Do your young children play organized sports? Families w/ more than 1 child?

[KIN]

I have 2 boys that will be able to play baseball this spring. Last year they both played, but they were on the same team. This year, they will be on different teams/leagues, practice different night and have games on the same nights. I'm just questioning if the benefits of sports outweighs the havoc it is on the family to run to everything! My oldest really isn't into sports at all (and isn't very good), but like the social part of it, my second enjoys playing and the social part. My youngest ds, too young to play this year, is our athlete.

What do you do in your family? What are your reasons for saying yes or no? Do you have guidelines as to how many sports or how many children participate at a time?

We have set our limit to one sport per boy per year - I think! :) I guess if one is really talented or that is what he loves to do we may have to vary that!

[Jennifer in MI]

Oh - I hear ya' on the baseball schedules!! We have three boys playing baseball this year. The older two are on the same team (thank God!). My 10 yo just made the tournament team, so we'll be juggling three teams.

We don't have hard and fast rules about it. Our boys do karate year round. If they aren't involved in another sport that requires as much time as baseball, they go to that 3 x/week. During baseball season, they go down to once/week. Our boys are usually involved in two sports/activities at a time.

BUT, we live in an area where everything is close. Karate is less than a mile from my house. Baseball is three blocks. We walk to both of those (unless it's too cold). Soccer is across the street. The longest we have to drive anywhere is 20 minutes and that's only once/week.

It really depends on the situation and your family. We LOVE sports, so we do quite a lot with the kids. But, if activities are getting in the way of family time, we'd cut back in a minute!!!

Good luck finding a balance!

[Josie]

Swimming and ice skating have been working nicely. I, personally, couldn't deal with all the team sport schedules. I LOVE individual sports.

[Linda...inOwasso]

Dd7 plays soccer, softball and basketball. She also takes a drama and art class. Dd4 takes a dance class, music class and gymnastics. Both girls take swimming lessons each summer.

Unfortunately, as competitive as organized sports has become, if children don't get involved (at least enough to learn the basics) at a young age they won't be able to participate when they're older. I allow a little more running around time at this age because I think 4 and 7 years old is too early for a child to have to choose only 1sport.

As their academic schedules lengthen their time will become more restricted and they will ultimately have to choose 1 or 2 activities to focus most of their free time on. But, at their ages, extra-curricular activities are almost as important as "school."

I say whatever works for your family is the right answer! Best wishes!!

[KristineIN]

We have chosen at this time not to do sports, money is the first reason, it is just too expensive and time is the second. It just takes up too much time. My children socialize plenty between co-op, 4-H and church activities. We ride bikes, play and so I feel they get plenty of exercise. I personally don't think a person needs to play an organized sport to be a well rounded adult. I played sports in jr. high and had fun, but not sure if I gained anything from it, in high school, we were just too busy with 4-H and then I worked as soon as I was 16. Dh hated playing baseball because his dad made him and he is blind as a bat and couldn't see the ball coming and was always in the outfield and never good. He has bad memories of baseball and time with his dad in this sense. If my children REALLY were begging to play, then we might consider it, but we just don't feel it's necessary.

Kristine

[Baseballmom]

My boys, 8 & 12, both play baseball. My younger son's team plays both league and select baseball. So for this coming up week, my 12 yo plays Mon. @8:00 pm., Tuesday @ 6:00 pm, and Wednesday at 6:00 pm, My younger son has a game Mon. @ 6:00 p.m., and then practices Tuesday and Thursday. Then he will play in a tournament Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We go to all practices/games together or split if practice or games are at the same time. I usually try to adjust our school schedule to be done early in the baseball season. It works much better for our family

[Margaret in CO]

I've had at least three doing multitple sports for many years... Some years, dh and I split up. My 14yo was advocating going back to gymnastics, but I wasn't up to that with swim team. However, now she has to have ankle surgery, so she'll be just watching at swim team for most of the summer... We start track for one and swimming again for two in a week, but it's doable here, as it takes all of 5 minutes to drive from one "end of town to the other". Back when I had one doing dressage, one doing sheep shows, one doing gymnastics, one swimming and 4 of them in 4-H, and a baby, I thought I was going to lose my mind. We'd sit down and everyone had to cancel one meet/show for the summer. My 9yo wanted to add a different kind of sheep show (different days) than the Shetland show we already do--I nixed it. I realy miss having another driver, but my oldest will be home soon for the summer! And the ankle surgery wiped out any extra horse things this summer, and that's fine by me... I already told swim coach that ds would be missing a week for Scout camp. Running camp is out for the ankle surgery girl and 9yo is only doing 2 4-H projects this year. And NO one is doing chickens this year--so no poultry to wash! However, we're adding a heifer, but dad's going to be doing most of that, along with the steers, as the owner will still be on crutches... I have a very big calendar...

[Jennifer in MI]

My boys, 8 & 12, both play baseball. My younger son's team plays both league and select baseball. So for this coming up week, my 12 yo plays Mon. @8:00 pm., Tuesday @ 6:00 pm, and Wednesday at 6:00 pm, My younger son has a game Mon. @ 6:00 p.m., and then practices Tuesday and Thursday. Then he will play in a tournament Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We go to all practices/games together or split if practice or games are at the same time. I usually try to adjust our school schedule to be done early in the baseball season. It works much better for our family

LOL Your life sounds like mine!!! My ds10 has been practicing for 6 weeks now. His tournaments don't start until late April (there's still snow on the ground here!). Everyone else starts practicing next week!! We also adjust our homeschooling schedule around baseball season! Finally, someone else who understands how important baseball is!! LOL So, which professional team do you root for? Go Tigers!!!

[Jenstet]

My kids 10 and 5 do Karate. 3-5 times a weeks each year round. They usually have back to back classes.

The 10 year old was doing soccer. By age 10 around here the kids do it year round and pretty competitively. We couldn't keep up with the schedule so she gave up soccer.

The 5 year old will play soccer this spring but it is only 5 classes total on the weekends.

The 10 year old just finish a 6 week snowboard session.

So we do pop in some extra activities here and there.
I try not to push to hard. They feel it and do get burned out. Our rule of thumb is 1 sport and an instrument. Any more for us is too much time away from home. Sometimes they just like to play in the mud.

[Linda in NM]

My friends with multiple children limit their kids to two outside activities per year--sports, or music, or drama...with one kid (outstanding at hockey), he is limited to baseball in the off-season and music (because I want some balance). He's had to give up, at 13, many things he likes, but he likes hockey more.

[Baseballmom]

LOL Your life sounds like mine!!! My ds10 has been practicing for 6 weeks now. His tournaments don't start until late April (there's still snow on the ground here!). Everyone else starts practicing next week!! We also adjust our homeschooling schedule around baseball season! Finally, someone else who understands how important baseball is!! LOL So, which professional team do you root for? Go Tigers!!!

Our last tournament was the end of November, and we started practicing again in January. Our first tournament was in February, it is crazy! A few weekends ago my son played in a 8:00 a.m. game in 32 degrees. He broke his $175 big barrell bat because it was too cold for a big barrell.

Anyway, our favorite pro team is the Astro's. We also like the Twins. I am originally from Minnesota. We also have a AAA team, who is affiliated with the Astro's, that plays five minutes down the road. We go to see them play 2-3 times a week. I guess you know why I chose Baseballmom as my board name.

My 8 yo, who is very talented, just informed me that after one season of kid pitch he is taking a year off from baseball, oh what will we do?

[momtolgd]

Well we are about to start this adventure...both the 7yo and 5yo will be playing spring soccer on different teams. We'll find out this week when practices will be...the games will all be on saturdays, but I'm guessing they'll be different times. DH and I aren't very athletic, but we are trying to encourage the kids to try some different things...they are both interested in soccer, and DS is interested in playing on the homeschool basketball team when it starts up in August (we haven't decided about that one yet.)

I'm hoping we can juggle the schedules ok this spring...we'll see very soon how it goes.

[mommylaw]

My three older kids all do swim team. They practice 3 times a week at the same time. They also do Kung Fu twice a week, also at the same time.

I set up piano/guitar lessons so they go back-to-back one day a week.

Thank goodness they all love to swim. :) I couldn't possibly drive them to different activities and pass any of my own classes.

My dh takes the three big kids skiing at least one day a week from Christmas to April.

We're busy but I like it that way. I remember being in lots of activities as a child. My dh didn't do any activities. Our lifestyle is foreign to him.

[Daisy]

We prefer other ways to get exercise. DH and DS enjoy doing the Fun Run in the Park every other weekend. We enjoy biking, hiking, etc. We stay away from organized sports mostly because

1. We don't feel they build life-long exercise habits. Most adults don't play soccer everyday, but they may continue to run or bike or play tennis.

2. We don't like the competitive nature. And I don't mean light competition, but rather that cut-throat kind of attitude.

3. We don't like the price tag and

4. Most importantly, the teams all play games on Sunday around here and we don't spend our Sunday's that way.

[Joanne]

Yes, both my boys play baseball. (PONY this season, sometimes Little League.) My husband coaches, switching between boys each season.

It does consume our evenings for about a 3 month period of time in Spring and slightly less in the fall.

I believe the benefits outweigh the negatives. I don't think organized sports are *necessary* in terms of development but I think they are one option to include.

The worst season was my first as a single mom and my oldest was in baseball on one side of Katy and my youngest in soccer on the other side. In between, I was driving a 13 year old van that didn't have air conditioning. And gas, although cheaper than now, was a burden on my strained budget. Oh, heck, that whole season of life was a strain.

[Alenee]

I coach my dd's soccer team and this year for Fall it will take up 4 days a week including games. I coached younger dd's team last year as well and I hated it. Trying to be there for both games was tough running from one game to another in time. I wouldn't recommend it. Even if I hadn't been coaching it still would've required the same time commitment because I stay through.

One of the girls on the team was one of six children, five of which played soccer. Dad and mom were never seen together and sometimes their oldest had to step in. I felt bad because the player rarely had a parent there.

We have a limit of one sport at a time, not including swim lessons. My older dd is a soccer nut and has no intentions of doing any other sport. Younger dd now adores gymnastics. She wanted soccer last Fall but she was less than enthusiastic about practices. I'm not planning on allowing her to play again until she's older.

[Joanne]

4. Most importantly, the teams all play games on Sunday around here and we don't spend our Sunday's that way.
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Daisy

Wow. That's interesting. Here, in conservative Katy, TX, the tradition is nothing on Sunday. And most organized sports avoid anything on Wednesday nights because it's a big night for Christian denominations to have activities.

[Tracey in TX]

All our kiddos have played organized or competitive sports: gymnastics, swimming, tennis, dance, cross country/track, basketball, and soccer. I used to say "one sport per season per child", but have very athletic DCs whose gifts really are sports. I do the best scheduling I can in order to accommodate their activities. They're currently involved in dance, gymnastics, track, and soccer. Each sport is a minimum of 2 days/week; several are 3-5 days.

It's a huge pain in the "patootie", but how can I deny something which gives them such joy, as well as being great both physically and mentally? It was toughest on our family when sports were in 3 separate towns and nobody was old enough to stay at home, and carpool wasn't yet an option. I would make the same choices again.

[SheilaZ]

All four of mine are playing this year.
Each one started baseball at four and they have played ever since.
The only forbidden sport is football.

But....they really love sports and I don't mind running them around.
Three of the four play soccer and all four play basketball and two seasons of baseball.

They look forward to each and every season. if they ever voiced anything different, I wouldn't sign them up.

Usually, the practices and games over lap. But during Y baseball season, we're pretty much at the field every day except Sunday. Not that anyone minds, since we end at the pool everyday. The boys just put on a t-shirt and cleats, then walk over to play ball.

Sheila

[Sue G in PA]

but it didn't work...period. My ds9 especially is just a very active, sporty kind of kid who like most, if not all sports. We just finished up basketball season w/ 3 kids playing on 3 different teams. Dh coached ds9's team. We were out at practices 4x/wk w/ one child or another. Then, games on Saturday were FUN. :001_huh: All 3 kids had games at each corner of the county. Dh had to be w/ ds9 (of course!) so that left me w/ the other 2. Ask me how it worked when those 2 had games AT THE SAME TIME! Ah well...it all worked out one way or another. We used to have the same w/ baseball, but the dc decided to drop that this year. Summer is our big season w/ swim team. DD11, ds8 an ds6 swim (ds9 is NOT into swimming although we tried!) and it's time-consuming w/ practices 4x wk and meets each Wed. and Sat. BUT, it is a relatively short season (2 months).

Money is an issue here, too. Thankfully, my FIL has offered to foot the bill for music lessons and sports (w/in reason) for the dc. He understands our financial situation and doesn't want the dc to "miss out" b/c of it. Still...it's hard to accept the "charity". I'd love for each dc to choose 1 sport each year, but right now they just love them all! Dd11 IS leaning toward swimming all year but THAT is a whole nother issue. Cost, time committment, etc. Yikes. I'd rather her play separate sports!

[Beth in Central TX]

We have chosen at this time not to do sports, money is the first reason, it is just too expensive and time is the second. It just takes up too much time. My children socialize plenty between co-op, 4-H and church activities. We ride bikes, play and so I feel they get plenty of exercise. I personally don't think a person needs to play an organized sport to be a well rounded adult. I played sports in jr. high and had fun, but not sure if I gained anything from it, in high school, we were just too busy with 4-H and then I worked as soon as I was 16. Dh hated playing baseball because his dad made him and he is blind as a bat and couldn't see the ball coming and was always in the outfield and never good. He has bad memories of baseball and time with his dad in this sense. If my children REALLY were begging to play, then we might consider it, but we just don't feel it's necessary.

Kristine

Our reasoning behind not doing organized sports was summed up very well by Kristine.

[Marie in Oh]

Unfortunately, as competitive as organized sports has become, if children don't get involved (at least enough to learn the basics) at a young age they won't be able to participate when they're older


Unfortunately, this is what people think, but I have had countless parents and coaches tell me this is simply not the case. My son played EXTREMELY competative soccer in 3rd grade. He was 8. He played 56 games, practiced 3 nights a week. He ate, drank and slept soccer. It was stupid. He was 8. We finally had a friend who has coached college soccer for 15 years tell us to stop. "He's good now-- he'll be good when he is 12 or 13. If you don't stop now, he'll be burnt out or worse get hurt." We stopped. He's playing rec til he's in junior high. Then, we'll see.

My point is, there isn't anything that kids will learn playing t-ball or U-6 soccer that will help them in the furture. Sure, it is fun, and they might pick up a few skills, but their bodies are just not mature enough to really have much benefit. If they are naturally athletic, they will catch on fine.

Case in point, my son is 10 and never played Basketball til this year. He is naturally athletic, though, and ended up the highest scoring player on his team. All the other kids have been palying since Kindergarten.

So, my advice would be not to kill yourself having young ones play a bunch of sports. If it is their bent, the will not be behind and their bodies will be mature enough to truly learn the skills for advanced play.

Now if you enjoy it, they enjoy it, and it isn't making you crazy, then fine. But the running gets old fast, so I would weigh it carefully. Soccer season is nuts in our house, but we enjoy it. And, for now, it is 12 weeks.

[ThelmaLou]

My boys have played baseball for several years. We decided this year, however, that we're finished. Last year was the worst yet. We had 4 boys on 3 different teams. It was disastrous to the rest of our schedule. I think they learned some things from their experiences. But I think these are things that they can learn in other venues, as well. My husband and I both played sports growing up. In fact, my husband played college and professional sports. Fortunately, he doesn't have the "glory days" attitude about the whole thing, and he agrees that team spirit, sportsmanship, etc... can be learned in other ways. Now we're doing Scouts, but everyone who's old enough goes on the same night and dad gets to do it with them. And we have no girls, so it's not like he's taking time away from the rest of the family. I stay at home with the younger boys. When they're all old enough to participate I'll relish the free time!

I get a little emotional pang when I realize that my younger boys won't get the same number of years of exposure to baseball as their older brothers. But by choosing to have a large family, I've chosen the realities that go along with it. We just can't keep up that schedule for everyone.

We *are* going to let everyone do swim team this summer, though. It meets early in the a.m. and does not mess with our schedule. The pool is right across the street, and meets are optional. Besides, it burns off some of that boy energy early in the morning before the sun gets too terribly hot. This will be our 4th year to do swim team. It's a good option for us.