GRAND Magazine - September/October 2019 - 10

ask dr. gramma karen

Grandparents lament: Those damn travel sports teams!
BY KAREN L. RANCOURT

O

f late, I am hearing from more and
more grandparents who are finding
that travel sports teams are cutting
into their time with their grandchildren, be it a
Sunday family dinner, a holiday gathering, or
a road trip. They are curious about how other
grandparents feel about these teams and how
this phenomenon is affecting other families.

10 GRAND

SEPT-OCT 2019

Facts about travel teams
Travel teams, sometimes called elite teams,
select teams, club teams, or tournament
teams - or, as some grandparents refer to
them, "Those damn travel sports teams!" -
have mushroomed into a $17 billion market.
This youth-sports industry has grown by 55%
since 2010, with most of the growth in golf,
gymnastics, ice hockey, and track and field.
Unlike recreational youth-sports teams that
are open to all, are free or inexpensive, and
are affiliated with a school or community with
a guarantee that all kids will get some play
time, travel teams typically require try-outs
in searches for kids with actual or potential
talent and skill. In fact, kids as young as seven
years old are being enlisted. Travel teams are
all about leagues, competing, winning, and
profit. Participation on these teams requires
significant investments of time and money,
which explains why these travel teams often
become a top-priority activity for many
families.
And there is a good reason they are called
travel teams, as they typically require travel of
long distances to out-of-state destinations on
weekends, and in some cases, on weekdays,
which necessitates kids missing school and
parents taking time off from work.

Financial implications
The finances required to fund a child on
a travel team are significant, with parents
reporting annual expenditures ranging from
$6,000 to $12,000 per child, excluding the
additional costs of sending a child to an
affiliated summer program. Because these
are out-of-pocket expenses, participation is
generally limited to children who come from
affluent or wealthy families; for less well off
families, a child's participation can require
significant financial sacrifices. For example, a
new TD Ameritrade survey conducted by
Harris Poll found that youth sports expenses
impinge on 74% of American parents' ability
to save and invest for retirement.

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Karen L. Rancourt, Ph.D., writes
an advice column for parents and
grandparents at Mommybites.com.
Her most recent book is, It's All
About Relationships: New Ways to
Make Them Healthy and Fulfilling,
at Home and at Work.

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Show me the book!

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GRAND Magazine - September/October 2019

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