Sometimes I think we need a break from politics, government spending and all the other issues that seem to dominate our daily lives. Today I’m taking that break to write about something I’ve enjoyed most of my 75 years: sports.
Unfortunately, even sports can give us plenty to complain about.
When Did Kids’ Sports Become an Investment?
I’ve been involved in youth sports for most of my life. I played sports as a kid, coached baseball and basketball in my 20s and early 30s, was a basketball referee for 15 years, a Little League umpire for 15 years and have umpired baseball for 50 years.
For 20 years, I also ran a Saturday morning basketball clinic with my friend David. For ten weeks each year, we spent three hours every Saturday teaching fourth- through eighth graders the fundamentals of basketball. We taught them how to dribble, pass, shoot, play defense and use proper footwork. Nothing fancy. We were teaching kids how to play and enjoy the game.
My daughter Katy who participated in the Saturday morning clinic was a three-sport athlete in high school and became a very accomplished softball player. She eventually played on Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s 2007 NCAA Division II national championship softball team.
I mention all of this for one reason. I love youth sports.
This isn’t an article arguing that kids shouldn’t play competitive sports. It’s an article asking whether adults have lost perspective about what youth sports are supposed to be.
I Did Something Very Differently With Katy
As talented as Katy was, I didn’t allow her to participate in travel sports until high school. Even then, travel sports were second to her high-school team. At the time, I didn’t think I was depriving her of anything. She played basketball, volleyball, and softball. She learned from different coaches, competed, made friends and developed into a very good athlete. Katy loved the challenges and experiences that sports provided.
Today, I’m watching youth sports from a different perspective. I’m a grandfather, and Katy and her husband, Brad, have three children involved in travel sports. They started much younger than Katy did.
Travel sports can take over a family’s life. There are practices, games, tournaments, hotels, restaurants, gas, equipment and entry fees. Weekends are planned around sports schedules. Family vacations can become tournament trips. The financial commitment can be enormous.
Katy and Brad understand the challenges of travel sports. They know the benefits sports can provide. They know that playing travel sports doesn’t guarantee a college scholarship. From my conversations with other parents, I’m not sure everyone understands just how long those odds really are.
Then I Read About Six-Year-Old Travel Baseball
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal contained an article that stopped me in my tracks. It began at a travel baseball tournament for six-year-olds.
Perhaps the most astonishing number in the Journal article was this: one suburban Los Angeles six-and-under team played 108 games in a year.
Think about that. Some of these children are so young they aren’t even pitching to one another yet. Their parents, however, are already spending thousands of dollars.
The Journal described club dues, tournament fees, hotels, transportation, uniforms and equipment. There was even a $191-a-year app providing advanced statistics and videos of at-bats. Spectators at one tournament paid $60 just to watch. The Journal reported that spending $10,000 a year on youth baseball isn’t unusual for families deeply involved in travel programs.
At that point, I started wondering: What exactly are they buying?
Many parents justify these expenses by talking about college opportunities. I understand that. College is expensive, and if spending money now helps your child receive a scholarship later, perhaps it feels like an investment.
Unfortunately, the math doesn’t agree.
According to NCAA data cited by The Wall Street Journal, fewer than 3% of high-school baseball players will play Division I baseball. That doesn’t mean 3% receive full scholarships. It means fewer than 3% even reach Division I. The chances of eventually playing professionally are smaller still.
One father interviewed by the Journal, who has become something of an adviser to baseball parents, described travel baseball as an investment rather succinctly: “It’s a horrible investment.”
I think he’s right. If your primary reason for spending thousands of dollars annually on an eight-year-old’s athletic career is the expectation that you’ll eventually recover that money through a college scholarship, you might want to reconsider.
Follow the Money
Something else in the article bothered me even more. Youth sports is now estimated to be a $40 billion-a-year industry, and private-equity firms have noticed. They are investing in tournament companies, youth-sports organizations, training facilities and equipment manufacturers.
That doesn’t automatically make those businesses bad. They provide fields, coaches, tournaments, technology and opportunities that families clearly value. However, we should recognize the financial incentives involved.
A business makes more money when your child plays more games, joins another team, travels to another tournament or signs up for private instruction. Equipment manufacturers make more money when parents become convinced that a $500 bat or $400 glove will give their child an advantage.
Most importantly, the businesses benefit when parents become afraid that their child will fall behind. One person quoted in the Journal described that psychology perfectly: “A scared dad is a spending dad.”
I suspect much of this comes from fears familiar to every parent. What if everyone else’s child is doing this and mine isn’t? What if the travel coach has connections? What if college coaches won’t see my daughter? What if my son falls behind? What if we’re denying our child an opportunity?
Those are powerful emotions. They’re also very profitable emotions.
The Journal describes travel teams beginning at five years old, rankings for children as young as nine and private instruction for elementary-school athletes. Training facilities use high-speed cameras to analyze swing angles, exit velocity and bat speed. One California facility even has a leaderboard displaying pitching velocities for 10-year-olds.
At some point we ought to ask: Are we developing children, or developing athletic résumés?
There’s Another Cost
The financial cost may not even be my biggest concern. The American Academy of Pediatrics has warned about early sports specialization and excessive training. Children who specialize intensely at young ages face increased risks of overuse injuries and burnout. The AAP has encouraged young athletes to participate in multiple sports rather than specializing too early and has emphasized the importance of fun and developing lifelong physical-activity skills.
That sounds remarkably similar to what my partner David and I were trying to accomplish at our Saturday basketball clinic. Teach them the fundamentals, teach them how to be teammates and then let them play.
The article also describes doctors treating increasingly young baseball players for repetitive-stress injuries to elbows and shoulders. Some families have become so financially and emotionally invested that when doctors recommend injured children try another sport, parents resist because they’ve invested so much in baseball.
That should concern us. When the investment becomes more important than the child, something has gone wrong.
Travel Sports Aren’t the Enemy
Travel sports can be wonderful. A talented child may need stronger competition than a local recreational league can provide. Good travel coaches can teach advanced skills. Tournaments can create friendships and family memories that last a lifetime. For some athletes, travel sports eventually provide valuable exposure to college coaches.
The problem arises when parents believe that travel sports are mandatory, especially for very young children. There’s an important difference between saying, “My child loves playing baseball and wants to play at a higher level,” and saying, “My child needs to play travel baseball because otherwise he’ll fall behind.”
This brings me back to Katy. She didn’t start travel sports at eight. We didn’t spend every weekend of her childhood driving to tournaments in another state. She played three sports in high school and wasn’t specializing in one sport.
Somehow, she still became good enough to play on an NCAA national championship softball team.
Would her path work for every athlete today? Probably not. Recruiting has changed, and travel sports have become an important part of the competitive system in many sports. However, Katy’s experience reminds me of something we’ve perhaps forgotten.
Talent still matters. Athletic ability matters. Work ethic matters. Learning fundamentals matters. Loving the game matters.
A $500 bat or $400 glove doesn’t create any of those things.
Maybe We Should Ask a Different Question
The Wall Street Journal article ends with a family spending between $2,000 and $6,000 a month on baseball for two boys. They travel around the country for tournaments. The parents have accepted help from relatives and put expenses on credit cards.
From time to time, they ask their sons a remarkably simple question: “Is this still fun for you?” So far, the boys say yes. I’m glad they do.
I think every parent involved in youth sports should ask this simple question. Are you still having fun?
After more than 50 years around youth sports, I’ve watched thousands of kids play games. Very few received college scholarships. Almost none became professional athletes. Yet thousands of them received something much more valuable.
They learned how to compete and how to lose. They learned how to work with teammates and listen to coaches. They learned that practice matters. They learned how to win without humiliating an opponent. Most importantly, they learned how to fail and come back the next day. Those are pretty good returns on an investment.
Maybe the purpose of youth sports was never supposed to be creating college athletes. Maybe it was supposed to be creating better adults.
Is Detroit Still Hockeytown?
There was a time when Detroit was unquestionably Hockeytown. The Red Wings were one of the premier franchises in professional sports, making the Stanley Cup playoffs 25 consecutive seasons from 1991 through 2016. During that remarkable run, they won four Stanley Cups—in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.
Think about that. For a quarter of a century, Detroit fans could count on their hockey team competing for a championship. Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were among the stars who made the Red Wings one of the most respected organizations in the NHL.
Joe Louis Arena was packed, and the Red Wings were a source of enormous civic pride. Detroit didn’t simply call itself Hockeytown. The team earned that reputation.
Today, I wonder what happened to that organization.
The Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs since 2016. That’s ten consecutive seasons without postseason hockey, an almost unimaginable decline for a franchise that once represented sustained excellence. Rebuilding a professional sports team is difficult, particularly in a salary-cap league. Great players retire, draft picks don’t always develop, and rebuilding takes patience. I understand all of that. However, ten years seems like an awfully long time to ask fans to remain patient.
In 2019, Detroit welcomed home Steve Yzerman as general manager. Yzerman was one of the greatest players in franchise history and had helped build a successful organization in Tampa Bay. If anyone could restore Hockeytown, it was Stevie Y.
Seven years later, the Red Wings still hadn’t made the playoffs. This summer, Yzerman was removed as general manager, although he remains with the organization in an advisory capacity. Shawn Horcoff was subsequently named interim general manager while the organization continues searching for a permanent replacement. For a franchise that once seemed to have everything figured out, the uncertainty is difficult to understand.
Then Came Dylan Larkin
Perhaps nothing illustrates the current state of the Red Wings better than the situation involving Dylan Larkin. He grew up in Michigan, was drafted by Detroit, became team captain and developed into one of its best players. He also helped the United States win Olympic hockey gold in 2026.
After another disappointing Red Wings season, Larkin requested a trade. The organization subsequently removed him as captain, although he remains with the team. I don’t know everything that happened behind closed doors. However, when a hometown star who has spent his entire NHL career with the Red Wings asks to leave, it suggests that something isn’t working.
The reaction from fans has been equally troubling. Larkin was booed during opening-night introductions. Some fans even chanted “Sell the team,” directing their frustration toward the Ilitch family, which has owned the franchise for decades.
On Tuesday night, Larkin returned from injury and helped Detroit defeat Ottawa 5–3, scoring a goal and adding an assist. Some of the boos turned into cheers. Perhaps that’s a reminder that winning can still heal some wounds. See my Video of the Day
What Happened to the Red Wings?
I suspect the answer is more complicated than one bad general manager, one unhappy player or one disappointing season. The great Red Wings teams benefited from exceptional ownership, management, scouting, coaching and player development. Those pieces worked together for decades. Today, the organization seems to be struggling to restore that formula.
I’m not suggesting that the Ilitch family doesn’t care about winning. Nor am I suggesting that Yzerman didn’t work hard to rebuild the team. However, professional sports organizations are judged by results.
Ten consecutive seasons without the playoffs is a result. A star player asking to leave is another. Fans booing their former captain and chanting for the owners to sell the franchise tells us something else: the relationship between the team and its supporters has deteriorated.
Detroit remains a great hockey city. The history, passion and knowledge of its fans haven’t disappeared. However, I wonder whether the Red Wings can still claim the title of Hockeytown simply because of what they accomplished 20 or 30 years ago.
The franchise earned that title through decades of excellence. Perhaps it’s time for the Red Wings to earn it again.
Quote of the Day
“The most important thing in sports is not winning but taking part.”
— A familiar expression of the Olympic ideal
Winning matters. I certainly understand that after a lifetime of competing, coaching and officiating. However, participation, friendships, discipline and the enjoyment of playing are among the reasons sports matter long after the final score is forgotten.
Orchid of the Day
Today’s Orchid goes to the volunteer coaches, umpires, referees and parents who make recreational youth sports possible.
They spend evenings and weekends teaching fundamentals, maintaining fields, organizing teams and helping children learn how to compete. Most receive little or no compensation, and their contributions often go unrecognized.
Without them, millions of children would never have the opportunity to experience organized sports.
Onion of the Day
Today’s Onion goes to the youth-sports businesses and marketers that encourage parents to believe expensive equipment, year-round tournaments and private instruction are essential to their children’s athletic futures.
There’s nothing wrong with providing good coaching or competitive opportunities. However, selling parents the fear that their children will fall behind unless they spend thousands of dollars deserves some criticism.
Question of the Day
Have youth sports become too expensive and competitive for their own good, or are today’s travel programs simply providing opportunities that didn’t exist when we were growing up?
I’d particularly like to hear from parents and grandparents who are currently involved in travel sports.
Lyrics of the Day
Monday’s answer:
“Tubthumping” — Chumbawamba
Today’s lyric:
“We are the champions, my friends.”
Name the song and the artist and put your answer in the comment section of the blog below.
Answer next time.
Video of the Day:
My daughter started skiing at a USSA level in high school…. She was very successful and got a full ride scholarship to NMU… skied for them one year, disliked the coaching and quit the team ( and the $$) She continued to race at a national level…. Skiing is a weird sport. My son played on a travel soccer team from 4th grade on. He made life long friends and had fun…. They won the state high school championship. He also raced USSA .
It is a different world today…. My grandson plays soccer and they just travel locally…
Skiing is for fun and he will probably race in high school. Things are vastly more expensive now and fun and a life balance are most important to the family 👍