I said no to a travel team for my 10 year old DS for this reason. It would have been every Sunday for the whole spring and summer. So no travel, no family weekends (extended family), no lazy Sundays…I just couldn’t do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Kids may understand that, and feel heartbroken by it nonetheless, and most parents seek to avoid that especially when the activity involves physical activity, the outdoors, friendships, mental stimulation - all every positive things.

it's unfortunate that there are parents like this who seek to avoid hurting one kid's feeling at the expense of the entire family's well-being.

It's not so black and white. The undue hardship may not be as hard as it seems to someone looking from the outside looking in. Perhaps the family is not giving up as much as you think they are. Some people just like to whine and make it seem like they are moving heaven and earth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Kids may understand that, and feel heartbroken by it nonetheless, and most parents seek to avoid that especially when the activity involves physical activity, the outdoors, friendships, mental stimulation - all every positive things.

it's unfortunate that there are parents like this who seek to avoid hurting one kid's feeling at the expense of the entire family's well-being.

The question was why a parent who doesn’t enjoy the travel sport wouldn’t just stop, not a situation about “an entire family’s well-being” which is deliberately inflating the issue.

Our son has played travel soccer since age 8 (now 15) with the exception of a year he experimented with travel baseball. Soccer weekend time commitment has varied depending on team. We actually traveled further when he was younger. He missed a lot of birthday parties and overnights with friends in elementary school but he loved it and never complained. Every year we asked if he was sure he wanted to continue and he did. We enjoyed the quality time with him and he was happy and active. Plus, we met some really nice families we enjoyed chatting with on the sidelines. He moved to lower level travel for 8th and 9th and the games are now within 30-60 minutes and tournaments are also local. It’s a nice opportunity to spend quality time with our teen who would otherwise tune us out at home. He doesn’t seem to be missing out socially as most of his good friends are also busy with sports.

The one year of travel baseball in middle school was by far the most draining. Baseball games were much longer and always double-headers so instead of being at a field for 1.5-2 hours for soccer (including warmup) we were at the field for 5 hours or more. And the baseball team did tournaments much more frequently that required hotel overnights. I was secretly glad when he went back to soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Kids may understand that, and feel heartbroken by it nonetheless, and most parents seek to avoid that especially when the activity involves physical activity, the outdoors, friendships, mental stimulation - all every positive things.

it's unfortunate that there are parents like this who seek to avoid hurting one kid's feeling at the expense of the entire family's well-being.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having your child stick with rec or less all consuming activities or having them play informally with friends isn't taking the sport away though.

If you or your kid has any experience with high level travel sports you wouldn’t have made this comment. It’s not a viable alternative for these kids.

It is an alternative if they love the sport enough. But, this is also why I say no travel right from the start

DP. Good luck finding friends to informally play with. They aren’t around because anyone into the game is still on a team. This could happen in an ideal world but it isn’t reality.

Anonymous wrote:Travel sports are a scam full stop

Agreed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Kids may understand that, and feel heartbroken by it nonetheless, and most parents seek to avoid that especially when the activity involves physical activity, the outdoors, friendships, mental stimulation - all every positive things.

All positive things that they can get without expensive, time consuming travel sports. We are talking about kids here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Kids may understand that, and feel heartbroken by it nonetheless, and most parents seek to avoid that especially when the activity involves physical activity, the outdoors, friendships, mental stimulation - all every positive things.

Anonymous wrote:Travel sports are a scam full stop

Nope. But they definitely aren’t for every kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the people who love it. They found their thing and they're getting the most out of it.

I'm confused about the people who don't like it but continue to do it. It's optional. You can stop any time. There are loads of successful adults in the world who never played on expensive, time-sucking travel sports teams. What exactly are you afraid will happen if you just stop?

It's one thing to never start, but taking away a sport that your kid loves and pores their heart into is another thing entirely.

A kid who knows he is not going to be a recruited athlete can understand that his travel sport is causing undue hardship on the family, and can find other activities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having your child stick with rec or less all consuming activities or having them play informally with friends isn't taking the sport away though.

If you or your kid has any experience with high level travel sports you wouldn’t have made this comment. It’s not a viable alternative for these kids.

It is an alternative if they love the sport enough. But, this is also why I say no travel right from the start

DP. It’s obvious you said no to travel from the start, because like PP your comment makes no sense. A child that has been training for a sport at a high level is not going to transition easily to a rec sport with kids who are just learning to play. It’s because the child loves the sport so much that that wouldn’t be an appropriate fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having your child stick with rec or less all consuming activities or having them play informally with friends isn't taking the sport away though.

If you or your kid has any experience with high level travel sports you wouldn’t have made this comment. It’s not a viable alternative for these kids.

It is an alternative if they love the sport enough. But, this is also why I say no travel right from the start

Anonymous wrote:Having your child stick with rec or less all consuming activities or having them play informally with friends isn't taking the sport away though.

If you or your kid has any experience with high level travel sports you wouldn’t have made this comment. It’s not a viable alternative for these kids.

Travel sports are a scam full stop