The Thoughts of an Old Warrior

I know with my 50th birthday last week I am as old as Methuselah now. Once in a while with a person in my extended years they ramble. Well consider this essay that, my ramblings. I cannot believe the amount of time we are asking our athletes to put into club, AAU, booster club sports in their elementary years. It is out of control.

I know the argument by the coaches, heck I used it, “everyone else is doing it, if we do not do it we will fall behind.” So what happens is in the summer schools our size ,have school sanctioned softball and baseball, town sponsored softball and baseball, summer soccer, summer volleyball camps, basketball camps, basketball team camps, cross country camps, summer football, and open weight room. Oh yes, then in our area for about 15-20 days we ask our kids to go out and learn “ how to work” by dettassling corn.

Then in the winter of the year we ask our kids to play USVBA volleyball, indoor soccer, indoor softball, go to baseball, and softball camps, play school basketball, booster club basketball, AAU basketball, and lift weights for football. All of that is included with school sponsored basketball and wrestling. Oh yes, then we ask them to be good family people during the holidays.

I will not ramble with the spring and the fall but you get the just of things, it is out of control.

The other problem we have is the cost financially to do these things. Basketball, baseball, football, and volleyball shoes together, cost an athlete 200-400 dollars an athlete, wow. Imagine what a family with three or four children pay for shoes. Now let’s also multiply what it costs to play in the Cedar Valley soccer league, on AAU or select team basketball, and on USVBA volleyball. Then throw in the cost for gas or the family to go watch. My father had a saying he would yell at the television every time he would see a politician, “get your hands out of my pocket.”

Next let’s look at the division of the community these things do. First let’s look at a town our size that only has a school and no recreation program. One of the first things we are doing is asking the school to do things that a city rec-program should and could be doing. The two main reasons we do not have a city recreational program is because of the cost to the tax payers and people not wanting that, the other reason are private gyms do not want it because it would take money out of their pockets. Without city recreation programs parents take on this responsibility. We want our students to grow up and volunteer like their parents but the problem you end up having is parents may not be prepared to do it. Second parents may not ask certain kids, because they are not friends with their children. When you do not include everyone at a young age you are running kids out of sports at the high school level.

I am fifty years old now; as my eye sight is failing me, I see things much clearer now.