Doing The Math
It's an old story but it was brought up again in the paper this morning: Select sports. This time, softball was on the agenda as a local team won a prestigious national tournament.
The kids were in the 12-Under Division. They won it all. Good for them because they'll remember it the rest of their lives. They made good friends. They had shared experiences. Their hard work paid off. I'm not sure you can put a price tag on that.
The article focused on the number of college coaches attended the tournament as well as the amount of money spent per year by one kid who came to Forney, Texas from Jackson, Mississippi three times a week to play for a team. Her dad estimated that he spent $5,000 per year to get her on this particular team.
The article also mentioned the true success stories, such as the local girl who made well after playing select ball with a team from New Jersey...but then played with a team in Houston and flew each weekend to practice with them. She signed a full scholarship. Good for her.
But here's what I don't get, and maybe the article was too slanted or too short to give the whole story...
...If my math is correct, and you paid $5,000 per year from the time a kid was 8 (when the Mississippi dad started doing this) until the time she was 18 wouldn't she have $50,000 grand AT LEAST set aside for college.
...Are there not teams from Mississippi that manage to get to this tournament? I know Alabama always had teams at various national tournaments so I can't imagine there aren't high-level softball teams within a two or three hour drive of Jackson.
...How come nobody mentioned the love of the game? Maybe the kid does love it and again, the article didn't give her the chance, but if you're going to do anything for that amount of time it'd better be for passion. One injury or one serious boyfriend or burnout and the scholarship goals go right down the drain. Hey, if the child's got a natural passion to be the best at a sport she loves, there's nothing wrong with doing the very best you can to help her achieve that goal...but how often is it parent-driven?
...And how come nobody mentioned that there are 20 spots available on the women's Olympic team (which, softball was removed as an Olympic sport the last time around) even when they play in the world tournament? There's an awful lot of good players out there who are playing at the big schools who'll eat up those spots by invitation from the coaches. There's nothing wrong with hitting .280 and playing softball for your school because you love the game and enjoy the competition. You don't have to play at a world level to achieve the ultimate goals.
I'm just not sure where that balance is.
I wish that were more clear-cut.
Maybe it's too nostalgic...but I really liked playing PONY league ball with my friends for a whole season, letting the coaches pick a team of the best players to represent our park, and we played in a mid-summer tournament each year with varying degrees of success. Then we played football in the fall. Basketball in the winter. There was a spring lull (if you didn't run track or cross country) that fostered wiffle ball in the backyard, or pick-up football/basketball games or even street hockey without a parent or referee anywhere. Then baseball season again.
Just seems like the business of sport has started too early to me.
It's an old story but it was brought up again in the paper this morning: Select sports. This time, softball was on the agenda as a local team won a prestigious national tournament.
The kids were in the 12-Under Division. They won it all. Good for them because they'll remember it the rest of their lives. They made good friends. They had shared experiences. Their hard work paid off. I'm not sure you can put a price tag on that.
The article focused on the number of college coaches attended the tournament as well as the amount of money spent per year by one kid who came to Forney, Texas from Jackson, Mississippi three times a week to play for a team. Her dad estimated that he spent $5,000 per year to get her on this particular team.
The article also mentioned the true success stories, such as the local girl who made well after playing select ball with a team from New Jersey...but then played with a team in Houston and flew each weekend to practice with them. She signed a full scholarship. Good for her.
But here's what I don't get, and maybe the article was too slanted or too short to give the whole story...
...If my math is correct, and you paid $5,000 per year from the time a kid was 8 (when the Mississippi dad started doing this) until the time she was 18 wouldn't she have $50,000 grand AT LEAST set aside for college.
...Are there not teams from Mississippi that manage to get to this tournament? I know Alabama always had teams at various national tournaments so I can't imagine there aren't high-level softball teams within a two or three hour drive of Jackson.
...How come nobody mentioned the love of the game? Maybe the kid does love it and again, the article didn't give her the chance, but if you're going to do anything for that amount of time it'd better be for passion. One injury or one serious boyfriend or burnout and the scholarship goals go right down the drain. Hey, if the child's got a natural passion to be the best at a sport she loves, there's nothing wrong with doing the very best you can to help her achieve that goal...but how often is it parent-driven?
...And how come nobody mentioned that there are 20 spots available on the women's Olympic team (which, softball was removed as an Olympic sport the last time around) even when they play in the world tournament? There's an awful lot of good players out there who are playing at the big schools who'll eat up those spots by invitation from the coaches. There's nothing wrong with hitting .280 and playing softball for your school because you love the game and enjoy the competition. You don't have to play at a world level to achieve the ultimate goals.
I'm just not sure where that balance is.
I wish that were more clear-cut.
Maybe it's too nostalgic...but I really liked playing PONY league ball with my friends for a whole season, letting the coaches pick a team of the best players to represent our park, and we played in a mid-summer tournament each year with varying degrees of success. Then we played football in the fall. Basketball in the winter. There was a spring lull (if you didn't run track or cross country) that fostered wiffle ball in the backyard, or pick-up football/basketball games or even street hockey without a parent or referee anywhere. Then baseball season again.
Just seems like the business of sport has started too early to me.
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