I wonder sometimes if I am in a cult and now that I am in it, I can’t get out. Or I might be in a pyramid scheme with youth sports, where I just keep giving my money away into these programs, thinking somehow it will come back to me. Let me explain. First and foremost, my husband and I are Gen Xers, we both played sports growing up so we thought it would be great if we exposed our kids to different sports to see if they found any interest and low in behold, they found interest. We have three kids and had no idea about travel sports when our oldest began this journey, again Gen X, we didn’t have travel sports when we were young. My parents are lovely, kind people, but there is no way in hell that they would have set an alarm for 4:30 am on a Saturday to drive two hours to spend their entire day off from work at an all-day tournament or even better drive two hours for one 50-minute game and then drive two hours back. Beyond the fact that this did not exist when I was young add to that the fact that you now pay for your kids to be on a team, then you pay for all the swag gear, pay to travel, pay to stay in hotels, sometimes pay to get into the event to watch sed kid and you will always pay for parking, food, and gas. This process rinses and repeats weekly. We are constantly exhausted, financially drained, and if I am honest, always in a state of chaos. The kids have practices two to three times per week, games, and tournaments almost every weekend, and here is why I wonder if it is more of a cult-like situation…it never ends. The minute you think a season will come to a glorious conclusion there will be a spring league or a winter session, or a skills session, something that requires more time and more money. As if that isn’t enough, then there are inter-whispers from teammates and other parents of additional training that the kids could be doing to improve their performance such as personal trainers, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, and therapists that specialize with athletes to improve the mental game.
I often wonder how youth sports got this intense. Maybe it is my generation of parents’ fault…maybe we Gen Xers never had these opportunities when were young and maybe we think we could have gone further, played longer, and been more successful as an athlete if we had these resources, so we are making sure that our kids have every chance to be amazing athletes. You may be thinking, from the tone of this post, “Why doesn’t she just pack it in and say all done?” Well, here is where the cult/pyramid scheme gets you as a lifelong member…they have my kids! My kids love their sports, it is basically their full-time jobs at this point, they have friends, strong attachments, and memories, so I can’t get out without my kids, and guess what, they unfortunately aren’t moving. Now remember, I am not SURE if we are in a cult, but I am just saying if you think we are…blink twice.