Jonathan Ross

Tell me again how clubs, teams, and travel teams aren't scams? My $ 80-per-season son's soccer team beat a $ 5k-per-kid club team. Somewhere along the way, youth sports stopped being about kids and started being about parents. Club sports promise: • better coaching • more exposure • better competition • scholarships But the numbers tell a different story. Only about 1% of high school athletes get a college athletic scholarship. And most of those aren’t even full rides. Meanwhile, families are spending: • $3k–$7k a year on club teams • travel flights • hotels every weekend • private trainers • camps Over 10 years, that’s easily $50k+ per kid. For youth soccer. At 10 years old. Meanwhile, rec sports still do what youth sports were originally meant to do: Kids play with friends. Parents sit in lawn chairs. Everyone grabs pizza after the game. Low pressure. Pure fun. And kids who love the game usually end up getting better anyway. Our $80 rec team proved that last weekend. So I’m curious… Are travel sports actually for the kids…

Imagine if a trainer was expected to get identical results from every client. Different bodies. Different histories. Different abilities. Same outcome? Impossible. Yet that’s exactly what we expect from teachers.

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