Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree football is dangerous, but baseball and basketball aren’t replacements for football. Unless your kid is at least 6’3”, they aren’t going to be competitive for high school basketball. Baseball also has a massive barrier to entry with the skill needed. Basketball and baseball at the youth and high school level are full, so no, they can’t fully replace football

LOL parents are stupid to have their kids play soccer and lax. At least basketball and football there is money possibly...

None of these sports are great anyway. Tennis, Golf, swimming can do your whole life.

The people who grew up swimming or playing tennis burn out and stop playing those sports after high school or college

Tell me you know nothing about Master’s Swimming without telling me you know nothing. I’ve literally had the privilege of swimming with and competing with Olympic athletes because of Master’s. And I had the honor of 60something hand me my ass in backstroke when I was in my 30s. Yes, she was a former Olympian.

Just curious, what level swimmer were you when younger? I was high level and most people I swam with rarely touch the pool now. Burnout is very real and most of us enjoy exploring other ways to be fit that don’t involve staring at a black line. I feel like I have done every type of set under the sun and just can’t find the enjoyment in it anymore. Plus there’s the depressing evidence of how much slower I am now with zero realistic hope of ever getting close to my old times. Glad you’re enjoying it though.

It's amazing that you're in close enough touch with everyone you swam with all through high school to know this!!!

Kids don't have to play sports just to get scholarships/play professionally in the future. They can just play for fun and exercise. This is why we have rec level sports, OP. Heck, half the travel teams are really just expensive res-level teams for any sport.

There are also plenty of things your short stocky boy can do for exercise - tennis, swimming, running, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree football is dangerous, but baseball and basketball aren’t replacements for football. Unless your kid is at least 6’3”, they aren’t going to be competitive for high school basketball. Baseball also has a massive barrier to entry with the skill needed. Basketball and baseball at the youth and high school level are full, so no, they can’t fully replace football

LOL parents are stupid to have their kids play soccer and lax. At least basketball and football there is money possibly...

None of these sports are great anyway. Tennis, Golf, swimming can do your whole life.

The people who grew up swimming or playing tennis burn out and stop playing those sports after high school or college

Tell me you know nothing about Master’s Swimming without telling me you know nothing. I’ve literally had the privilege of swimming with and competing with Olympic athletes because of Master’s. And I had the honor of 60something hand me my ass in backstroke when I was in my 30s. Yes, she was a former Olympian.

Just curious, what level swimmer were you when younger? I was high level and most people I swam with rarely touch the pool now. Burnout is very real and most of us enjoy exploring other ways to be fit that don’t involve staring at a black line. I feel like I have done every type of set under the sun and just can’t find the enjoyment in it anymore. Plus there’s the depressing evidence of how much slower I am now with zero realistic hope of ever getting close to my old times. Glad you’re enjoying it though.

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

High school sports are important for getting admitted into the service academies

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

Rec sports are great if you can get a reasonably stable team together. You can get the physical and social benefits without a crazy time or money commitment. I'm hoping our established teams keep going as long as possible.

Rec sports are fun when they are young and you can sign up for the same team with friends and a coach you know. Once you get to the age where they draft teams it gets pretty terrible. Half the kids are god-awful and have no intention of actually getting better. A quarter almost never show up for practice or games, and you'll sometimes forfeit because not even 5 kids show up for a basketball game. I'd say it's 50/50 whether you get a good parent coach or a terrible one, or maybe some high school kids just doing it for service hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree football is dangerous, but baseball and basketball aren’t replacements for football. Unless your kid is at least 6’3”, they aren’t going to be competitive for high school basketball. Baseball also has a massive barrier to entry with the skill needed. Basketball and baseball at the youth and high school level are full, so no, they can’t fully replace football

LOL parents are stupid to have their kids play soccer and lax. At least basketball and football there is money possibly...

None of these sports are great anyway. Tennis, Golf, swimming can do your whole life.

The chance of a kid making money in ANY sport is vanishingly small. It's easier to get into an Ivy than it is for a kid to play pro ball.

You're more likely to be hit by lightning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

Truth. Also, parents push kids into sports for their own ego. It's not really what kids want.

False, how do you know what my kid wants? My kid absolutely LOVES every moment they spend playing their sport and all the associated activities around it.

Until they don’t

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree football is dangerous, but baseball and basketball aren’t replacements for football. Unless your kid is at least 6’3”, they aren’t going to be competitive for high school basketball. Baseball also has a massive barrier to entry with the skill needed. Basketball and baseball at the youth and high school level are full, so no, they can’t fully replace football

LOL parents are stupid to have their kids play soccer and lax. At least basketball and football there is money possibly...

None of these sports are great anyway. Tennis, Golf, swimming can do your whole life.

I don't know where you live but we see people of all ages play basketball together at the local rec centers and playgrounds in casual pickup games. From teenagers to people who look like they're grandparents.

And at some of my previous workplaces, I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I wasn't confident enough to join the company softball team. Especially after hearing how the team manager had to cut one of the coworkers because the other team members were tired of them not being able to hit the ball. So was a big reason why I wanted to make that my kids were comfortable hitting and fielding the ball.

And I'm not as a big fan but we see adults play casual pick up soccer in the local fields too. One group in particular is kind of obnoxious because they obviously don't have a permit but squeeze out the youth teams during their practice times on those fields. And there looks like there are some actual adult leagues that rent out fields and indoor soccer fields too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

Truth. Also, parents push kids into sports for their own ego. It's not really what kids want.

False, how do you know what my kid wants? My kid absolutely LOVES every moment they spend playing their sport and all the associated activities around it.

How are sports any different than art, music, academics, travel, etc? we all choose to spend our time and money in different ways.

Anonymous wrote:Some kids just have natural skill and ability and love playing. You sign them up in the beginning because it is fun. You continue because they like it. My DS9 is one of those that has some natural skill and loves it. He plays baseball and soccer and is pretty good at both. I'm not thinking beyond him playing for as long as he can/wants to. It is all driven by him. I think there is value in being on a team and working together, supporting your teammates, etc.

We are also a skiing family. He is an expert skier. We sort of forced that onewhen he was little because we love to go skiing so much. We lucked out that he took to it and really loves it.

basic bob

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

Truth. Also, parents push kids into sports for their own ego. It's not really what kids want.

False, how do you know what my kid wants? My kid absolutely LOVES every moment they spend playing their sport and all the associated activities around it.

Anonymous wrote:Once you get beyond rec league, your sports through high school are a time and money suck, neither of which you will ever get back.

Rec sports are great if you can get a reasonably stable team together. You can get the physical and social benefits without a crazy time or money commitment. I'm hoping our established teams keep going as long as possible.

Anonymous wrote:Some kids just have natural skill and ability and love playing. You sign them up in the beginning because it is fun. You continue because they like it. My DS9 is one of those that has some natural skill and loves it. He plays baseball and soccer and is pretty good at both. I'm not thinking beyond him playing for as long as he can/wants to. It is all driven by him. I think there is value in being on a team and working together, supporting your teammates, etc.

We are also a skiing family. He is an expert skier. We sort of forced that onewhen he was little because we love to go skiing so much. We lucked out that he took to it and really loves it.

That's great! Also... he's 9. You don't really have much perspective yet.

Some kids just have natural skill and ability and love playing. You sign them up in the beginning because it is fun. You continue because they like it. My DS9 is one of those that has some natural skill and loves it. He plays baseball and soccer and is pretty good at both. I'm not thinking beyond him playing for as long as he can/wants to. It is all driven by him. I think there is value in being on a team and working together, supporting your teammates, etc.

We are also a skiing family. He is an expert skier. We sort of forced that onewhen he was little because we love to go skiing so much. We lucked out that he took to it and really loves it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baseball is not full and has no barrier to entry, you can be quite bad and still play. My kid played until 13 and then transitioned to rowing. The intense physical exercise is great for him. There are other sports than football, basketball, soccer, baseball

Um a glove bat and cleats plus uniform is pretty costly but then again you mentioned rowing so youre SD is skewed.

They didn’t say anything about cost, they said skill was a barrier to entry. Even so for younger children Dick’s has a pallet of $19.99 cleats, there are team bats and the uniform is included in the registration fee (waived for our LL if needed)
Our crew team (title I school also offers fee assistance, FWIW)