CLEVELAND, Ohio – Kids from across Ohio and the rest of the country participate in youth sports, affecting families everywhere and even influencing a child’s future. After the initial launch of our August series, How to win at youth sports with WKYC, readers weighed in on their thoughts about the matter. In a partnership with WKYC called “How to win at youth sports (without going broke or breaking down),” cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer talked to experts, coaches and families about the current landscape and what we can do better to develop healthy, well-adjusted players. We received many, and wide variety, of responses. Here’s a sampling. ___________________________________________ Thanks for part 2 of your interesting Youth Sports series. Yes, cost for youth sports can be extremely high. For Year-round USA swimming the cost is around $1,000 not to mention all of the Meet entry/event fees, high tech suits, goggles, etc. Managing expenses is part of the game. We told our son at an early age that we would only compete in USA Swim Meets in Ohio as there is plenty of great competition in our state. Once he started beating everyone in Ohio, we could think of traveling to out of state competitions. This way, we keep costs down by not going to Indiana and other neighboring states where we would have to pay for transportation, accommodations, food, etc. As his 8th grade Middle School graduation present, we did go to a USA Swimming National Swim Meet in Orlando, Florida. We not only went as his graduation present, but for national level experience & we planned the trip as a vacation as well to Disney World. For Track, we did go to New Balance Nationals Outdoors as it was relatively close in Philadelphia and we were able to book a same day inexpensive flight of leaving in the morning and coming back that same night so we didn’t have to pay for a hotel & he truly loved the experience of competing with the best runners in the nation; an invaluable experience. Managing expenses is very important as it can quickly get out of control. Our advice to parents is that you do not have to feel obligated to go to all of the out of state or overnight competitions until your child/team is dominating the in-state competition. Also, plan your budget with the expenses so you have an idea of how much you are spending. We know youth sports can be addictive, but the goal should always be to have fun & to hopefully instill in your kids the love of sports that lasts for their whole life time and into future generations. ___________________________________________ I’m a father of 3, grandfather of 7. I have watched 2 of my children’s family life be damaged by my grands’ participation in youth sports. Practices several times a week, with siblings having it at the same time. My granddaughter’s Avon high school team didn’t get home from weeknight practice until 9 pm. There were no family outings for any of them on weekends – always a game. And holiday weekends were taken up by tournaments. My grandson loved soccer and was good enough to make his high school varsity team. He also loved baseball but had to choose one or the other – he couldn’t play both. He graduated this year, and confided to me that he wished he had chosen baseball. Youth sports can teach valuable lessons to kids – but too often they’re expensive lessons. Too much pressure from too-demanding coaches and parents. ___________________________________________ I have been coaching youth lax for over a decade and the changes we have witnessed at the club level and rec level are astounding. The expectations from parents have also climbed. I have had parents call me well into the evening to complain about a 5th graders playing time and roster position. I have taken calls from parents in the middle of the work day to air grievances about playing time. This is all at the rec level Is it all worth it? Yes, because few things are more gratifying than watching a child learn to cradle, catch a and throw a lax ball in a few weeks. And hopefully carry this confidence and swagger into the classroom and home life. We can’t forget the discipline and confidence youth sports brings to the table. And in my professional world, it’s easy to spot those adults who played competitive youth sports by their habits. Also, many companies look for young adults with a competitive sports background because of the positive attributes. My concern are parents having fair expectations and doing more to enjoy the exhilaration of their child and friends playing sports together. We are also developing indelible memories with other families at sporting events For me, I will treasure all the moments with my boys- the long ride homes and the conversations we have together. Yes the wins are great but the moments together are worth the time and energy Thank you for writing this and I have forwarded your article to several coaches and board member of our lacrosse club. ___________________________________________ My twin grandsons are transitioning from middle school sports to freshman sports at their local high school. They have already been under pressure to participate in year round football sessions and one of them has spent time this summer doing basketball drills with his team. Football sessions include a bunch of unregulated dads playing trainers and telling boys to man up and bulk up, even discussing various supplements with the kids. All of their progress is documented on Facebook. Techniques seem off and safety for these still developing bodies seems to take second fiddle to cautious care for these young people. The kids are being pressured to attend camps and sessions to hone skills and develop reputations for scouting at the next level. Having an online presence to attract attention from colleges and their scouts has these kids obsessed with things beyond what 15 year olds should be dealing with. Their ‘problem’ is that they were successful as 7th and 8th graders. The pressure to continue this success by the adults in their lives is putting more pressure on them and potentially fracturing their families in the process. I know this because I am witnessing it firsthand. Sports has been an outlet for my grandsons since they began playing in the 1st or 2nd grade. It has been a good activity for them to develop social and physical development. But as they graduated from rec league games on to organized clubs sponsored by school districts and now playing for their high school, albeit at the freshman level, the pressure has increased significantly. What it does is accentuate the differences in families and tests the resources of those families in terms of finances, competition between the siblings and the parents themselves. Many of these kids come from homes already facing struggles and many come from homes where mom and dad are no longer together. The brunt of the responsibility seems to fall to moms that have to juggle work and home schedules while trying to raise responsible young adults. No wonder the kids are struggling. Talking to school officials has had no impact on moderating these behaviors. Asking them to provide for a safe nurturing environment seems to be too much for them to comprehend. I just attended a meeting with superintendent of the schools and presented this information to him and he seemed ambivalent about this situation. It seems the lure of a successful (read: winning) program is to hard to resist. Parents seem to recognize these realities, but don’t want to take a stand for fear of reprisal or backlash from the schools and coaches. I have seen this happen to my daughter for trying to support her kids. Thank you for taking on this challenge. Our kids are worth it. Athletics should not trump education and social development for the sake of a win at all costs’ mentality. ___________________________________________ I just turned 80 last week and one of the biggest changes I’ve seen in youth sports is parent organized involvement. When I was a kid we had a phone tree and could get 20+ kids may age to the schoolyard around the corner within an hour. We played ball all day, every day during summer vacation weather permitting. Professional sports seasons had beginnings and endings that didn’t overlap in those days, and at the end of a season, we put the ball and glove on the shelf and took down the football. At the end of football season we did the same with the football and took down the basketball. I was out there every day playing sports. Today, I drive by the schoolyards and they are empty. The only time I see kids playing sports is under adult supervision on organized teams. Every kid seems to be on a travel team and many only play one sport…year around. There are Olympic development teams and AAU teams for the “all star” youth. My daughter played soccer year around because that was her sport of choice, although she was a very good softball player and could have run track. It was her choice and I felt that’s the way it should be. I coached her in softball, which is probably why she switched . To make sure that she learned the sport properly because I knew nothing about the sport, I saw to it that she had the best soccer coach/trainer in our area. She played on two national championship college teams and a club team that won several state championships, a national championship and the Dana Cup in international competition. She developed a passion for the sport, the ability to work as a teammate serving her well on the job, and friendships that will last forever. What kids do not develop playing in adult organized sports are leadership skills. When I was a kid the older, better and/or stronger athlete became a leader. Someone had to organize the game and it fell onto the hand of us kids playing it. No mom or dad telling us what position to play, making the batting order, etc. We played all day long and if mom wanted to make sure I ate lunch, she packed one for me. I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything, but my daughter would likely not trade hers either. I don’t thing there is a right or wrong way to do things, but thankfully there still are recreation leagues for those kids who want to play, but don’t want to immerse themselves into only one recreational activity in which to specialize. I have another daughter who was as athletic as her sister who preferred multiple activities such as softball, soccer, basketball, dance, girl scouts, theater, art and volleyball, instead of playing soccer year around. They both turned out fine and happy with their choices. So to conclude, I’m happy that kids today have choices, I’m extremely grateful that girls are getting the same opportunity to play sports that only boys had when I was a kid, and I’m disappointed that I don’t see more kids being kids and playing sports on the playground. ___________________________________________ I would not focus on just baseball. I thought girls soccer was out of control 30 years ago when my daughter played so this is not a new phenomenon. As a parent I, no doubt, contributed to the problem—so I would focus on the fact that parents may largely be to blame for the problem/issue. Final point is that while I was always fortunate enough to be able to pay for my kids higher education, I learned a valuable lesson once sitting around a pool between games, with a bunch of Moms (I hope I can say that) and listening to them indicate that the only way their kid was going to college was if they could get a scholarship. Even if that hope might have been misplaced it did teach me that I didn’t always understand other parents’ financial concerns and hopes for their kids. ___________________________________________ Since my playing days in the 60s until now I have loved my opportunities and experiences in youth sports. However, during those decades I have observed drastic changes in youth sports. Many of those changes have been positive such as coach training, facilities, equipment, and number of organizations organizing youth sports. Some leagues are making great strides in education regarding behavior, medical care and injury prevention, mental health care and sportsmanship. Sadly, many of the changes have been negative including: cost to participate; expectations and behavior of some parents; coaches who may know sports but don’t know youth physically or mentally, and the near critical loss of officials. Codes of conduct are necessary for all including athletes, parents, coaches, officials. ___________________________________________ I find it interesting how the landscape of baseball has changed. Pitchers are so protected in the majors – no complete games, low pitch counts, etc. Could this be because these kids are playing so many games, thus pitching a lot more than pre-travel league popularity? If your body “only has so many throws in it” – these kids are using a lot at a young age, when they are less developed. That can lead to way more breakdowns in the future if careers extend beyond travel, HS, College ball…just my two-cents worth. Glad you are helping bring some light to these situations. ___________________________________________ I read this article with great interest as this topic and article speaks directly to me currently. My shortened back story/ I live in Brooklyn NY but moving to Lakewood this week. My son Ronan is 16…will be attending Lakewood H S…has played youth baseball, soccer and flag football in Brooklyn since age 5. Rec leagues that are both Fall and Spring..one game a week about 12 games a season in our wonderful Prospect Park. I coached his baseball team ages 8/9 and 10. Soccer and flag football faded but baseball continued and he’s a good natural player. I don’t think what I will say here makes me an outlier. We tried travel baseball this summer as he made the team through a tryout…and things started well. Yes…very expensive compared to Rec…but I went for it. My son..my naturally athletic son..I’ve watched with quiet dismay become slowly since about age 14 interest trapped by screen staring. Particularly controller video gaming that through the power of its graphics and addictive engagement has become the auto default ‘thing to do’. I’ve tried my best to impress how short is the time age wise to enjoy teen participation sports. I wrestled for Rocky River way back in time…but what beautiful experiences and memories. I have a battle as a parent with my child trying to represent the value of sports participation , experiences and the life long memories enjoyed. He thinks gaming while sitting on his tail IS participating. I believe that if youth sports participation is down in America….the attention quicksand of screen staring is a big reason why. ___________________________________________ I love the idea of looking into youth sports. My high school daughter is not a sports-person (we’re all theater-kid here, which carries its own burdens haha) but we visited family in Chicago recently and my cousin, a rising sophomore on the cross country team, was required to run every single day in preparation. I was shocked! I believe even elite athletes understand the important of taking a day off for recovery and yet here was a 15-year-old, running many miles every single day. Apparently his high school team has won many state and national awards so the school is getting rewarded for this level of rigor, but at what cost to the children? I am a school librarian and my aide’s sons were on the St. Ed’s wrestling team, where they had “optional” practices on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Some parents chose not to send their boys to those practices, but my aide said the experienced parents knew the practices weren’t optional at all and cancelled family plans and trips to accommodate those practices. Another coworker spent every single weekend for months at volleyball tournaments for her two girls. A good friend’s high school daughter doesn’t have periods, and they think it’s “because of all the swimming she does” on the high school swim team. My daughter wanted to join the bowling team at her high school, but didn’t because we discovered it required four days of bowling practice, one day of strength training, and both weekend days reserved for tournaments from November through February or March. Seven days a week of commitment to one activity. What is happening to the concept of balance and being well-rounded? ___________________________________________ I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the articles on youth sports and some of the high costs associated with them. I raised my four kids, three boys and one girl, who were very involved in both football and baseball travel leagues and of course gymnastics and cheerleading with the daughter. Gymnastics can easily compete with hockey parents in costs. Now that the kids are grown, married and gone, I get to watch them struggle with their own children, my grandkids, playing all kinds of travel ball and gymnastics. But for kicks and giggles, it doesn’t stop with youth sports. I’m currently a member/player on a travel senior softball team out of Cleveland. It’s a 70 and over team ran by the former mayor of Brook Park, Thomas Coyne. Just this year we’ve been in tournaments in Tampa, Myrtle Beach, Columbus, Barberton, Toledo and Battle Creek. In September, we’ll be participating in the SSUSA Senior Softball World Tournament in Las Vegas. We are very competitive and have won and/or placed in several tournaments throughout the years. So yes, the outlay of monies continues on….LOL. ___________________________________________ Hahaha. I was forced to participate in sports as a kid. Has it ever about fun or is it about figuring out if your kid can get a free ride to College or the Olympics? ___________________________________________ But the club/travel option is filled with teams that will take anyone that will pay. So you have to find clubs that truly provide the opportunity you want. Mediocre play or high level competition. And there seems to be no accounting rules so who knows how your money is being spent. It is a racket and I don’t know how to fix it. Requires real diligence on the parents part to find the right clubs and make sure they operate well. ___________________________________________ I’m glad my son and grandsons were able to play in Little League when it only cost a small fee (I think to pay the umpires) and having to buy a glove. I don’t think they had uniforms. ___________________________________________ I coached both baseball and soccer in Cleveland Heights from 1999 to 2013. In some cases we had kids who played in rec department leagues that were relatively low commitment in terms of cost and effort. As they advanced it was the premier league stuff that introduced cost, time and travel, but we never felt it was burdensome. Even with inflation in mind I can’t imagine we were close to thousands of dollars per year. We did the same thing with music, and that’s were things got expensive with lessons, instruments and COYO fees. Many of our most cherished memories as parents relate to those activities, and they were worth every cent. ___________________________________________ Local rec leagues still exist but struggle to be suitable for the athletes that would have made all star teams and such in the past like when I grew up in the 70s and 80s. They get frustrated and want better play. ___________________________________________ I’ve got the kids that have gone through this out still are involved. Most travel or club teams depending on sport is $1500 on average per season. Volleyball is less, softball/baseball are more and lacrosse was about that in the past. But you have to add in all the travel to tournaments that may require 2 to 3 nights stay at hotels plus food and gas. Some travel may require airfare. So it gets expensive! ___________________________________________ When my kids were that age, I couldn’t afford to do much with organized youth sports–not that my kids were that athletic. I did the fun city stuff when they were little that was usually pretty cheap. I had become a single mom when they turned nine and 11. When they were in late grade school, I got the high school tennis coach to come to my neighborhood for tennis lessons. Rackets from Kmart and eight kids for a group lesson that Mr. Perry made affordable for us. ___________________________________________ Youth sports is a huge money business. Coaches prey on parents telling them the youth must play year round to get good. Travel teams and private lessons are deemed necessary for a youth to be able to play in High School! Parents spend tens of thousands of dollars on teams, lessons, equipment just give their kids a chance to play in High School. Once in High School the spending kicks into a higher gear with the pressure of wanting to play in college ___________________________________________ It’s really about the parents falsely thinking they are helping their kids when it’s just an act of self flagellation by the parents. ___________________________________________ Parents have always had to make sacrifices – economic and time – for their kids’ activities. Lots of great community organizations are there to help – YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, Scouting. Lots of safety and liability issues have required high-quality equipment and of course there are the “travel leagues” which have taken over for many sports. Looking forward to the PD’s journalistic treatment of this topic! ___________________________________________ We as grandparents have to supplement sports for grandkids with two very hardworking parents my kids cannot afford sports. It’s crazy expensive ___________________________________________ Your questions go to my thinking is that you and your reporters are not very in touch with the real world. This has been going on for quite some time, at least since the 90s when AAU basketball and youth hockey were leaders in this travel world. My older son’s classmates were active participants. We couldn’t participate because we were one income family and had 3 children. Our children participated in local sports and our sons were able to play HS sports. And the Sandlot is one of my all time favorite movies. ___________________________________________ Though it’s been several years since my kids were in organized sports, the two of them played expensive sports. One played hockey and the other was a gymnast. Hockey was expensive because you have to pay for ice time. Gymnastics was expensive because they’re in the gym practically year round. Both of my kids enjoyed and had fun in their respective sports. My wife and I, unlike some parents, realized the kids were not going to be pros or go to the Olympics. The hockey player also played little league baseball and lacrosse. He was not in travel baseball (we did enough of that in hockey and lacrosse). Other parents came and asked me why I never got upset with refs or the coaches. I’d look at them and ask, “Why should I?” I think when a parent starts to interfere, is when sports are no longer fun for the kids. ___________________________________________ Our kids played baseball with the same Lakewood Rec teams/coaches for years in the summer- for fun with neighborhood friends. Our kids didn’t do h.s. Sports. They had jobs after school and summers. I’ll never forget – the first time we stayed at a “decent” chain hotel when we went to Parents weekend (college) and there were traveling hockey kids and their parents. There was a room for pizza and gathering- and the adults(?) must have been drinking- and the kids just ran wild through the hotel for hours. It was a real nightmare. We didn’t see it as a child-centered experience. I guess now all the kids hole up with gaming devices and my problem is solved, to an extent. But dh and I wondered about the $$$ to these families. ___________________________________________ My nephew Nick made the travel baseball scene from age 7-18 when he went off to college. While he got a division scholarship to play baseball, no way was the value of the scholarship close to the amount of money, time and resources poured into playing baseball 9 months a year with 3 months of off-training in the winter. I his case it worked out; drafted by the San Diego Padres and currently in Taiwan to play professional baseball. He is the rare exception to have achieved professional status. He still loves baseball and is planning a career in the pro management circuit when his playing days are done. But sacrifices my brother and his family has made is enormous and really dampened their love of the sport. And it starts ‘innocently’ at age 6-7 with organized travel but the black hole can be enormous. ___________________________________________ The cost and time commitment (business $$) of youth sports is another way that kids from marginalized communities miss out and are harmed, the commercialization of youth sports has also degraded the foundation of local recreational sports. In a sport like baseball or soccer schools like Euclid play against schools like Medina and get horribly crushed year after year because Euclid kids don’t have years of little league and elite travel team experiences and coaching. ___________________________________________ My grandson recently played in 10 and under all stars. This is what we used to call minor league. Not yet full little league. Went to the regional tourney. I was shocked at the amount of gear his parents bought just for the all star event. Then there is travel meals hotel. It’s out of control . I’m sure many kids are left out because their parents can’t afford it. Like you, when I was a kid, we played sand lot, with repaired broken bats. For minor league you might get a T shirt . For Little League All Stars you got a special hat. Wore a regular uniform. No all star duds, no $300 aluminum bat. ___________________________________________ My own children, and even my grandchildren, are now adults and we’re not interested in sports, so I don’t have a direct frame of reference about the cost. But there is another aspect of youth sports that does concern me: scheduling of games. I am an active member of a church in Cleveland Heights, and when I needed to schedule something that might involve parents of kids involved in sports (for example, a Bible study class), I was surprised to learn that games are often scheduled for Sunday mornings. There is no consideration for families who regularly attend worship services at that time. I do understand that if we blocked off Sunday mornings for Christians who worship then, we would also have to block off Saturday mornings for Jewish people and Seventh Day Adventists. That does not leave a lot of free time for games, so I don’t know how to solve this problem. I would like to see you include this issue when you write more about the time commitment that parents need to make when their kids are involved in sports. ___________________________________________ I thought Covid would really reset the whole thing and it did not. Here is what we went to club – the competition. When more kids go to club- the city rec and travel leagues suffer. The better players leave and if you are middle of the road player-then you are playing with and against kids who sometimes don’t know which way their own goal is. And it’s hit or miss. My one born in 2000. Had a fantastic city soccer travel team and a dad as a coach and they made it to 8th grade. My other 3- their teams fell apart early. We are now out of it. But we were deep into it. We met a lot of people and travelled to a lot of places. Our kids grew from it, learned some life lessons, and made friends. We went to Vegas, North Carolina and South Dakota for soccer. In the end… my one kid Who did a club sport for one winter- had the most accolades from her high school field hockey and lax teams and was captain of both. Of 4 kids, I have one in college sports (which seems to be the goal of club sport) D3- no scholarship. He runs cross cross and distance track at Johns Hopkins. He played club lax at one point. But there is no “club” for running. And your times are your times… and not whether a college coach showed up at a game where you got to play and hopefully played well. ___________________________________________ I pulled my kids out of sports . They were not having any fun. And the cash it costs for everything is stupid ___________________________________________ I have refereed youth basketball (as young as 4th grade rec leagues and as old as high school OHSAA varsity) for the last 9 years. During that time the parents have gotten harder and harder to tolerate, and I no longer accept certain types of games (such as CYO games) as a result. I suspect the high cost of youth sports is a factor in why parents’ behavior has gotten worse. If they are frustrated by how much they are paying, surely it contributes to the frustrations they try and take out on us referees. However, it creates a vicious cycle. The worse the parents get, the less willing referees are to take games, and the more it will cost to find referees for games like youth sports that aren’t as enjoyable as higher level, more formal games (which can also lead to better games in the future). People in the HS sports world keep trying to address the “referee shortage” and most folks agree parental behavior is a big factor. ___________________________________________ Parents just need to set limits and boundaries. There are still recreation leagues in many sports. The family opts in for the craziness of travel leagues. Our children did just fine without the whole travel world, and when the team/coaches asked too much, like Sunday practices or events we said no. Rec team swimming was a great discovery for us since our girls and boy practiced and competed side by side as one coed team rather than running to separate practices and events in other sports. ___________________________________________ For my daughter, she started softball at age 7. I coached her team one year when she was 11. We won our league that year. She started basketball at age 8 and stayed with it until she stopped in middle school where she started field hockey and lacrosse. Youth sports kept all my kids out of trouble and promoted health and fitness where they developed confidence in themselves. Can’t emphasize enough how important these youth programs are to develop young kids into young adults to have confidence in themselves and to understand consequences of poor behavior. ___________________________________________ Kid 1 was in a competitive marching band and cost about $3k a year Kid 2 is a stand out athlete in XC and basketball, she was noticed by coaches at STVM for some context. AAU can easily cost a few thousand a year. Private coaching a few hundred a month. We do the minimum bc we mainly see this as a fun thing for her and don’t push her beyond what she wants to do. But we could easily spend $10-15k a year if we kept her in AAU and training year round. Our local public school teams and coaches were terrible so we ended up moving her to STVM where she could have better opportunities to pursue her passions. But I loathe that playing sports seriously has become something only affluent families can do. ___________________________________________ Are you prepared to dismantle the entire NCAA athletics model? If not, this is here to stay. ___________________________________________ I am involved. One son is going to Florida next week with the Chardon football team which costs about 2400$. Raised about 550$ of it thru school and family and friends. For lacrosse for him he was accepted on a travel team that costs 1900$ not including equipment which was about $700. My younger son was accepted on a baseball travel team that costs $1150. Not including a mitt that was more than$200 and bats that are over$200. This also does not include our time as parents, gas and other expenses. I always tell my sons how lucky they are that we can do this. Imagine how many great athletic kids that get over looked bc their parents can’t afford it, or can’t chauffer them back and forth all over bc they have to work out whatever. The expenses for sports is so outrageous in this day and age. And not even going into the politics and drama of it.. what a mess! Thanks for writing about this ___________________________________________ On the sports front, in my opinion, this is a parent-created problem. Every child is not going to get a scholarship turn pro, but apparently there are many parents who chase that fantasy. ___________________________________________ My youngest is 27. She played HS and Junior Olympic volleyball. The cost for JO was $1100/yr just to play for a team. Then, there was the travel (gas and hotel) and equipment costs, the time spent (at least 8 hrs a Saturday), the food costs because in some places you couldn’t bring in outside food. Bear in mind, she started playing in 2010 so I can only imagine what it is now. HS still had uniform bottoms, shoes, specific knee pads, and pay to play. Doing both simultaneously (in retrospect) was such a huge time suck. ___________________________________________ Each community is different. As a parent, my boys played youth baseball and football; baseball at age 6, football at age 7. In Munson Township which is part of Chardon school district. Participation wasn’t inexpensive with appropriate uniforms, etc. all volunteer coaching and generally very good coaches. Stayed with it until middle school and then went to school programs. Basketball was thru the YMCA and started at age 7 and went thru middle school as well. Again all volunteer coaches-some coaches were high school players. ___________________________________________ My kids are younger (8, 6, and 4), so we are still playing recreational sports only. I am baffled by the travel and competitive sports, and feel like I have no desire for my kids to be part of that. But it does feel like the norm for the families around me. ___________________________________________ A season of travel basketball can easily exceed $1,000 ___________________________________________ My niece sends $300 to $1400 per sport per kid. Plus time for example 2-3 baseball games in one day. ___________________________________________ I had 9 boys and they all went to Catholic school so we always paid for it. My grandkids went to public high school and sports kept them out of trouble. It was good training and worth the price. Having kids in Catholic grade school we always paid extra so we’re used to it. ___________________________________________ Exactly! We need to slow the crazy money train down. ___________________________________________ Like so many other things in this “BINGE” country-youth sports and equipment has gotten way over the top. Glad it’s being noticed now after so many years of costs rising. ___________________________________________ likely driven mostly by the sports apparel and equipment industries. ___________________________________________ My son loved soccer from the moment he stepped onto the pitch at age 4. He was good and he had talent even then, and as he grew older, rec soccer and even travel soccer was not sufficient for his need to improve and learn the game at a higher level. So at age 8, he became involved with club soccer in the 1990′s’s into early 2000′s. The cost then was high. My recollection is that it was approximately $500+ per quarter plus the extra cost of uniforms, tournaments, travel expenses to tournaments, additional foot skill’s training, etc. we volunteered to be team managers to help reduce the quarterly cost but even then it was a huge sacrifice and expense. ___________________________________________ Fire all of the adults…The Sandlot kids actually had fun! ___________________________________________ As CMSD kids they don’t really have access to school based extracurriculars. And West Park doesn’t have a lot for kids who aren’t in a private school. My go to is checking the YMCA for cost effective options and trying to find something with only a one day per week commitment at a time I can get them there after my 9-5 commute. It’s been an impossible struggle to find affordable reasonable things for kids of working parents ___________________________________________ My kids don’t participate in traditional “sportsball” as I call it. But one is an equestrian taking lessons at Valley Riding for 10 years. It’s $600 total for 12 weekly lessons of 45 mins. The other kid takes dance lessons at a private studio $70 per month for weekly 45 min classes. Neither of these are possible without grandparents helping subsidize extracurriculars. ___________________________________________ Having several family members with young children in sports, along with high school coaches, it would be interesting to hear how summer league sports for young kids affects high school sports. It seems that what started as parents coaching young kids for fun and sportsmanship, some coach the team as professional team. As a result, kids enter high school with parents applying pressure on the soccer and basketball coaches (not so much football), to play their kids in the hope of earning a scholarship. With parents often believing their kids are better than they actually are, it has created some real challenges for the coaches and schools, not to mention the kids. ___________________________________________ It is insane how much relatives have spent on their kids sports. I hope my grandchildren won’t go through this. Also there was recent reporting on parent coaches bullying kids and other volunteer parent coaches. This actually happened to me years ago on a kid softball team. The dad coach kept making fun of my coaching technique as I was too soft on the kids to the point where I quit coaching. Turns out the dad coach was an alcoholic and a jerk but he was a popular guy in our community. I never offered to coach again ___________________________________________ So in addition to playing CYO volleyball, My daughters play club volleyball for AVC. The baseline cost is $3,800/each per season. They have practice for 2 hrs 2x or 3x per week. We live about 15 from AVC which is in ValleyView. Some people travel from Sheffield Lake in the west and Newbury in the east which is about 50 minutes each way. It is a travel team and the season starts in Jan. so in addition to Cleveland tournament we go to Columbus 3x a season plus Indianapolis and Louisville (sometimes Philly) and the National Qualifying Tournament in Chicago over Easter. You don’t pay separate for tournaments but All travel and hotels are on us. If you make the National Tournament you travel to Dallas or Minneapolis or Orlando for 5 days in June. Again all costs are on you. Including travel and hotel it is about $10k for one child and $15k for 2 per season. ___________________________________________ Would you say that kids have the same “right” to be entitled to say horseback riding? Excepting anything criminal in sport’s leagues, the people that run them are not getting rich if making anything at all. The parents that choose to enroll their kids in leagues that travel all over the country or enroll their kids in six sports…it is stupid in my mind, but their money and their choice. That being said, is it the job of city rec departments and community orgs to have a form of simple baseball available to them at no cost? Yup. I support that 1,000%! ___________________________________________ Yes way too expensive ___________________________________________ Our daughters started gymnastics at ages 3 and 4. We thought this will be something fun to do on Saturday mornings but had no idea it would go as far as it did. We spent thousands of dollars on lessons, competitions and travel over the years but it was well worth what they got out of it. The younger daughter had to give up the sport she loved due to cardiomyopathy and had a heart transplant at age 17. (She’s doing well now.) The older daughter went on to win a full ride gymnastics scholarship at Kent State for her undergraduate degree. Her interest in fitness continues as she and her husband own a CrossFit gym in Cincinnati. ___________________________________________ 20 plus years ago Both my kids played recreational sports – city leagues not expensive. Both played travel soccer – organized by city but run for the more committed players and parents – the time and moderate travel for games in other communes plus many practices added up in cost but would also count as family events. My daughter played elite club soccer for years which was much more expensive due to more time for practices, year round paid coaches and facilities, travel to farther cities for games and tournaments involving motels, food, gas and ultimately air fares to regional and National tournaments. Ultimately it paid off in $ for our family as both kids got substantial scholarships to colleges for different sports. I figure we saved between $50,000 & $75,000 in college costs with $0 in student loans needed to complete their educations. So if you look at it like an investment from 5 years old to 18 the cost of youth sports paid off in our case. However we were not the norm. Many youth who play club sports get some college money. A few get full rides. But many more get very little or none. The intangible benefits are very hard to measure. Families spend time together when committed. Youth learn commitment and team skills that are important in later life. But the toll in time, and expense required plus missing other activities are negatives. Other kids in a family can feel neglected if their sister or brother get a disproportional amount of family resources. So is it worth it? My opinion is it is worth trying to see if a child has the talent. ___________________________________________ Gr8 questions. I’ve wondered for some time if the childhood obesity rate wasn’t somehow connected to this youth sports machinery. Specifically, youth sports tends to discourage children from playing a sport if they r not top performers. Coaches seem to not want to work with children who r still at the skill development stage but instead only want to coach children who have a high (or very promising) level of skill in that sport. I have seen this with children as young as 7 – where if they do not demonstrate strong sport skills they r discouraged from playing that sport. Also the time commitment demand is mind blowing & if the family (yes – it becomes a family commitment) does not adhere to this commitment the child may not play in the competition matches. There is some research on the topic of youth sport participation & obesity but it tends to be examined from the sport participation aids in preventing obesity perspective. What u pose is the role of the culture & model of youth sports. I wonder if there is a correlation with childhood obesity. I’d be interested in that slant from the PD reporting. ___________________________________________ Well I live in a “lake ” town, Vermilion. Am working on a way to get all our kids swim lessons. So hire an instructor, they need to buy proper swim wear(etc.). Cost comes to about $40. Per child. Want to start a program where anyone who can’t pay can still get lessons . Hoping that at $40. Each we would have a lot of donors. ___________________________________________ It’s insane. Hang a hoop. Go to the park. Choose up sides and get the adults out until high school. ___________________________________________ My sons were “year round” swimmers-$500-$900 per swim session-two seasons a year and that’s just for practice. Swim meets run approximately $50 per meet . Gasoline for to and fro practice (17 miles each way) 5-6 days per week.they don’t have to do both sessions but it’s “strongly encouraged” and clearly improves their performance. They also participated in a summer rec league ( that all of them have eventually worked as coach and then all three became head coach-so they were paid). They swam high school, two went to states, two swam in college, it was never forced on them by me bc it’s just too tough a sport to be forced into. It also opened them to a broader community as we live in Aurora, their year round team was Solon, summer rec Chagrin Falls and they attended Walsh Jesuit HS. Each of the programs opened them to different social and socioeconomic groups and required them to navigate a broader variety of lifestyles. Their jobs also required them to communicate up ( bosses and parents), down(swimmers) and sideways( co-workers, classmates, peers) all of which also developed them in many ways that broadly benefit their careers. Zachary Smith is the data reporter for cleveland.com. You can reach him at [email protected].