Kids’ sports have become more than just a time commitment for parents. The team-building exercise has become a financial investment that only the privileged few are entitled to participate in.
TikToker Liz McKenney took to the video-sharing site in shock after a parent told her they offered to pay their son $20,000 NOT to play travel hockey that year.
McKenney shared the story of parents who offered their teen $20K to quit travel hockey for a season.
Apparently exasperated with the time commitment and expense of the extracurricular activity, these parents were at their wit’s end.
Why the whopping sum of $20K, you ask? Because that’s how much this family has to shell out every year so he can play.
Perhaps the most bonkers part of McKenney’s tale, the teenager said “no.”
McKenney jokingly stated what we are all thinking: “So, I guess I’m just asking if there’s anybody willing to pay me not to play hockey this year — because I’ll say, ‘Yes.'”
The cost of children’s sports is untenable for most parents.
The average family, according to data from Project Play, spends nearly $900 a year on one child’s sport. Factor in siblings and the fact that most kids play different sports each season, and the bill is well into the thousands. In NJ, some travel soccer programs charge $4000 per athlete for a three-month season.
While most parents will do what it takes to fulfill their children’s dreams, the sad reality is that, according to a 2019 survey, most kids will quit their preferred sport by age 11.
These costs highlight the privilege and economic disparity that seems to underscore the once-praised institution of youth sports. The days of volunteer parents coaching and local businesses supplying “Bad News Bears” style jerseys are a thing of the past.
Kids’ sports are big business. Middle-class families are struggling to finance these hobbies, which means underprivileged communities are completely left out.
Charlie Maher, a Professor Emeritus at Rutgers who also serves as a sports psychologist for the Cleveland Guardians, told NJ.com, “It’s like creating a sports caste system. The privileged will get more opportunities to learn, to get better instruction and more opportunities…
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