I’m going to start off with this. Chris and I are not sports people.

We don’t really see the value of dedicating our lives to them. It just seems like a waste of time. We do understand playing for fun and on recreation leagues, but the idea of travel sports, children enrolled in multiple sports and playing all year long is just INSANE. Our 5 children have all played sports at one point or another. Do you have any idea how many parents are on these text threads with the “Little Sally can’t practice both nights for soccer because she’s in dance and cheerleading as well.” excuse? WHY? Some of these kids are 9/10 years old. What is the purpose of enrolling your child if they can’t be loyal to the team? Or being busy every single night so your child can’t just be a child? Seriously, can someone please explain this to me?

Chris and I value family time. For 8 years, we had a rule that we would not let the kids do sports in the summer or fall, so we could enjoy the down time as a family. We travel, fish, kayak, garden, etc. At some point, we have told all the kids “no” to fall or travel sports when they’ve asked. This year, we have angered H. He didn’t really make the high school soccer team after try-outs. Instead of cutting players, the coach made up a reason to keep 4 boys at home games only. The real reason was just that those 4 weren’t as strong and he wanted the others on the team to have more playing time. Rather than cutting the 4 boys, he left them at home games only. It boils down to this team is their version of a “participation trophy”. The “thanks for trying out, but you can only be on the team while we’re home”. Chris and I decided H needed to withdraw from the team this year. He has hard classes this semester and we don’t feel it’s right that he practices as much as the rest of the team, but he’s not allowed to go to away games. We did sign him up for soccer lessons twice a week, so he can still build his skills, but he wasn’t spending every day focusing on a sport that wasn’t giving him anything in return during this time.

We are not perfect parents. We aren’t always sure what the “right” answer is. But we love our kids and want to spend REAL QUALITY time with them, not running to multiple practices a night, getting home after dark, and cramming in fast food for dinner in the car. We want dinners at the table, movie nights, evening walks, and time where we can just be a family and talk. For those of you that do find joy in cramming in all the things, more power to you. For those of you reading this, that know your child won’t be a professional athlete and you don’t like the busy schedules 24/7, don’t be afraid to say no. Just make sure you explain to your kids why you are limiting sports and find things for your family to do together.