In our family S1 was a late bloomer. He was good at every sport but his size and demeanor always resulted in a coin toss for him between the A and B team. We encouraged him to play anything and everything, hoping to find his niche. We spent a bunch of money to help him find his way. He eventually decided to pursue two very different sports, and did quite well, but he always participated because he found them fun, it was never about the competition. As a college student he’s become a fitness freak. When he runs into his old coaches at the gym they can’t believe how he’s transformed his body. Again, everything he does is motivated by the joy he gets from the activity.
S2 is four years younger than S1. He got dragged to every practice. Coaches loved him so they would let him participate. He was an early bloomer and hyper-competitive. By the time he was ten he had no trouble keeping up with the fourteen year olds on his brother’s B team. That’s when the coaches started to take notice. It’s also when pay-to-play kicked in, just like the article reports. He quickly transitioned from town, to travel and then club. He chose to specialize early but all of his coaches continued to challenge him to play every position in practice. As he climbed the pyramid everything expanded exponentially. The time, money and travel dedicated to his sport at this point is borderline clinically insane. My wife and I are simply along for the ride now. He loves the sport but he’s driven by the competition, unlike his older brother.
Club teams in our area, regardless of the sport, are very competitive and expensive. The high school is large and most teams make the playoffs each year. Even with specialization and club sports from an early age there are no guarantees that your child will make a varsity team. It’s basically a pay-to-play arms race the generates a great deal of income for clubs. The high school coaches love it.