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Both of my kids played Baseball and went to college on scholarships, my grandson is now in school on a scholarship in Baseball as well. I coached youth athletics for five decades, it was all beneficial for me.
This is completely different than sports today.
To get a foot in the door, families will spend 10s of 1,000s of dollars from the time kids are 4 years old, with rec teams, travel teams, private coaches. 20 hours a week commitment, travel all over the country. The kids can't participate in ANYTHING else.
I won't let one person's wants take over the entire family. Also - every single person I know who has a child in competitive cheerleading has gone to the nationals in Disney at least once.
We have 2 girls in competitive cheerleading which costs us thousands of dollars a year for each of them. We travel to other states, pay for hotels, food, entrance fees as a spectator, gas, etc. Not to mention the cost to actually participate monthly, the uniform, separate required tumbling class, etc. To top it off, both teams won a bid to The Summit national competition in May at Disney which will be a few thousand more. Both girls also do school cheerleading which is obviously much cheaper] however, school cheerleading and competitive cheer are completely different in nature! Next year, my oldest is going into H.S. and she will not be able to do both as it will be too much. She has to pick which one to do. She has decided to stay on the competitive team; however, my husband and I not sure we want to keep putting out the money for it. I'd honestly rather put it towards her college.
My dilemma is that both my girls truly love it. It's the only thing my younger daughter has stuck to. My oldest said that if she can't do the competitive team then she won't cheer anymore because she is not interested in cheering in high school. We can afford it, but as I said above, it's thousands of dollars and very time consuming for us. They have practice all day every Sunday, another day during the week and competitions almost every other week for 7 months. My husband wants them both to tryout for school cheer and if they don't make it then he will continue to allow them to do the competitive cheer.
My question is this...…...what do you consider too much to pay for a childs sport? If you can afford it, do you continue allowing them to do it because they love it or do you put a cap on what you will pay regardless? Also, would you allow your child to do a sport that would be very time consuming on you as well? What is your perspective on this?
My daughter participated in high school rowing (fall and spring) for four years -- practice every evening after school and on Saturday with all day regatta competitions March - June (most were local) but there were a couple non-local, ovenight competitions every year. I don't think her sport was a costly as what you are experiencing but time-wise it might be the same. It was our life for four years. She rowed one year in college non-scholarship.
My thinking about it is that it kept her in great physical shape, she learned to manage her time well and kept her grades up. We never experience any drama or other high school issues since the sport was so time consuming. Everyone on the team were college bound, high achievers and were a good influence. Lastly we couldn't think of anything to replace it and we didn't want her having a lot of time on her hands in high school.
To get a foot in the door, families will spend 10s of 1,000s of dollars from the time kids are 4 years old, with rec teams, travel teams, private coaches. 20 hours a week commitment, travel all over the country. The kids can't participate in ANYTHING else.
Not remotely the same.
It's true. If a kid even wants to have a chance at being on a high school team in the more popular sports, they have to start in a club at an early age and stick with it. The level of commitment required by the family is absurd. My daughter's friend is on a high school volleyball team, and when that takes a break, she plays for a club. It's year-round. There's a game nearly every weekend. They have tournaments all over the country, and the parents are expected to travel too--no putting the kids on a bus with a chaperone.
This friend may get a college scholarship out of it (or not), but the amount of money her family has shelled out already would have gone a long way towards paying for her college education. It's fun, she likes it, I get that, but I am just as glad that my kids have never been that interested in sports.
It's true. If a kid even wants to have a chance at being on a high school team in the more popular sports, they have to start in a club at an early age and stick with it. The level of commitment required by the family is absurd. My daughter's friend is on a high school volleyball team, and when that takes a break, she plays for a club. It's year-round. There's a game nearly every weekend. They have tournaments all over the country, and the parents are expected to travel too--no putting the kids on a bus with a chaperone.
This friend may get a college scholarship out of it (or not), but the amount of money her family has shelled out already would have gone a long way towards paying for her college education. It's fun, she likes it, I get that, but I am just as glad that my kids have never been that interested in sports.
Who wants to "chaperone" and be responsible for somebody's else's kids? I did once many years ago when accompanying the team at an out of town hotel -- girls were sneeking out of their rooms after bedchecks to meet guys. I was told I was too harsh on the girls when I found them. NEVER AGAIN.
Who wants to "chaperone" and be responsible for somebody's else's kids? I did once many years ago when accompanying the team at an out of town hotel -- girls were sneeking out of their rooms after bedchecks to meet guys. I was told I was too harsh on the girls when I found them. NEVER AGAIN.
Well, clearly no one does. Hence all the parents travel with their kids.
Anything more than two hundred dollars a month is too expensive unless the child is a prodigy or the sporting skills are marketable. It's a waste of money and bound to end in .
There is such a thing as a professional cheerleader you know.... Maybe these girls could end up cheering for a professional football team?! You never know...
I understand youre saying this worked for you BUT asking a child to attend school full time, cheer almost full time and work to pay for cheer while keeping up with their grades and all their other responsibilities you might be asking too much. Competitive sports are almost full time jobs themselves, with workouts, practices and travel for competitions there is very little time for work. Especially is they are also focusing on school. Plus OP said school cheer and competitive cheer were too much in high school, its unlikely they will be able to find time to work.
They could pick up babysitting during the summer when they don't have as much school or look at providing gymnastic lessons as many gymnastic/cheerleaders do so to further their career and pockets to pay for such activities. The fundraising option also doesn't take much time, nor does applying for athletic scholarships from various orginizations.
The main point is that they don't have to work every single day or a lot of consecutive hours. But something to show that they understand that this huge cost is worth it to them and something they will put real sacrifice in. Obviously mom and dad would still have to help out, but some initiative on the girls part to help financially pay for the random things that pop up during the year would go a long way to proving that they really are dedicated to the sport and willing to continue at this high of a level.
Would it be hard, absolutely. But that's part of making a competitive commitment. Trust me, not every kid gets everything paid for despite having a full plate . It's all about planning in advance and keeping on top of your responsibilities rather than expecting everything to fall in place for you. This is why I think the girls start exploring ways to fund their extra-curricular activities now; mom and dad won't be there forever to help them pay for extras. In college a lot of student athletes work on the side in addition to keeping up with school and the extra commitments they have as athletes. That's just part of life and it's better to learn the ropes while you're young and the lessons don't sting as much when you make mistakes.
My friends 2 daughters ended up disabled from soccer and competitive cheer by 18. The flyer was dropped multiple times and the soccer player ruined her ankle. Definitely not worth it.
I won't let one person's wants take over the entire family. Also - every single person I know who has a child in competitive cheerleading has gone to the nationals in Disney at least once.
I did state that I have two daughters and both are in competitive cheer, so it's not just one person's wants, it's both of my children.
Only 800 teams out of about 11k in the U.S. make it to Summit (Nationals), so it is an honor to win a bid to go. Even if they don't win or place, it will be an experience and we are staying longer to make it an extended family trip.
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