Perspectives of a former Club Sport Parent.

[MarathonMike]

There is a lot of pressure for kids to play sports in America. Too much IMO. If you have a kid, boy or girl that is good at a sport, chances are you are either on a club team or being pressured to be on one. The first thing you have to consider is the cost, not only in money but in time invested in a game. Is this really going to benefit your kid? The chances of a good club sport player even playing in college is slim. Maybe about one in ten is good enough. If you are on an elite club team then maybe one in 4 or 5 makes it. Professional? Ha, Now you are talking lottery odds. The best kid from our city was drafted by the Dodgers. This kid was a total beast, he threw 94 MPH and was an even better hitter. Last I heard he has been kicking around the Minors for the last 4 years.

Now I did the whole nine yards with my son. He played club baseball for 6 years, 4 years high school ball, 3 years American Legion, and 4 years of college ball, albeit a small college, not D1. I calculated what we spent during his years 6 years in club and it was shocking. Between bats, gloves, travel expenses, entry fees, team fees, lessons, sports academy memberships, baseball camps and private instruction we spent around 20 thousand bucks! Call me an idiot, and I couldn't disagree with you. But when you are in it, and you are convinced your kid is the shit, you do crazy things.

What I am saying is if you are deep into it now, take a step back and re-assess. Is your kid just totally loving it? Are you? Is he or she REALLY good, and I mean dominating? Are you getting frazzled by all the tournaments and travel and writing all the checks? If it isn't a big bowl of cherries you may want to get off of the Club Sport train and get your child going into other things, even "nerdy" things like music lessons, science clubs, 4H whatever. Unless your kid really is a sports phenom, other endeavors may be more beneficial and maybe even more fun for you and your club sport kid. -JMHO Mike

 

[MisterBeale]

Right on.

However, a parents job is to nurture a kids dream, not to kill them.

My kid is nuts about basketball, it's what he loves, with a passion. Yet, I have also tried to make him be realistic about his prospects.

We get him involved in as many low cost intramural inner city leagues as possible, and all summer long, he goes down to the courts and practices. But he has seen Hoop Dreams, he knows what he is up against, he has no illusions. He sets short term goals only.

He'd like to make varsity by his sophomore year, and maybe get onto a small college team to help pay for school, nothing more.

It's all about the journey, not the destination.

I've always taught him, since he was old enough to play any sport, that it is about having fun. If you aren't having fun, it really isn't worth doing any more.

 

[Unkotare]

If you are weighing the value of sport by the likelihood of an athlete making it to a D1 college program, you are missing the point and the value.

 

[Abishai100]

The Commercial Drones: Marketing


Kids watch a lot of TV, and there's a lot of mixed messages in sports ads and celebrity athlete endorsements. Blue Chips is a great film that covers such complex ideas.

We have to be sure youngsters are disconnecting (mentally) ideas about competitive behavior from ideas about selfishness.

There's a difference between a player and a pirate...

 

[DGS49]

Everything must be put in its proper perspective. College scholarships can be viewed in one of two different ways: one constructive and one destructive. If you are USING SPORTS to get a free or cheap college education, bully for you. If you are USING COLLEGE to play your sport at a higher level, in the hope of playing professionally, you are probably delusional and wasting your time and effort.

The NFL and NBA are doing a horrible disservice to American Higher Education by steadfastly refusing to create and nurture professional "minor leagues," as MLB does. Half the players on Div I football and basketball teams have no business being on a college campus as a "student."

And a pox on the alumni who only support their colleges in order to promote the athletics programs.

 

[Unkotare]

What the fuck business is it of yours why alumni support their alma mater?