You can say that about any travel sport. For many, traveling as families with teammates over the years has been a great way to have fun with family and friends at the same time. We have been involved in hockey, soccer, lacrosse and a small basketball stint for travel and we have always built great memories. I think if you do your research, know the philosophy of the club and coach you are aligned with and it suits your family values and philosophy of youth sports it can be a great experience. I'd rather have my kids with my whole family traveling and with us on Friday and Saturdays than playing video games and wandering the streets with nothing to do but find trouble. We still find pools, beaches, movies etc in between and after games. We do spend a lot of money, but we enjoy it. Younger siblings grow with other siblings on the teams and very often end up playing together. Teammates become life long friends and enjoy rivalries when they play one another in HS match ups.
I may be the minority, or maybe we have fallen into the right teams/clubs over the years across various sports, but we truly enjoy the experiences and the memories made. If any of my kids decide to call it quits- they get to make that call, but we certainly would have a bank of fun times to look back on and many friendships to hold on to as well. To each their own.
well said. a lot of us feel exactly the same way but don't often articulate it as eloquently as you just did.
