were more rec leagues for late bloomers. My DS is in middle school and getting really into baseball and basketball ball but has sort of missed the boat when it comes to playing on a team because he just wasn't interested when he was younger.

We had the same experience. We did not find a team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids HS and college aged. Here is my list of what I do not regret and what I regretted.

Do not regret: hip hop competition dance, travel soccer, math competitions/classes, robotics competitions/classes, rock climbing, swim

Regret: theater, chess club/competitions, martial arts

Why do you regret chess and martial arts?

Chess because of the bullying and nasty behavior from the kids that was tolerated. Lots of nasty comments about kids who didn’t play as well, or who were just learning. Math competitions and robotics require team cooperation and the kids were much nicer.

Martial arts because of what the other PP identified: it really started to feel a bit like a scam. And frankly the physical workout wasn’t very good compared to some of the other sports my kids did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids HS and college aged. Here is my list of what I do not regret and what I regretted.

Do not regret: hip hop competition dance, travel soccer, math competitions/classes, robotics competitions/classes, rock climbing, swim

Regret: theater, chess club/competitions, martial arts

Why theater?

Because of the focus on physical cuteness and appearance, the insane parents (who made the travel soccer parents look mellow and laid back), and the intensity of the rehearsal schedules.

I wish there were more rec leagues for late bloomers. My DS is in middle school and getting really into baseball and basketball ball but has sort of missed the boat when it comes to playing on a team because he just wasn't interested when he was younger.

Anonymous wrote:baseball. My son likes it but doesn't practice outside of scheduled practices. he is on a rec team and games are long and boring and kids don't get exercise, also games are at different times so hard for family to have a consistent schedule.

Activity I most don't regret (so far) is music. Kids can practice On.Their.Own. in their room without me having to drive them anywhere!!!!! I take them to orchestra rehearsal once a week and private lessons once a week - much less work than baseball and they are getting more out of it (of course for a kid who is good at baseball and works hard at it, I'm sure situation would be different).

Yes about music!! We have the same situation with orchestra and private lessons, and I agree completely! If you have musically inclined kids who don’t mind practicing, music can work out great so far as activities go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids HS and college aged. Here is my list of what I do not regret and what I regretted.

Do not regret: hip hop competition dance, travel soccer, math competitions/classes, robotics competitions/classes, rock climbing, swim

Regret: theater, chess club/competitions, martial arts

Why do you regret chess and martial arts?

Not the PP but martial arts we did seed like a pay to play scam..we got our pretty early