CR Dads: Kids and sports?

[zeitgeist57]

I'm a car guy, living in a sports-guy world. Wanted CR's opinion on this topic:

 

My kids are 8 and 5, and my wife and I were not big into sports growing up until middle-school and high-school. I have a friends and co-workers that have their kids go to private school as well as public schools, but from a sports standpoint they are all on "club" teams that travel around. The money and travel time are big commitments, and invariably the parents bitch about the time spent on the road. A neighbor is enrolling his 8-yr old daughter in a 4-week tournament volleyball league, with a tourney each Saturday and only 1 practice each week. Cost? $1,800. "That's nothing", he said. The clubs where your kids have to try out run 6-8 weeks and cost $4,500+!!!

 

I want my kids to play a sport if they are interested, and have said to a lot of my dad friends that scholastic sports would be fine: no need for travel teams unless they get really involved in a sport. However, the more that I see my peers spending THOUSANDS in these dumb "club" teams - and almost universally pan school sports as a dying structure - I do have to wonder if my kids are missing out???

 

Just typing this out makes me feel better, as I know there's no sense spending chunks of change chasing a sport that the kids are mediocre in at best. However, is anyone else hearing the same "blah-blah-Lacrosse-blah-volleyball-blah-blah" from some of their friends with school-age kids?

[SRTurbo04]

Yes the traveling serious about being competitive teams are expensive. But each city should have a league to play in that's very affordable and its typically no travel.

 

Baseball, soccer, football(tackle and flag) and basketball are the big ones in your are you should be able to find easily.

 

Your local citys website should have the info

EDIT:

 

http://www.uaoh.net/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item&id=2967

 

just a quick google search shows a few sports for UA

 

Basketball is 95$

 

All the others don't show a price, I am assuming it tells you the price when you do the online registration

Edited July 21, 2016 by Paul

[SpaceGhost]

Westerville has WYBSL, all local and cheap. 9 and 5 here she plays softball and he is just starting baseball. My daughter is trying out for a club team this fall though. Only 4-500 a year. I'm told she has no chance to play in HS unless she plays Club level up to HS.

 

My neighbor pays $400 A MONTH for gymnastics for his daughter. That's expensive.

[wagner]

Club sports and travel teams are a waste of time and money unless you are at the elite level. People will try to tell you otherwise, but from my family's experience just save your money and time.

 

Unless your kids are true D1/Pro level prospects or REALLY love the sport, it's just a black hole for time and money.

 

My brother got a football ride without them, my sister used low level club volleyball just to stay sharp in the off season, but did not travel and she still got money to play in college.

 

I did some traveling for wrestling but lost all my ride offers after I blew out my knee, but that was all just 1 day opens. I did most of my training for free at open mats a couple nights a week.

 

tl;dr don't get sucked into the trap

[Radio Flyer1647545514]

I did travel hockey for a long long time. Could have played D3 somewhere but no thanks. I'd have rather had $25,000 after high school to start a portfolio.

 

I wish I was climbing instead as a kid. It costs a gym membership if you don't compete and it pushes you to want to travel the world to get to climbing destinations.

[mmrmnhrm]

tl;dr don't get sucked into the trap

 

And it *is* a trap. Cousin earned a full-ride as a fast-pitch softball player, and her daughter is now attending school on the same train. Both played club growing up, and both have said the same thing... the vast majority of clubs are nothing more than 1-Money grabs, and 2-Status symbols. And what's to say that after five years, the kid says "Y'know what? I don't like soccer anymore. I want to play volleyball instead."

[KillJoy]

Our Daughter is doing Ice Skating at the Chiller. The Summer was something like $100 for 12 lessons over the Summer. She has been doing this since Winter.

 

She also takes shooting lessons from Mojoe, less structured scheduling.

 

If your kids are into American Ninja Warrior, there is always this: http://www.mlabohio.com/

 

:thumbup:

 

KillJoy

[caseyctsv]

My daughters did dance and gymnastics competitively. It was expensive but worth it. They both benefitted greatly from the experience though neither used it to get into college.

[El Karacho1647545492]

IMO sports are more about the social aspect than physical or professional. No reason to pay for more than the cost of equipment. Depends what the kids are into, but spring is a solid season for sports because they can get into baseball, lacrosse, tennis, etc. I played tennis growing up and I think it makes for mentally strong kids. You'll see kids throw tantrums like crazy but as they get older, they learn to handle the obstacles on their own and it teaches them to think independently. Also you can play tennis against a wall, and you can almost always find a free open court somewhere nearby.

[2highpsi]

My oldest boy (11 year old league age) plays travel baseball. The younger two (league ages 10 and 9) do not. All three play local rec (little league)

 

I've come to find there are a few different forms of travel teams.

 

 

1.) A group of rec kids start traveling together to get better. Usually the coaching staff are dads. The costs involved in this are pretty reasonable. Add up uniforms, tournament entry fees, and some random stuff. Divide that by the number of players and you have a total. I think our total this year was something like $600 per kid for the whole season. We also did some fund raising, so each parent only had to come up with like $200.

 

2.) Teams that exist to make a profit. Usually the coach played in the minors, or D1 ball. Families pay thousands per year per kid. Part of that money goes uniforms and entries, and the rest pay the coaches for their time.

 

I will say that when we watch them play Rec I see a pretty huge difference in talent between the kids that do only rec, and the kids that do both. The reasoning seems two fold. Firstly, most of the kids that are good are good because they love the sport. So naturally they would gravitate to any way to play more games. The additional reps against comparable competition that travel offers also helps some (although it's not magic.. take a kids natural ability + the amount of time they put into getting better = how good they are)

 

 

There are parents that justify the time and costs by thinking little Johnny will land a scholarship because of what he does traveling as a pre-teen. I personally think that notion is laughable.

 

If the kid REALLY loves the sport, and if you can find a group of people running the team as an "extended family" then I say go for it. If all you can find is "for profit" teams, or the kid just plays the sport casually... I would stick with Rec.

 

 

 

I also agree with the above thinking, that the kids have a lot more to gain out of organized sports than just the physical aspect.

[Turbs3000]

I went to dublin schools and played basketball, football, baseball, soccer, golf, and ran track and was on swim team. I'd say the biggest thing that most kids and parents don't know is their are 3 tiers to all sports, not 2. Most think it's either the local youth League (aka DYA or ymca) or full on travel OP style leagues. Then there are leagues in the middle, they are for the kids that have scaled out of the youth but who don't have the time/money/commitment for the big travel teams. They play against other cities within 20-30 min rather then states away.

In my opinion the most important thing is they go and try stuff and decide for themselves. My dad's rule was every season we had to be doing something, if we hated it we could switch next season but you had to stick it out and try for 1 season. I gained alot of great friends, experiences knowledge through those activities.

 

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[Lauren]

I like to drop my 6 year old off in an ethnic neighborhood and then time her how long it takes to run out. Free track and field.

[TTQ B4U]

I do have to wonder if my kids are missing out???

 

Father of a 10yr old girl and 13yr old boy here.

 

Both are fairly active and we've had them in just about every type of sport or activity just so they can get a taste of things. I honestly don't look at costs as if they really find something they like, it's worth it.

 

This summer we've spent close to $2k on various camps and classes of interest. My son has taken courses at OSU for school as he "wants" to excel even further which is great. Get's credit for them too. He did a band camp for a week there too and got more college experience and training. He plays french horn and piano.

 

As we speak he's at Karate - going on 3yrs now and in the mens/adult class so it's getting "real" real fast and he loves it. Track starts again in fall and those events are so freaking long....I dread them but he loves it and can run like a MoFo so get to enjoy watching him tear it up. He did a week long "speed camp" earlier in June and loved it. Got a stress fracture in his one foot but it has healed up nicely since.

 

My daughter is at a YMCA camp this week. Never thought I'd let her stay 7 days 6 nights away from us but she's fearless and having a blast. My daughter also takes both Piano and Violin lessons and my wife who plays the Sax now decided to take Cello lessons. You don't want to know what that shit costs.....we rent the Violin and Cello but the Piano and Double French Horn both gave me sticker shock. Buying used helps though. The Sax my wife has owned for 20yrs.

 

Her most costly thing is horseback riding. They are our horses but that's by choice as we all ride and split the costs with our neighbors at the farm who use the horses for training in exchange for caring for them. They make money, we have no care to tend to and the costs cover our fun with them.

 

Both kids take tennis lessons with my wife and my son and I hit lifetime for handball which is fun.

 

Now that I type all that out Clay, I'd say if you're not doing all you can to expose them to various things and help them find their niche, yes, they may be missing out. We don't do the travel league stuff as that's just too much time for me as I travel a lot but I suppose I would if either were really into a sport that did so.

 

Life is about experiences, memories and friends so why not man. I won't even add it all up as I think $2k is prolly low but in the end, it's spent on my kids so why not Besides, I have not skills or talent so I have to live vicariously through them. all the above and then more during school is why I am lucky to have time to even hit cars and coffee when I do.

 

Save

[xlr8tn]

My son has no interest in sports really. He's played them all but I dont force them on him. He's happy playing drums and riding the dirt bike. Thinking back to my youth drummers and dirt bike riders got as much ass as I did playing sports so he'll be fine.

 

My daughter plays soccer and loves it....she's also pretty good. She does local rec and a winter indoor league. She's definitely missing out on good coaching but I help fill in the blanks for her. Just not worth the time and money for us to do a travel team. We do much family stuff together for that. Family is more important than sports to us.

Edited July 22, 2016 by xlr8tn

[HotCarl]

So I played hockey off/on growing up, as an adult I've played about 11 consecutive years and love it. Sure its just beer league but a part of me has always wondered what my true potential could have been had I had actual coaching and have been on a structured, competitive roster. I never played high school hockey b/c it was way too expensive for my mom so I played inline. But as an adult I've worked on my game as a hobby and gotten to the point now where I can play with and compete against guys who played collegiate club level (NOT varsity, NOT D1-D3, just college club, huge difference) I think if I had some actual training/coaching/guidance I could've played at a higher level, oh well.

 

My GF is a girls travel hockey coach, she played house and travel teams growing up. Played club for OSU in college, traveled to Europe to play some friendly scrimmages over there. She's talented for sure. But the stories she tells me about parents are just dumbfounding. Her program is a mid-tier Double A, they charge around $2000 per kid, the upper tier travel (Ohio AAA Blue Jackets) charge upwards of $5000 per kid/season and that doesn't include travel expenses and of course equipment.

 

Keep in mind, hockey will always be more expensive simply b/c its an expensive sport to play. Ice time always costs money. But to hear of Volleyball programs and soccer programs (sports that generally have a low overhead) charging the same amount if not more is crazy. Where is the cost? does all of that money go to the coach/manager?! insane.

 

I want my kid to play whatever sport they want as long as they put in solid effort. Personally I wouldn't pay the money and the HUGE time commitment to travel club sports unless they were some sort of phenom and there was truly a rare talent there.

 

tl;dr ....... Unless your kid has some rare talent, travel club teams are a waste of money and more importantly time.

Edited July 22, 2016 by HotCarl
tldr

[nurkvinny]

My boys 7 and 9 both play spring and fall little league baseball (that I usually coach or assist) and both do summer all Stars (3 or 4 weekends in July plus practice). League are 80 to 100 bucks. All Stars is $20 each. This is PLENTY of baseball.

 

They also mix and match soccer and basketball... again around 80 bucks.

 

My older boy was asked to be on the league's travel team, but we declined.

 

Btw, we've scrimmaged the 8u and 10u travel teams, and they're not all that much better. If you have the cash and desire for travel teams, pick one that exists to teach and have fun, and go for it.

[El Karacho1647545492]

So I played hockey off/on growing up, as an adult I've played about 11 consecutive years and love it. Sure its just beer league but a part of me has always wondered what my true potential could have been had I had actual coaching and have been on a structured, competitive roster. I never played high school hockey b/c it was way too expensive for my mom so I played inline. But as an adult I've worked on my game as a hobby and gotten to the point now where I can play with and compete against guys who played collegiate club level (NOT varsity, NOT D1-D3, just college club, huge difference) I think if I had some actual training/coaching/guidance I could've played at a higher level, oh well.

 

My GF is a girls travel hockey coach, she played house and travel teams growing up. Played club for OSU in college, traveled to Europe to play some friendly scrimmages over there. She's talented for sure. But the stories she tells me about parents are just dumbfounding. Her program is a mid-tier Double A, they charge around $2000 per kid, the upper tier travel (Ohio AAA Blue Jackets) charge upwards of $5000 per kid/season and that doesn't include travel expenses and of course equipment.

 

Keep in mind, hockey will always be more expensive simply b/c its an expensive sport to play. Ice time always costs money. But to hear of Volleyball programs and soccer programs (sports that generally have a low overhead) charging the same amount if not more is crazy. Where is the cost? does all of that money go to the coach/manager?! insane.

 

I want my kid to play whatever sport they want as long as they put in solid effort. Personally I wouldn't pay the money and the HUGE time commitment to travel club sports unless they were some sort of phenom and there was truly a rare talent there.

 

tl;dr ....... Unless your kid has some rare talent, travel club teams are a waste of money and more importantly time.

 

Having just started playing hockey 2 years ago, I definitely would echo everything here. I REALLY wanted to get into it growing up as a kid in New England where literally everyone plays hockey and lacrosse, but street hockey was all we could afford since I grew so fast; I would've been buying new gear mid season every season, so it was out of the question.

 

I will say that Cbus has an INCREDIBLE hockey infrastructure in place for a city that's really only had major hockey interest for less than a couple decades. I wouldn't recommend it for kids unless you plan to push them towards going to the collegiate level (whether for scholarships or to pursue a career) because it dominates your life. Even now, just a couple years in, all I think about is my next beer league game.

[DaddyBuiltRacing]

Travel teams are a great way to burn a kid out. I played on travel baseball teams from 13-17 and the number of games we'd play each summer was insane. I remember playing 5-6 games in a single day like it was nothing. My oldest will play sports locally, but when the time comes and he wants to, will participate in camps. If you're wanting your child to get exposure, sign them up for camps. I honestly feel by 8th grade you can get a sense of what your kid is into athletic wise and also if they have the stuff to go next level. Yeah some kids develop late, but for the most part, you can see a stud at a young age. Find the best league in your area, sign your kid up there and let em enjoy playing more than it being a job at a young age.

[HotCarl]

Having just started playing hockey 2 years ago, I definitely would echo everything here. I REALLY wanted to get into it growing up as a kid in New England where literally everyone plays hockey and lacrosse, but street hockey was all we could afford since I grew so fast; I would've been buying new gear mid season every season, so it was out of the question.

 

I will say that Cbus has an INCREDIBLE hockey infrastructure in place for a city that's really only had major hockey interest for less than a couple decades. I wouldn't recommend it for kids unless you plan to push them towards going to the collegiate level (whether for scholarships or to pursue a career) because it dominates your life. Even now, just a couple years in, all I think about is my next beer league game.

 

When it comes to kids house league they are actually maxed out. A new rink will have to be built in the next 5 years for sure. There have been rumors of the city being involved but who knows. Ice rinks are expensive to build and maintain and. As for kids equipment, my GF's basement is FULL of hockey gear (mostly goalie gear) that she's accumulated from various sources growing up, she lends that out to kids every season so they can play.

 

That being said, Everyone wants to think their kid is the next athletic savant, that they're gifted. But in reality what is the return on investment with travel club teams? So you pay outrageous amounts of money and more importantly time so you're kid can be a really good rec league player as an adult? MAYBE, just maybe gets a scholarship but in the end you could've paid out of pocket whatever money that scholarship would provide anyway.

[El Karacho1647545492]

When it comes to kids house league they are actually maxed out. A new rink will have to be built in the next 5 years for sure. There have been rumors of the city being involved but who knows. Ice rinks are expensive to build and maintain and. As for kids equipment, my GF's basement is FULL of hockey gear (mostly goalie gear) that she's accumulated from various sources growing up, she lends that out to kids every season so they can play.

 

That being said, Everyone wants to think their kid is the next athletic savant, that they're gifted. But in reality what is the return on investment with travel club teams? So you pay outrageous amounts of money and more importantly time so you're kid can be a really good rec league player as an adult? MAYBE, just maybe gets a scholarship but in the end you could've paid out of pocket whatever money that scholarship would provide anyway.

 

When it comes to hockey, parents need to make a choice very early on; do you want your kid to be a normal kid with a hockey hobby, or do you want your kid to be a professional hockey player and you will make it YOUR full time job to support their ability to do that now and going forward?

[Wease]

I can put my 2 cents in wtih hockey, since my 5 year old just started this year. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm huge into hockey, I still play 2-3 times a week, all year long. I got my son in the Chiller skating classes last July, and this January he started the Junior Stingers Learn To Play Hockey. He's done three sessions of that and just this week started the 5-10 Year Old Hockey Class. That will lead up to Mini-Mites (6 and under league) this October. He really loves it, so I'm excited for sure.

 

As it was said, hockey is expensive as hell. You can't just go over to the playground and get on the ice. What helps out when your kid is young, is that USA Hockey gives you free equipment to get started. The Chiller has the bags, you just have to ask as long as they have some there. You just give it back when you're done or your kid has outgrown it. I had to buy skates (used at Play It Again, don't buy new for a 5 year old!), stick, neck guard, socks, and tape. A jersey comes with the class, so that was already covered.

 

His skating and hockey classes were about $130 for 8 sessions. This summer session he just started is also $130, but you get 4 extra sessions because they want it to go right up until the hockey leagues start. I've already signed him up for CCYHA Mini-Mites (out of the Dublin Chiller), and that's going to cost me $580 for the season. However, he'll practice 1-2 days a week and have a game on the weekend. The season goes until like February - March. Plus I'm 99% sure I'll be his coach, since I have a ton of hockey experience and I used to coach high school.

 

Hockey also has three levels here: House, AA, and AAA. House is all at the same rink, the basic league you can play in. AA is travel hockey, but limited and at a higher skill level. AAA is the highest skill you can get to, they can travel great distances for their games. However, you can't even get on a travel team until your kid is 9 years old.

 

My son's done really well, I was looking at some videos on my phone of him on figure skates his first few classes a year ago, to him in full gear on hockey skates scoring goals in his scrimmages last week. Amazing how quick they learn and take to the game...

[HotCarl]

I can put my 2 cents in wtih hockey, since my 5 year old just started this year. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm huge into hockey, I still play 2-3 times a week, all year long. I got my son in the Chiller skating classes last July, and this January he started the Junior Stingers Learn To Play Hockey. He's done three sessions of that and just this week started the 5-10 Year Old Hockey Class. That will lead up to Mini-Mites (6 and under league) this October. He really loves it, so I'm excited for sure.

 

As it was said, hockey is expensive as hell. You can't just go over to the playground and get on the ice. What helps out when your kid is young, is that USA Hockey gives you free equipment to get started. The Chiller has the bags, you just have to ask as long as they have some there. You just give it back when you're done or your kid has outgrown it. I had to buy skates (used at Play It Again, don't buy new for a 5 year old!), stick, neck guard, socks, and tape. A jersey comes with the class, so that was already covered.

 

His skating and hockey classes were about $130 for 8 sessions. This summer session he just started is also $130, but you get 4 extra sessions because they want it to go right up until the hockey leagues start. I've already signed him up for CCYHA Mini-Mites (out of the Dublin Chiller), and that's going to cost me $580 for the season. However, he'll practice 1-2 days a week and have a game on the weekend. The season goes until like February - March. Plus I'm 99% sure I'll be his coach, since I have a ton of hockey experience and I used to coach high school.

 

Hockey also has three levels here: House, AA, and AAA. House is all at the same rink, the basic league you can play in. AA is travel hockey, but limited and at a higher skill level. AAA is the highest skill you can get to, they can travel great distances for their games. However, you can't even get on a travel team until your kid is 9 years old.

 

My son's done really well, I was looking at some videos on my phone of him on figure skates his first few classes a year ago, to him in full gear on hockey skates scoring goals in his scrimmages last week. Amazing how quick they learn and take to the game...

 

You're kid is taking those classes and camp? ha, my girlfriend is probably coaching him at some point. Camp weeks shes on the ice literally 7-8 hours everyday coaching the little ones. I would love to do something like that but maybe in an assistant coach position. Cole Sherwood visited this week, I think it's normal for some CBJ players to make appearances, hang out and sign stuff. I guess John McConnell was there Friday watching his 9 year old... yeah THAT dude has a fucking 9 year old. His other son is like 28 and plays for a team in D league. dude put it in your pants already.

 

It's good you're starting him off young. Not only for developmental purposes but for roster space. If you're kid was 10 he would have a tough time just finding a spot on a house league team but not b/c of skill level, simply b/c there's not enough ice time to go around for all of the demand and team rosters usually fill up fast. Nobody wants to turn kids away but unfortunately it happens.

 

I think its great when you can share a passion for something with your kid. Doesn't have to be hockey or even sports just anything really. As much as I love the game i don't know if I would push my kid into competitive club travel hockey. But I have a few years to decide that so there's no rush.

[Richard Cranium]

Nobody is going to bring up motorsports for kids?

 

Both are technically old enough for Jr. Dragster. I get it if you don't think Joel is ready, but he is at the minimum age.

 

http://www.racingjunk.com/Junior-Dragster/182717688/Junior-Dragster.html

 

Pacemakers up in Mt. Vernon seems to run a nice program for kids to race. Every test n tune I've been to on Friday night there are always some Jr.s running

[HotCarl]

Nobody is going to bring up motorsports for kids?

 

Both are technically old enough for Jr. Dragster. I get it if you don't think Joel is ready, but he is at the minimum age.

 

http://www.racingjunk.com/Junior-Dragster/182717688/Junior-Dragster.html

 

Pacemakers up in Mt. Vernon seems to run a nice program for kids to race. Every test n tune I've been to on Friday night there are always some Jr.s running

 

that sounds like a lot of fun but... I can't imagine the costs involved?

[RS69]

Depends on the kid and level of play. My kids played rec soccer when they were younger. My daughter excelled in soccer and we did get into the club level in fifth grade. I was a select soccer coarch for many years for my daughter. This help keep the costs in line. Her 7 grade year, we move into the professional coach level in a travel league and plays throughout Ohio and neighboring states. She is pretty good and will be a junior this year. She is very good and for a girl, the soccer have her confidence, which carried over in school. My son wasn't into soccer as much, so he played rec until junior high and moved into other sports/activities.