Kids Activities

[elessar78]

I coach soccer at one of those "elite" clubs and I get paid to do so. We are one of the less expensive clubs, as we operate it as a non-profit venture. After overhead, the players' tuition gets reinvested back into the players in one form or another.

My kids are young and it's starting to shock me about the time commitment and financial commitment people pony up for to get their kids into activities.

Depending on the activity and part of the country I've heard anywhere from $2500-$10,000 per YEAR for one kid! That figure can be inclusive or not. I find that mind blowing.

Then you get parents who sacrifice too much and it ruins it for the kid because they put so much pressure on their kid to excel as a "return on their investment". You'd be appalled at some of the things I've heard from parents to kids.

[greentea]

These parents are usually ones who weren't able to fulfill their own athletic dreams, so force it on their kids. It's a shame and usually will turn off the kids to whatever the parents are pushing.

[Thrif-t]

...and so many of those kids by the time they get to high school are burnt out on their sport and quit. So all that money that the parents thought they were spending to make their kid better and on the road to a college scholarship just goes down the drain. They'd of gotten a better return on their investment if they'd of saved that money in a college fund.

[elessar78]

The drop out rate from sports nationally at Age 13 is around 75%. That's a ridiculous number. The predominant mindset in this country seems to be that unless you're going to be a good high school athlete/college athlete/pro—why keep continuing?

Part of it is kids, like was said, get burnt out by their parents. Part of it is parents not wanting to invest the time and money anymore. Which is sad, particularly in a country where we have an obesity problem for kids to drop out of regular activity.

The funny thing is that, as young adults, many former athletes get re-involved in sports. FOR FUN. FOR SOCIALIZATION. FOR EXERCISE. This is between age 13 and age 21, give or take. Why stop doing it for a decade? How have parents managed to make sports not fun?

[Snydley]

My kids are young and it's starting to shock me about the time commitment and financial commitment people pony up for to get their kids into activities.

I'm right there with you. It's shocking. Money is one thing, but also the time commitment! Crazy. Hockey is big where I live and I know parents with 5-6yo kids dedicating every Saturday and Sunday for most of the year to it. Are you kidding me?? Plus the traveling, all day tournaments, ...for a 5yo? It's ridiculous.

My DD is currently in zero organized activities. I set up play dates, or even better, now that she's almost 8 I sent her off to go knock on doors and see who is home/wants to play. If no one is around, she wanders into her playroom and sometimes 1-2 hours are spent with legos or other toys. Unscheduled time- can't beat it! Who wants to be running around all the time? If she's playing with friends in the neighborhood, I'm free to finish some chores and maybe sit and read a book on a Saturday (dare to dream!!).

[disneysteve]

I think the problem is we have eliminated "play" in this country. When I was growing up in the 70s, we played sports all the time, every day after school, in the schoolyard, on the street, at the park. We played baseball. We played touch football. We played Frisbee. We played basketball. But it was all for fun with whoever happened to be around. Never did I participate in "organized" sports. No uniforms. No teams. No coaches. No fancy facilities. No sponsors. No TV contracts (Little League World Series anyone?). We did it because it was fun.

We have stopped making sports fun for kids. We've turned it into work and stress and performance and outcomes.

[moneybags]

So many stereotypes and generalizations being made on this thread! I'd like to point out some positive aspects of organized sports. I have a college student and high school senior that both participated in travel/competitive sports. They chose their sports and the competitive aspect. I was not a crazy sport parent. They knew they could quit if they wanted to. A college scholarship was never the goal (that's what academics are for). Here's a brief list of positives:

1. physical fitness - as mentioned in prior posts, kids just don't run around like they used to; organized sports is a great outlet for physical activity

2. family time - while some view it as schlepping the kids everywhere, I enjoyed spending time in the car with my kids and their friends

3. My kids have learned so much from their coaches over the years and not just athletics. I like to point out that a coach is like a boss; they will have many in their life they like and many they don't. They learned to work with both types and to speak up on their own behalf.

4. Organized sports keep kids out of trouble! Our high school has a zero tolerance policy on drugs/alcohol. If you're caught, you're out. This kept my kids clean during high school.

I could go on, but the point is that organized sports aren't all bad. My kids could get the same positive results listed above from other venues, but sports worked for us!

[Snydley]

I think the problem is we have eliminated "play" in this country. When I was growing up in the 70s, we played sports all the time, every day after school, in the schoolyard, on the street, at the park. We played baseball. We played touch football. We played Frisbee. We played basketball. But it was all for fun with whoever happened to be around. Never did I participate in "organized" sports. No uniforms. No teams. No coaches. No fancy facilities. No sponsors. No TV contracts (Little League World Series anyone?). We did it because it was fun.

We have stopped making sports fun for kids. We've turned it into work and stress and performance and outcomes.

Peter Gray, a psychologist at Boston College and expert on the roles of play in development, talks about the loss of free play and what it has done/is doing to kids in this TedX video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk

Moneybags- we are talking about the negatives of organized sports for young (often very young) kids. I played basketball from 4th grade-high school and loved it! I also played tee-ball when I was 5-6-7, but my impression is that now these sports require more practices, etc. than when I was that age. I remember it being fun and not much of a time commitment.

I went to hear this person https://www.psychologytoday.com/expe...d-ginsburg-phdspeak about kids in sports, and there was a maybe 30 parents or so in the audience. He asked them how many thought their kids were going to play a Division I sport in college. About 1/2 raised their hands. He then told them only 1 parent in this room will have a Div I college athlete. He also said most professional athletes don't "specialize" (play only 1 sport) until well into their teens. I could tell by the questions they were asking that the parents were all trying to nurture future stars.

[moneybags]

:

Moneybags- we are talking about the negatives of organized sports for young (often very young) kids. I played basketball from 4th grade-high school and loved it! I also played tee-ball when I was 5-6-7, but my impression is that now these sports require more practices, etc. than when I was that age. I remember it being fun and not much of a time commitment. :

Right, and the thread title is Kids Activities, so I thought I'd provide a different view.