The Pay-to-Play Model Has Broken Youth Sports

[Muda69]

https://substack.com/@nymag/note/c-321482953

Quote

‘Travel sports,’ a term that has come to encompass all sorts of private teams, leagues, and clubs, used to be for the truly exceptional young athlete. Now, they’re for anyone willing to pay — an expensive, exhausting commitment that has become popular not necessarily because millions of parents want them for their children but because it can feel like there’s no other choice. Rec programs are underfunded and struggle to compete with for-profit leagues for prime field, rink, and court times. And the level of play is diluted, often very early, as travel teams are incentivized to enroll children at young ages.

Around 5 million children in the U.S. now compete on travel teams. Parents find themselves trapped. They know the benefits of sports and want that for their children, yet giving it to them often means buying into a sports ecosystem that’s inherently flawed. As the pay-to-play model increasingly takes hold, so does the idea that kids should start competing at younger and younger ages, risking their sense of self along with their shoulders and ACLs.

“I never want my kids to look back and say I didn’t do everything I could to help them live their dreams,” a mother of three soccer players said. She’s hired professional photographers to take action shots for her 12- and 13-year-olds’ Instagram accounts — the platform has become a recruiting tool — and they’ve both asked her to pay for personal trainers.

“I think the word isn’t ‘specialize’; you are ‘professionalizing’ your kid early. You are exposing them to everything professionals have to deal with — I’m talking injury, time, schedule, everything,” said John Van Benschoten, a former MLB player and travel-baseball coach.

It makes one ask: All this for what? And for whom? Read Caitlin Moscatello’s cover story on how travel leagues have made youth sports more expensive, hypercompetitive, and all-consuming — and the investors who are making a killing

The actual story is behind a paywall,  so read it if you want to pay the price.  

[Coach Nowlin]

Lowell Middle School in Indiana has disbanded their Middle School sports and severely revamped their transportation availability 

[Coach Nowlin]

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/lowell-indiana-school-district-buses-sports-clubs-funding-cuts/

 

HOWEVER    Ballot has the Refferedum on it for Nov.....   perhaps they get the votes this time 

[Muda69]

Look like enrollment for the Tri-Creek School Corporation peaked in 2008-09 and has slowly trended downwards from there:  https://ballotpedia.org/Tri-Creek_School_Corporation,_Indiana#Students

How can a government school corporation continue to provide the same level of services with almost 500 less students? Taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook to fund essentially empty school bus seats and empty classroom desks.