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WC IL | My opinion and probably worth what it cost you.
Take the money it will cost you for the traveling team and invest it in a good mutual fund. You will have a start on paying for your child's college if they choose to go. The chances of your child playing in college are extremely small. Doing it to be part of the cool crowd is a poor reason to do it.
Have a friend with 2 kids, girl a freshman in HS and son in 7th grade. The kids have both been involved with traveling teams in basketball, volleyball, and baseball/softball for several years. Most weekends mom takes one and dad the other to a tournament somewhere, with the closest an hour away but most of them several hours away. At least 1, if not 2 nights apart almost every weekend, year round. He told me that in 2019 they spent roughly $16,000 for lodging and meals to follow the kids around. This didn't include what they spent taking them roughly 45 minutes to an hour each way 3 nights a week for practice. Both kids are fairly athletic, but almost certainly not good enough to get a scholarship for sports.
A good GPA in school and a good ACT test score will probably get them more scholarship money than they will get from sports.
Sports have value, but IMHO, not enough value for you and your kids to devote your entire lives to them. | |
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Youth traveling basketball
