38 thoughts on “Sports! Sports! Sports!”

1. Junior is just in junior high at a very small private school, but my understanding from friends that have kids in the big high schools around here is that athletes are basically required to be on club teams when they aren't in their high school season, especially for basketball, volleyball and baseball/softball. And of course, baseball/softball is year around here. Junior's junior high baseball season is going on right now so they can use the fields the high school teams use in the spring.

2. I played tennis (before it was dropped), track, and football in HS; Runner daughter isn't that athletic, but is a pretty decent swimmer and was on the swim team. I realized that swimming was much like track (which I loved a lot) in that it has both individual and team aspects. Don't even get me started on marching band not being a sport.

   1. don't get me started on how (back in our day), band kids got academic credit (and an almost-guaranteed "A") for being in marching band, but athletes were involved in an "extra-curricular." 😉

      1. marching band does not get academic credit - it is extra curricular.

      2. ugh. music and grades. In my high school, orchestra was an honors class and an automatic A. As a result of this and the grade weighting, the vast majority of the higher student ranks came from orchestra. Out of the top 50 (overall class size was ~850, so top 5/6%), I was the only non-orchestra student.

         1. Yes to this. I was one of two National Merit Finalists in my class, and I ranked like 15th or something out of ~400. In part because my gym teacher liked to give B+ grades for some reason, in part because I was never in band, in part because I took a typing course. Whatever. Not being valedictorian didn't bother me. Seeing classmates who were weaker students than I but got "free" A grades in band, on the other hand....

            Obviously, I've carried a grudge all these years. Heh. And I've tried to convince the Girl that her grades aren't THAT important....

            1. A finalist? Pfft.

               1. Well, I did flunk out of the NM scholarship that the Alma Mater gave me my freshman year!

            2. I'm surprised about all the automatic A's for band. That certainly wasn't the case at my school. Granted a D or F would probably go along with someone quitting the class. There'd be a lot of D's and F's in band if it was required for all students.

               An academically competitive girl in my high school got mad at me for some of the courses I took. The thing is, she took some courses that looked difficult from my perspective, but involved things she loved. So…maybe she should have taken classes that were more outside of her comfort zone as well?

         2. Okay, this had devolved from my first statement. Band is to marching band as PE is to football. My original premise is that marching band is practically a sport.

            Straight A's or not, band is one of the HS classes that still serves me well. That and typing class.

            1. Band (and Marching Band) was also the best, most useful class I had in high school. The band director was easily my best and favorite teacher. He retired last spring (from another school). Eighteen years since graduating and we still exchange Christmas cards with his family.

            2. Ooh, I was the drum major! King of the nerds I was!

            3. Hey, I've been a big supporter of band with my kids, both of whom have been involved in the jazz program.

               Here, participation in pep band (which only plays for home football games) is a course REQUIREMENT for any kid in band. Like, the band director takes attendance. Not an extra curricular, although maybe it should be (I think the band director has traditionally gotten a small extra duty stipend for out-of-the-school-day performances). Of course, all of the band concert performances are after school (evenings) as well, and are mandatory parts of the classes.

3. This is not directly related to the topic of sports, but I've recently found two new antidotes to the stresses of parenting: here and here.

4. 

   My daughter tried a lot of sports and had no interest in any of them, save this one. It is expensive, but I'm okay with it because she really is committed to it. I like how she has dived in and really worked to excel. When I was a kid, most of my play was in the street and at the park -- you know, informal fun. This is not that, but I'm not complaining.

   1. I would not trade my crazy, hectic hockey/track/baseball/cross country dad life for the alternative. SBG nails it with his comment about his own youth. I, as well, spent countless hours outside playing informal games in the neighborhood. That is simply not an option for my kids as that option, in their generation, does not exist.

      I allow (not force) my kids to play these time consuming sports as the alternative is YouTube, video games or some other nonphysical activity. I wish there was the culture I grew up in, for my kids, but it simply does not exist. Of course, I exasperate the issue by serving as association president and chief busy body, but it is a great cause. We say "keeping kids on the ice keeps them out of hot water" and it's true...at least in our situation.

      1. I, as well, spent countless hours outside playing informal games in the neighborhood. That is simply not an option for my kids as that option, in their generation, does not exist.

         I totally agree with this. I hear some parents say that the kids should just play at the park. If your kid is the only one doing that, it doesn't work too well.

         1. And if they are, the damned comments from everybody about how dangerous it is for kids today blah blah blah (notwithstanding that frequency of stranger abductions and everything are lower than ever).
            I just don't have the energy to explain that over and over and over.

      2. Like I said, I'm not complaining. She does a lot of creative playing outside the realm of physical activity. This skating thing is so perfect for her. She needs to be individually challenged and she gets that in spades. She's also needs to work on teams. She's getting that, too. She's not bound by her age, either. The girls are put together on teams according to skill level. She's the youngest by two years on her team. The girls she's skating with are naturally stronger than her (she's 7, they're 9 or 10), so she is really challenged to keep up physically. It has made it a lot more fun for her.

         I played football on a gravel street all day long or played basketball at the park. Fun stuff. I also played "organized" baseball. That was fun, too. I think I would have enjoyed an experience like she has had, though. That simply was not an option in SBGville in the early 1970s.

5. We don't do much in the way of sports at our house. And those that we do are minimal committments. However, my oldest daughter (almost 10) is involved in (breath) AWANA (church program), viola lessons (twice a week), ballet, Girl Scouts, and coming this winter, cheerleading! This included back to back recitals on Thursday (ballet) and Friday (viola) last week. Thing is, she does all them very well and keeps up with school besides. However, we've told her that if she's feeling overwhelmed, to let us know.

6. I too am very disturbed by how club sports have become so powerful in our society. I'm friends with our h.s. soccer coach -- he loses boys every year because they are involved in certain high-level club teams that prohibit their kids from playing on their h.s. team.

   When we were in h.s. back in the dark ages, the MSHSL did the converse -- they prohibited club involvement during the school year, or at least during the same season, at the varsity level. IIRC, that stretched to the level of barring basketball players from playing a spring sport if they participated in all-star games during the spring. I thought that was crazy.

   But what the clubs do now is worse. They make it very, very difficult for kids to play multiple sports if they want to compete at a relatively high level. I see it particularly in soccer and volleyball, but it affects other sports as well (baseball and softball come to mind). AND they often make year-round demands on kids' time, even at the middle-level (the lower-level comp leagues -- more than rec, less than the "Academy" level) where almost none of the kids are of future D-I caliber).

   Unfortunately, we are a "win, win, win" culture, rather than a culture that encourages the values that sports are supposed to engender -- personal growth, physical fitness, teamwork, goal orientation, having fun. My daughter suffered the indignity of being cut from a soccer team she had played on (and started for) for 3 seasons when the a-hole coach decided that he wanted to "upgrade" the talent by recruiting new kids as they moved into the junior high level. It was a devastating blow to her self-esteem at an always-difficult time for a kid. Fortunately, she found ways to grow from that blow, but it definitely soured her on soccer, to the point that she eventually quit playing (after 2 more seasons, on different teams).

   1. I believe studies have shown that diversifying the sports you play in helps promote growth in each sport. I'm guessing Bo Jackson and Joe Mauer would agree.

      1. playing QB just made Joe a pussy.

         Now, if he'd been a punter like Darin Erstad, he'd be tough.

         1. Yes, it's amazing how a guy with no interest in being a leader would play catcher, quarterback and point guard.

   2. Luckily, in Minnesota, hockey is still a club sport through 8th or 9th grade. Please dont get me started on middle school sports/coaches. Unlike most of the U.S. though, in Minnesota u pretty much have to play for the team in your community. Summer hockey is wide ooen , but winter hockey is play for your home town. And...the goal for most is still to play for your high school team in the best state tournament in the world.

7. My eldest (10) is playing soccer 8 months out of the year. This works for us because:

   1. It's not 12 months out of the year.
   2. Most weeks aren't more than 1-3 hours of commitment.
   3. She has shown no interest in other sports, save for tennis.
   4. She currently plays with several pre-existing friends.
   5. She has made new friends.
   6. They are clearly having fun.
   8. They are clearly improving.
   9. They are working hard.

   Contrast that with gymnastics, which she did a few sessions of as a four year old. She showed immediate skill, but we were scared to put her up to the commitment gymnastics clubs require. I also have misgivings about the pressures applied by the sport.

   Also, contrast soccer with her picking up the flute this year. The school district cut fifth grade band last year, but they still fund weekly group lessons and summer band. So…she practices 20 minutes per day all year, which all comes to fruition with … nothing. No concert or recital.

   She is decent at soccer. It's possible she could play through high school. I'd call it a coin flip.

   She has shown a very strong aptitude to play the flute, though, but she's kind of sick of it. There is no goal at all in her playing, and that's too bad. There is also very little of the group dynamic. We'll make sure she sticks it out through next year when she'll have a true band setting.

   Our seven year old also only appears to be interested in soccer and tennis. She'd probably be interested in trying a couple more sports, but we haven't pushed it. We kind of feel bad about that at times – not letting her experience some sports to see what they're like. With three kids, we have our limits, though. If she came to us with a desire to try something, we would make it happen. She took a chess class 10 months ago and loved it. She is probably going to try piano soon as well. I tried to start teaching her trumpet, but that was challenging at this age. She'll be OK, I think.

   Our three year old won't be in anything because we will have given up by then. 🙂

8. Both Junior and Trey just play baseball/softball (their school has an intramural slowpitch softball program in elementary school that both have played in). I will not allow them to play all year round, especially if they're going to pitch. I believe it is very important for their arms to have an extended recovery period. I noticed Trey, after pitching a lot in his first season in Farm Little League, came back with a pretty noticeable improvement in velocity the next season after having several months off during the summer. He played in Fall Ball in Little League and softball at school, neither of which had kids pitching. So he went eight or nine months without pitching but was stronger than ever right away. I'm sure part of that was his growth (although he's still short for his age), but I think a lot of it is to do with his arm being allowed to rest completely for several months and then just regular times of catch for several months.

9. Skim has a passing interest in sports - soccer primarily. She knows she's not particularly good at them and that's fine, as her interests skew more toward creation; filmmaking, writing and acting (poor girl...).

   Sour Cream is likely to be the same way, though she is very gifted in these areas whereas Skim is just above average (actually, I think Skim would make an excellent director, though it's pretty early to be certain). She has no particular interest in sports, although when she tries them, she typically does well. SC is good at quite a few things, and I dread her having too little focus for what she wants to do. Granted, it's a much better problem than being unsure because of no interest in anything.

   I'd be perfectly content if my girls wanted to get into sports, but that doesn't seem like a big thing to them. The only one I watch religiously is baseball, and they're not really into it. I'd watch soccer more often if I had a more reliable avenue without nonstop popups.

10. Seriously, you guys and zoom.x's post the other day make me terrified at the time commitment for these things. So far, all we have to do is get the trinket to ballet once per week for half an hour, which is no problem. But, I have this strange feeling that ballet, if she sticks with it, is going to be time consuming and expensive.

    Back in my day, I didn't have nearly the interest or dedication to spend any time with the sports I was playing outside of the school year. Too much money to be made working in the summer, dammit.

11. I have an idea for the father knows best series.

    Can I just post it sometime or do I have to get on a schedule?

    1. We've been doing it monthly, and Algonad was the last one scheduled. You're free to kick off January. Or post it now. Whatever, really.

12. Another issue that the sports are causing is that I end up spending a lot more time with the two that play sports than the one that doesn't. It isn't fair to her but that is the way it is working out.

13. Partly because I wasn't an athlete myself*, I figure that if my kids are going to spend that much time in an extra-curricular, it should be more than one type of athletics, I'm much more supportive of Scouting and the like. HPR is in Cub Scouts (and I'm his den leader — and Zee German's son's as well). I've jokingly told him that if ever he doesn't like it anymore, he can quit, after I've been to Philmont Boy Scout Ranch with him. (I went twice in my youth, once technically as an 18-year-old "Assistant Scoutmaster" in the summer before college. I think he'll stick with it. I'm an Eagle and he wants to match me.

    EAR didn't enjoy her time as a Girl Scout, and CER was much more interested in the Cub Scout and Boy Scout things, so she's in American Heritage Girls (which is more closely modeled after Cub/Boy Scouts). AJR will follow her, probably.

    *Well, during much of the school year I did club swimming three days a week from 2nd through 8th grade, and I could get the school bus to within 3 blocks of the pool, so my folks didn't need to drive me. I wasn't very good, but I was a needed fourth for some relay teams. I also did summer Tee-ball until the pitching machine in 3rd grade removed my chances of hitting the ball.

    1. Miss SBG is in Girl Scouts and is REALLY committed to it, unlike every other girl in her troop. There is a pattern here. When she gets into something, she's full bore, way more so than other kids her age.

       She had to miss her last Girl Scout meeting because she had her first skating competition. The activity was to make Christmas cards for old people at a retirement home. Since she couldn't be at the meeting, she decided to make cards and send them with. She made about 15(!) cards and had them sent with. The sentiments that she wrote on the cards were remarkable.

       1. 🙂

14. I was definitely one of those multiple sports people. I still am. The problem is that it isn't reality. These associations say you can do multiple sports but the year-round commitments for each are such that you can't do it. It is December and my daughter does soccer 3 nights per week. When would she play a winter sport?

    My other concern is the daughter that isn't in to sports. If it were a lower commitment, she'd do it. But at her age, there just isn't much available for rec level sports.

    1. Your other concern is why we're not that into it.

       1. I am still holding out and keeping my faith in the 3 sport idea. My 13 year old daughter and 15 year old son do some hockey summer camps (in town) throughout the summer, but that's about it. People keep telling me they will be left behind, but they continue to progress and catch up to their peers (they were both late starters in hockey). They both run cross country in fall and track in spring and I think it makes them better overall athletes. When hockey comes around in the fall, they are hungry to play the game, not beat down from a crazy summer hockey schedule like some of their teammates. I also have friends who are local orthopedic surgeons who tell me over and over that with a sport like hockey, we are waaaaay over training certain muscle groups when we skate a heavy schedule year round. So, we choose not to do that.

          Of course, my wife and I have no illusions that our kids will play college sports. If God gave them the athletic ability to do so, it will happen as long as the kids stay active and work hard. Playing one sport year round will not significantly increase their chances for anything but more injuries. I do realize that the landscape is different in outstate Minnesota versus the metro area. We experience far less pressure to follow the herd. I have passed up numerous employment opportunities in the metro, partially for the fact that it would negatively impact my kids enjoyment of extra-curricular activities. I still hold out that these activities should be fun.

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