There are two types of youth sports
parents. Type-1, parents who realize the ancillaries of youth sports can be far
more rewarding for the child than the skill of the sport itself, things like
team spirit, physical fitness, cooperation, determination, discipline and the
list goes on. Then there are the type-2 parents who dedicate their time and
money to youth sports keeping in mind college scholarship or even a sports
career for their child.
There is nothing wrong with either of
the types, but it’s important to know which side of the fence are you on. It’ll
save you a lot of time, energy and of course money to know the level of
commitment you need to give to the sport.
The first thing you need to do is let
your child decide if she wants to play. If the child doesn’t find a calling
then, there’s a fair chance she will give it up later, even after having taken
professional training. The best place to start would be paying attention to
your child. expose her to different sports. if there’s something she likes, you
might want to introduce it to her as a trial. If she likes it, you’ll know. If
she doesn’t, let her try some other sport. Even if she’s giving up too often,
you get to discover what’ll not be. Even that’s good for a start.
When your child picks up a game she
likes, and is faring well at the game, you might want to go easy to begin with.
Going easy would not mean pulling back on the exposure, but it really means
don’t jump up to buy the best of gear, or enroll too early in professional
training, or go overboard on the expenses. Remember, this is just the start.
There’ll be more expensive gear, travelling, private training and so on. Being
good at a sport is one thing and being passionate about it is another. Give
your child the time and space to figure out if that is her calling. Till then
you might choose to play local, join parent groups for carpool, swap gear or
try used gear at a goodwill store or even organize one such camp yourself.
The next thing you will need to work on
is your budget. Make a budget where you have allocations for everything
including your retirement planning and college fund. Once you know how much
money you have and how much you can cut other expenses down, you will be able
to take a fair call.
Last and the most important thing to do
is be realistic. You need to look for an anchor to base your commitment. Is
your child good at the game? Is she passionate about it? is she willing to walk
the extra mile and give the kind of dedication sports demand? Not all ‘good’
players become pro and not all pros have a sprawling sports career. Having said
that, you need to take your call as to what ‘type’ are you, and given what you
are investing, is it worth it?
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