Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families—and leave everyone else behind

Quote:Among richer families, youth sports participation is actually rising. Among the poorest households, it’s trending down. Just 34 percent of children from families earning less than $25,000 played a team sport at least one day in 2017, versus 69 percent from homes earning more than $100,000. In 2011, those numbers were roughly 42 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...ts/574975/

Some additional pull quotes:

Quote:Well-off parents dedicate so much time and money to kids’ sports partly because of the college system, which dangles tantalizing rewards for the most gifted teenage athletes. In the 1990s, Division 1 and Division 2 colleges distributed about $250 million a year in full and partial scholarships to student athletes. Today that figure has grown to more than $3 billion.

Quote:Norway’s youth-sports policies are deliberately egalitarian. The national lottery, which is run by a government-owned company called Norsk Tipping, spends most of its profit on national sports and funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to youth athletic clubs every year. Parents don’t need to shell out thousands to make sure their kids get to play.

(11-06-2018 01:18 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families—and leave everyone else behind

Quote:Among richer families, youth sports participation is actually rising. Among the poorest households, it’s trending down. Just 34 percent of children from families earning less than $25,000 played a team sport at least one day in 2017, versus 69 percent from homes earning more than $100,000. In 2011, those numbers were roughly 42 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...ts/574975/

Some additional pull quotes:

Quote:Well-off parents dedicate so much time and money to kids’ sports partly because of the college system, which dangles tantalizing rewards for the most gifted teenage athletes. In the 1990s, Division 1 and Division 2 colleges distributed about $250 million a year in full and partial scholarships to student athletes. Today that figure has grown to more than $3 billion.

Quote:Norway’s youth-sports policies are deliberately egalitarian. The national lottery, which is run by a government-owned company called Norsk Tipping, spends most of its profit on national sports and funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to youth athletic clubs every year. Parents don’t need to shell out thousands to make sure their kids get to play.

Makes sense. A coworker's high school son is pretty talented and his folks are paying $$$ to get him into one of those traveling club teams in the off season.

Their thinking is that if he can get enough exposure to get a scholarship, the time and money they're spending now will actually save them money.

Investing in the future.

(11-06-2018 02:06 PM)BadgerMJ Wrote:  

(11-06-2018 01:18 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families—and leave everyone else behind

Quote:Among richer families, youth sports participation is actually rising. Among the poorest households, it’s trending down. Just 34 percent of children from families earning less than $25,000 played a team sport at least one day in 2017, versus 69 percent from homes earning more than $100,000. In 2011, those numbers were roughly 42 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...ts/574975/

Some additional pull quotes:

Quote:Well-off parents dedicate so much time and money to kids’ sports partly because of the college system, which dangles tantalizing rewards for the most gifted teenage athletes. In the 1990s, Division 1 and Division 2 colleges distributed about $250 million a year in full and partial scholarships to student athletes. Today that figure has grown to more than $3 billion.

Quote:Norway’s youth-sports policies are deliberately egalitarian. The national lottery, which is run by a government-owned company called Norsk Tipping, spends most of its profit on national sports and funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to youth athletic clubs every year. Parents don’t need to shell out thousands to make sure their kids get to play.

Makes sense. A coworker's high school son is pretty talented and his folks are paying $$$ to get him into one of those traveling club teams in the off season.

Their thinking is that if he can get enough exposure to get a scholarship, the time and money they're spending now will actually save them money.

Investing in the future.

Yes. It's called "Freedom of Association" and it is neither racist, sexist, or exclusionary. If the left goes after that then it means that we will all be compelled to associate with those we had rather not.

We support public leagues through tax dollars. Must we also be compelled to support only public leagues with our presence and participation too? This issue strikes at the heart of what it means to be free and to think otherwise is anathema to the very concept of freedom.

That some should use the product of their work and time to enable their children is by no means discriminatory. All of us quit owing our fellow citizens a damned thing once our taxes are paid, the laws obeyed, and service to the nation is rendered in time of crisis.

How does it "leave everyone else behind?" Public leagues are still widely available.

It's only bad if you think the *point* of sports is to earn a college scholarship. But I tend to think that the point of sports is to teach teamwork, discipline, self-confidence, and a desire to win.

(11-07-2018 12:46 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  How does it "leave everyone else behind?" Public leagues are still widely available.

It's only bad if you think the *point* of sports is to earn a college scholarship. But I tend to think that the point of sports is to teach teamwork, discipline, self-confidence, and a desire to win.

For most who didn't have the talent to play college sports or even compete at a fairly high level in HS, the lessons of sports are important.

Those "tweeners" who occupy the space between the majority of us and the elite probably do see sports as a means to a scholarship. Nothing wrong with that, especially when college will set you back $20k or more per year. People have done worse to get ahead.