Piggybacking off of Tuesday’s post, I wanted to chat a bit about managing our kids and their sports commitments. Growing up, I was always under the impression that kids just did sports as their school allowed. Most elementary schools don’t have sports teams, so any city teams or intramural prior to Interscholastic sports was just for fun. The real competition was when you made the school team and started playing other schools.

When my little sister hit 7-8 years old, my dad signed her up for softball. As a previous baseball/softball player himself, he of course was all in and she was on travel teams from then on. Practices and games became a priority, she didn’t really try any other sports, and I could tell this started a bit of a power shift in their house (I was already out of college and on my own). In addition to my sister playing, my dad was also assistant coaching and travel coordinating. It seemed like softball became much more important than rest or time with family. Eventually, my sister got recruited to play softball at a private high school and my parents moved states to accommodate it. She won multiple State Championships, and then COVID happened her senior year. No last season. No college ball.

I know this took it to the next level, but that doesn’t mean this type of commitment to kids sports isn’t common.