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 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.

Do you know what dramatically increases your chances of getting into an Ivy? Being a great lacrosse player.

You clearly never played lacrosse. You have to be in the top 1% to play D1 at the Ivys

But that’s easy just an athletic kid in lacrosse and it’s like taking candy from a baby

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 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.

Do you know what dramatically increases your chances of getting into an Ivy? Being a great lacrosse player.

You clearly never played lacrosse. You have to be in the top 1% to play D1 at the Ivys

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.

Basketball can be played pretty late in life if you don't let yourself get lazy and (too) overweight. The Legends league that operates in Fairfax County has many 40+ divisions and a 50+ division where some of the guys still play at 70 years old. These are competitive games with a ref. There are many more guys renting a gym from FCPS and playing pick up games in their 60s. Most switch to softball or pickleball by 70, but a few still play basketball at that age.

I've started playing again in my late forties since my kids have started getting into it. Some of my runs feature players over 75.

I feel basketball is about one of the best for health other than ankles or knees, even then I think its actually pretty good for balance later in life. Like you just don't get the same heart workout or major muscle workout that you do in swimming. I swum for a number of years and also cycled. They just don't have that cardio. It's bursty high intensity running and jumping with active recovery.

Soccer is probably pretty good also, just don't like the CTE of it and can be pretty bad on the knees also.

The thing is basketball is actually a great contact sport for smaller players. They way the rules work kids just won't get obliterated. Even soccer can feature high speed collisions with no helmets. Not saying they will be good at it, but I think they tend to enjoy playing it anyway, whereas other sports aren't as fun.

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.

Do you know what dramatically increases your chances of getting into an Ivy? Being a great lacrosse player.

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.

NP and former competitive swimmer. At least you can still swim as you age. Old gymnasts and ice skaters can't do their difficult tricks. I did masters swimming and open water swimming. Looking at the black line is a nice break from doom scrolling.

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