Can we sell out???

[Esqueleto]

Society tells them to.

Monkey see, monkey do. Big dummies

[Esqueleto]

Society tells them to.

[CAJUNSby90]

Always love a good seinfeld reference.

Kuddos Sir.

[MarlinMan3]

Amen, I'm amazed by parents hauling their kids all over the state and south for travel tournaments every weekend. WTF, why?

They would rather sit outside at a ballpark than stay home and do chores?

[Turbine]

They would rather sit outside at a ballpark than stay home and do chores?

Society has flipped upside down.

When I was a kid, I did the chores.

[ManAboutTown]

Sure there’s some idiot parenting going on, but there’s some really great parenting going on as well.

[facelessjonmoon]

Amen, I'm amazed by parents hauling their kids all over the state and south for travel tournaments every weekend. WTF, why?

Alot of them probably think their little slugger is destined for MLB

I see this a lot with people I know in Texas. Year round coaching and training for kids with marginal talent

[MarlinMan3]

Alot of them probably think their little slugger is destined for MLB

I see this a lot with people I know in Texas. Year round coaching and training for kids with marginal talent

Most wont want to take the paycut

[Clutch0364]

Sure there’s some idiot parenting going on, but there’s some really great parenting going on as well.

Every generation thinks the next is in decline. They are looking back at a “golden age” that never truly existed. There is good and bad, but the train keeps moving.

[RedTails]

Alot of them probably think their little slugger is destined for MLB

I see this a lot with people I know in Texas. Year round coaching and training for kids with marginal talent

I'm anti-travel ball, but my oldest is in travel soccer. It's all a money grab, but from what I've seen most parents aren't in it because they think they have the next superstar kid. This is what I see:

1. Subset of parents trying to keep up with the Joneses (same people that need newest Tahoe)
2. Travel orgs guilt parents into thinking they have to do this for their kid, or they are bad parents that don't care about their children's future
3. If you start young, sunk cost fallacy
4. Eventually build a camaraderie with other parents on the team and teammates become friends outside of the sport

All that said, this will be my last year in this racket. If my kiddo was super passionate (dribbling a ball outside all day at home), I'd probably keep mine in. I guess that would be my advice to other young parents, if your kid has a true passion for something, do your best to nurture it. Travel ball isn't worth it if your kid simply enjoys it, rec ball scratches that itch.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk.