What Does it Mean to Keep Your Word?

Altho our reasons had to do with having made that commitment but also avoiding the label of being deemed travel team prostitutes.

No one should ever kid themselves about their children participating in any youth sport at a high level. Folks, no kid comes down the chute ready to hit a ball, shoot a basket, break a tackle, kick a goal or anything else. That is a learned behavior based on an associative reaction to something.

Just as the girl who falls in love with the guy who shows her some attention and treats her "good" wants to please him, even to the point of being "turned out", our children love and want to please us too. Little ones especially, would do anything for approval and attention, so if dad will spend some time with them and tell them how wonderful they are and it always seems to happen when there is a bat, ball or glove involved, guess what they'll soon figure out?

As they get older and better, they soon find out they can get the same kind of reaction from other people too. In the right amounts and for the right reasons, that's a good thing. But, just like the pimp who wants "more", we want "more" too. Only in our case, we want more of what makes our child happy and gives him recognition.

Unfortunately, "more" isn't necessarily better, and if "ultimate success" is the goal, then someone has to get in the back seats of a few cars.

There might be a parent out there who's kid gets the chance to move from a regular "rec" team to a good "select" team, or from a good "traveling" team to an "elite" traveling team without dropping the lower team like a hot rock, but I haven't met them yet.

The teams are no better either. If there's any chance at all to get their hooks into a "stud", someone on the team who has been loyal is gonna find out what loyalty is worth when the stakes are high enough.

We've been in both positions, and let me tell you which one feels better! If you haven't been in the position of being the one who was snubbed, dropped or even politely asked not to come back, let me tell you its as bad as seeing your child injured. And, if your kid has given it everything he has and then gets dumped on, the scars are just as real as those suffered in a physical injury.

There's a big difference in trying out and not making the team and making the team and then getting dumped! This stuff is like a drug and the desire to get "more" will eventually get all but a very few lucky ones.