re: Is there a kid’s sport which parents haven't ruined?

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Youth Football is pretty ridiculous too.....I’ve coached it for 7 years

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And what skill positions did your son(s) play?

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? For teens, sport frickin’ is still wildly popular and doesn’t appear to have been affected by parents.

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I know you saw the thread about virginity ??

4-H shooting sports was an awsome group of parents and kids.

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don't know many people who even understand it, so they surely can't ruin it, right?

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Unfortunately this isn’t true. My dad (rip) was that dad that always got kicked out of games, regardless of sport. He understood nothing about soccer but still proceeded to yell and be promptly removed from games. It sucked at the time, but it was funny hearing him argue his case about something he knew nothing about.

Motocross

I mean I like travel baseball, lot more upper middle class people and lot less bullshite than rec. Sure parents yell and get excited but that's part of the excitement during a game.

But I know some teams have lots of drama, but ours doesn't. My middle sons team had one lady that liked to stir it up, up they were kind of run off. Sad too cause kid is a hell of player.

Overall though, my experience is travel ball is much less bullshite and much higher class of people than rec ball.

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Rodeo

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Def this, all the rodeo kids I grew up with were always winning money, the guys who team roped and rode bulls would won a good bit in the high school age, this way you can recoup any losses for the pony upkeep. Only downside is you gotta travel to different rodeos.

When my kids were little, they played in a league operated by a large church here, it was awesome. They disbanded for a while, but started back this year. Our daughter is playing again, and she loves it. She's not good, but she loves to play, and all the other girls are there to learn the game and have fun. The coaches aren't dicks and understand the intent of this league. We had a field change this weekend, and the referee didn't show up until the game was almost over. The 2 teams agreed to let one of the girls' older sisters referee, and not one gripe ensued.

It's a far cry from the league that made my oldest son say frick it and never play sports again. I hate sports here so much. I miss rec-league sports where kids could try out new sports, learn fundamentals, build friendships, learn about competitiveness and sportsmanship, and decide if they want to move to the next level. Now, kids are expected to show up having mastered the sport, it's all about winning.

Feeder teams. Travel teams. Personal coaches. Practices until 10pm at night, multiple nights. All-day events all the freaking time. Several of our friends built batting cages with pitching machines in their basements. Waking your elementary school kid up at 5am to run drills before school. It's insane, and even more insane when you realize their kids are just average.

Golf

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It's a far cry from the league that made my oldest son say frick it and never play sports again. I hate sports here so much. I miss rec-league sports where kids could try out new sports, learn fundamentals, build friendships, learn about competitiveness and sportsmanship, and decide if they want to move to the next level. Now, kids are expected to show up having mastered the sport, it's all about winning.

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most places still have that in rec leagues. But of course travel teams are going to be comptitive. You are paying.

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Feeder teams. Travel teams. Personal coaches. Practices until 10pm at night, multiple nights. All-day events all the freaking time. Several of our friends built batting cages with pitching machines in their basements. Waking your elementary school kid up at 5am to run drills before school. It's insane, and even more insane when you realize their kids are just average.

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a) if you kid has a desire to play at a higher level than rec or play in high school, they pretty much need to play travel ball, atleast by age 10 and usually before then.

B) personal coaches...I graduated 20 years ago and kids had hitting and pitching lesson coaches then. 1 on 1 instruction is how your kid makes big jumps.

C) nothing wrong with having a batting cage at home. Many kids love to hit and practice. Sorry yours doesn't but many do.

D) waking a kid up to run drills is prolly not the best thing, but some kids ask for that. My 8 year old sets an alarm to wake up to make sure he can get in pushups and chinups daily and to cook him some eggs(yes he cooks them)

E) most travel teams dont play all the time, they play eevry other weekend and play 2 fall ball tournaments and 10 spring tournaments.

F) elementary age teams arent practicing until 10pm at night. But yea both of my kids have 3 practices a week with their team and have hitting lessons. Off season they go to workouts or we lift at home and they do other lessons. They love it

I dont push my kids to do anything. In fact i discourage my oldest because he isnt the best at baseball and I didnt want him to be discouraged at all sports. My boys play mutiple sports and only play the ones they like. But if they committ to a team, they have to finish. they beg to go to hitting lessons, workouts and fielding/pitching lessons. I had to make them back off some as it was too much for me as my wife is working too much right now.

In the end it sounds like you want your kids involved in non competitive sports, that fine, just understand some kids want to be competitive. Im not gonna hold them back because ole "concrete_tiger" doesnt like it or cant afford it.

If your kids are into competitive ball your harness it and allow them to be the best they can be. Sure some kids are just average, but if you are doing it as a parent thinking its going to get them a scholly....well you are doing it worng.

There are only 11.7 schollies for 27 roster players in college baseball. Its not about that. Its allowing your kid to:

1)have fun
2)to learn to be a good teammate and learn to work with others.
3)develop confidence
4)exercise
5)learn how to fail and how to handle success
6)learn that hard work=success and everything worth having in life requires hard work.
7)how to compete

as a parent that should be what you are striving for and what you are essentially paying for.

and i know this will be downvoted, all the OT poors and non competitive shitheads can frick off.