Definite pros and cons to the travel sports scene, many of which have been mentioned in this thread. But OP made me reflect on our paths with multiple kids and multiple sports. When I think of how we got started and where we are now -- I could write a book! It all started innocently enough with parent/baby swim lessons at a local rec center to make my kids somewhat water safe. Then mini-kicks soccer so they could expend some energy and socialize. When I think of all those kids clustered around the ball, barely knowing what they were doing, but having a blast, I wax nostalgic. Then one day, in like 2nd grade, my kid gets picked for an end of season all-star tournament and he is beaming. We later find out these kids have been scouted for a potential travel team and the all-star tournament is an opportunity to see them all play together. What?? But bottom line, our kid loves the sport, seems to have some aptitude and we buy in. Literally. As in, open up your checkbook and get ready to start hemorrhaging $$. Do 7 & 8 year olds really need backpacks as big as they are, personalized with their name & jersey #? Or uniforms (home and away) that rival DC United's in style and cost? All mandatory. Someone's making some serious do-re-mi off all of us suckers. Then the time demands: practices, mandatory team trainer sessions, games + every 3-day weekend became a travel tournament weekend. And we had other kids with their own lives. He liked other sports, too and travel soccer was making it impossible to do anything else. After a year or so, he asked us if he could take a break from soccer. My husband and I did the happy dance after he left the room. He never did go back to soccer, which is kind of sad. We learned a lot from that experience. That is not to say we dropped travel sports. There are many, many positives. But we learned what we were willing to put up with.
I remain disgusted by the cost of it all and how this shuts out many kids. And I wish there would be an uprising against the tournament directors demanding that players stay in certain hotels for a certain # of nights. Isn't extortion illegal?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being around like-minded people is part of it, for both parents and kids. I feel much better about being completely obsessed with soccer when I'm surrounded by travel parent friends who feel exactly the same way. And my son is never happier than we he's around the other kids on his team who live and breathe the game, just like he does. Just for perspective, this is one of the better teams in the state, perhaps the Mid-Atlantic, so it's a different level of player and mindset than at a mid-tier team at a mediocre club.

Barf. I hate the way parents talk these days (bolded for emphasis). We all were on these teams as kids---me: 4 State Championships, 2 Eastern Region championship; sibling: National Championship, another sibling: State Team member, All-American, etc.

My parents never talked this douchey lingo. I hate being surrounded by people that are so myopic. Yes, we all love soccer in my family--but we have a life and other interests too. And the need to recite 'mid-tier team at a mediocre club' with disdain. Get a life.

You are reading way too much into this. But thanks for sharing your impressive athletic resume.