<p>"I think people should engage in some kind of athletic activity every single day of their lives, or at least 6/7 days a week. So, I do not object to sports practices being held nearly every day, year-round, as it teaches children to make athletics part of their everyday lives. "</p>
<p>The problem is, adults don’t stay fit through team sports. They stay fit via individual activities - running, biking, weight lifting, pilates/yoga, etc. So having a kid do (say) track or cross country or swimming may give him something he can always fit into his life. Maybe even tennis, though that requires a partner. But soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, etc? Not so much, as getting together a soccer team isn’t feasible for most working adults. </p>
<p>My youngest played a sport at the national level for years. It wasn’t actually that easy to avoid. The coaches come find kids like her. She was also being recruited for D1 at the earliest possible moment, as were all if her team mates. Yale, Princeton, Stanford, among others like UMich etc… Took players from her team. </p>
<p>I would have been happy to have her play at the normal club and varsity level, but at a certain point, you are not being fair to a kid if you don’t listen to the opportunity. </p>
<p>Personally if I had a kid that was truly Olympic or pro-level I would have planned the cost to have someone do the hauling and carting - truthfully - so that my attention would not be lessened or my husband or the other kids. Kids that are playing on Olympic-caliber or pro-caliber is different than the kid next door who is in a travel league and might continue paying at a Division 3 school. And plenty of kids play “their sport” at a Division 2 or 3 college or uni without travel leagues.</p>
<p>In my experience, it doesn’t matter. Kids who were raised with the discipline of daily physical activity are used to setting aside and prioritizing time for physical activity as adults. Kids who don’t grow up this way must learn the daily discipline.</p>
<p>I will say that mine gave up a lot for that team sport, but her teammates did too. </p>
<p>one thing I was sad about was the loss of summer camp at 12 when she had to choose between that and regional and national teams. That was the world’s coolest summer camp she gave up, and even to this day she will say that is her one regret. </p>
<p>Personally, I think that the highly regimented sports schedules inflicted on so many kids these days are tragic. Yes, it’s important for them to be active but they have to dedicate so much time to whatever sport they’ve had to commit to at an early age, they never get to experience other activities that may be more enriching to them in the long run. I’ve seen so many kids who were talented at a particular sport as elementary and middle school students burn out at the high school level and often abandon the activity entirely because they’ve come to loathe it.</p>
<p>In addition, kids who grow up this way never seem to be able to figure out what to do with themselves when they aren’t subject to someone else scheduling every minute of their lives. I think that they all benefit from some downtime and dare I say it, boredom. Without some idle time, when do they ever develop any imagination or creativity?</p>
<p>@joblue mine developed plenty of creativity and has no trouble at all figuring out what to do with herself, her time and her social life. We need to be careful with generalizations. Little out there could have taught my kid the discipline, leadership and teamwork she learned. Being really great at something leaves the same indelible mark whether it’s piano, math, athletics or debate. It translates into excellence in lots of areas. </p>
<p>All that said, it wasn’t what I would have chosen for her. It just chose her. </p>
<p>You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that they “never” seem to be able to figure out what to do with themselves. Obviously, your daughter has a real gift for her sport and it apparently hasn’t limited her life…</p>
<p>It’s just that I’ve seen so many kids who started in baseball, or soccer or swimming at an early age, showed a talent for it, and because every sport seems to require year-round training, never have the time to even try anything else. My daughter had to choose between soccer and dance in the eighth grade; no way to do both with the stepped up daily practice schedule for the team and dance classes 4 days per week. It was really a shame because she enjoyed both of them but at that age (and earlier) you either commit full-time, or you’re out.</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t disagree at all with that. My daughter has a great ear for music and would have probably loved to continue with the piano. I know there are costs. I used to call it the hamster wheel. Nobody wants to get off first. </p>
<p>I’m pleased she has taken up guitar this year. I hope your daughter gets a chance to take up whatever she lost, too!!</p>
<p>I’m sure some kids are this way, but two of mine certainly were not. They were able to manage several other ECs as well, and work during the summers. They might have excelled in something else to the level that they did in sports, but that is just an argument for generalized “dabbling.” Anything kids do at an elite level is going to take most of their time. If they choose to focus on one thing they love, it might as well be sports, in my mind.</p>
<p>Again, some kids may be this way, but not mine. Sports taught them excellent time management skills, that carried over to their professional lives, and they still participate in their sports at the adult club level. Your argument can apply to any kids who live lives that are scheduled; it need not be due to sports.</p>
<p>I think childhood is still in the process of being invented. Kids worked on farms and just in general up to WWII. I’m not sure it’s ever looked the same for any given generation. This is just the version our kids got. </p>
<p>My son pretty much lived the childhood one wishes for, but that type of childhood is not ideal for getting into college. He was not interested in doing anything organized other than sports, so if he didn’t do sports, he would not have done any college-worthy ECs anyway.</p>
<p>Genetics work, and, sadly, I think my kids realized early on that they’d get into college despite their athletic ability and not because of it. They did (and for one do) run at the varsity level in HS, got reasonably good at it, and enjoyed being on a team, but neither will do much beyond club sports or recreational road running going forward. Both of them are much faster than dad, and they like that part particularly well. But we seem to have found plenty of other things to chew up weekends and limit vacation opportunities. </p>
<p>"one thing I was sad about was the loss of summer camp at 12 when she had to choose between that and regional and national teams. That was the world’s coolest summer camp she gave up, and even to this day she will say that is her one regret. "</p>
<p>H & I were both totally against any specialty camp when S was a kid. Instead we sent to to a sleep-away camp for the summer, starting at age 6, where every day the kids participated in many different sports and activities. Even though he ended up excelling at one particular sport (sailing) we never for a minute considered sending him to a strictly sailing camp. He does sail for his college (club) and I think it was just one of many other EC’s (including 4 yrs of XC and band - as well as academic EC’s) which made him an attractive applicant to colleges. </p>
<p>This was a Y_CA camp on the ocean. Actually, it was a sailing and boating camp. She went for a few years and would have loved to have gone for far more. I would have loved for her to go for more, as well. But, you couldn’t do that and be in a certain national program she was in. It was a tough choice for her, honestly, and the one thing I wish she hadn’t had to do, even now.</p>
<p>I remember my brother, back in the Dark Ages, playing 3-4 varsity sports. It was nice because kids had an opportunity to develop a variety of skills and interests. </p>
<p>When my S was in 6th grade, a coach called and asked him to try out for the travel team. H and I were very hesitant because of the time and expense involved. We soon learned that S would have little chance of playing HS soccer (our school has an extremely competitive, usually nationally ranked team) without the training provided by the travel team. S begged, we gave in, and our life of soccer began. We tried, unsuccessfully, to also juggle baseball and karate for a year. </p>
<p>Although I wish sports weren’t so intense these days, I don’t regret our decision. Between club, HS, and ODP, S played soccer year round. We spent countless weekends on the road and our family was sometimes apart (taking turns staying home with D). What made it worthwhile was S’s love of the sport. He played for himself. He gained leadership, discipline, time management skills and confidence. He’s also an introvert, and being part of a team was a great thing for him. S still plays adult club soccer too. </p>
<p>"It was a tough choice for her, honestly, and the one thing I wish she hadn’t had to do, even now. "</p>
<p>It must have been what she wanted or she would have chosen differently. </p>
<p>I would never have allowed it because I think it’s not a good thing for any kid to do any one thing to the point where it becomes exclusionary of all other activities. But that is just my opinion. What others choose to do in this regard is not my business. </p>
<p>We were told when S was pretty young (about 10) by the head sailing instructor at his camp that he had “Olympic” potential but we chose to not even go there. We just said “that’s nice” and that was the end of that as far as we were concerned. </p>