What sport does your kid/kids practice? (and for how long?)

This is Owen's 3rd year of doing baseball in the summer. It starts June 1st and goes til the middle of August (IF they make the play-offs otherwise it's the beginning of August). Right now he's practicing 2x a week for about 90 min each. Then his schedule varies from 1 to 2 games a week + practice. He wants to play football and basketball so I'm sure we'll add another sport into the mix come fall/winter.

 

We keep it relaxed around here...I do like the kids to do things that are active, but I also have to balance this out with the reality that we have four kids, and if there are too many activities going on at once, it's quite stressful for us all. We usually have our four kids do soccer once a year, either in the spring or the fall. DD does Girls On The Run, which we've really liked for the self-esteem and confidence it teaches her. Plus, it's fun because she runs a couple of 5Ks with her dad (Dh runs, too, so it's great that they have something they can do together). She just finished that up for the year.

Our boys want to do another activity, but they've also had a few behavioral problems at school, so I'm telling them that once we get those mostly resolved, then I'll sign them up for summer camps. We are almost there, but not quite. I have one that would like to do flag football, one that is interested in Karate camp, and another that wants to do basketball, so we'll see how it goes. DD is going to do a short dance camp this summer.

I try not to overschedule them, since two of my boys are also doing scouts, and dd has a girls' church group that meets twice a month, so we have plenty going on. As well, dh trains with a group for marathon/triathlon conditioning, and I take a weekly ballet class (which takes a break for the summer). We try to spread out the activities and not have too much going on at once.

 

Our kids do swimming lessons, usually 2 grades a year (each grade is about 8 weeks).

Then optional sports - my oldest did 3 years of soccer and 2 years of football, and has decided to try Karate in the fall (I'm not so keen on that because here we pay by the month and the kids can go to as many lessons as they want during the week, so it becomes an everyday thing, overtaking life in general...not my idea of what kids should be doing this young - almost all dojos are set up this way).

My youngest has done 3 years of soccer (one indoor season which he loved!), and is starting football (spring, then back again in August through October), and he is so excited about being able to tackle. He's only 7, but they start them young here. However, they are so well coached - his team (ATOM 8 - 10 year olds) has 8 coaches and 2 trainers (my dh is one of the trainers), so they are very well trained before they even get any real field time.

However, in the summer, they also get some overnight camps (each is 3 to 5 days depending on the age), and I've also got them in extreme-skateboarding which is a day-camp for 4 days.

Since I might have to be back working by August, we figured setting them up with lots of activities would make it easier on me, because I'll have to juggle kids + a full work week. Blah.

 

We're definitely in the minority in our county/state, but the kids choose one sport each and that's it. Rory (who is 6) plays soccer in the fall. It's two 1-hour practices a week with a game every Saturday morning. Season lasts about 10 weeks.

Camden (who is 9) plays spring baseball. He has practices 2-3 times a week, which are 3 hours long and then 1-2 games a week (which take 3 hours with the game plus warm-ups). Season lasts about 12 weeks.

With church activities as well as trying to keep a family unit solid and not overdoing it, one sport per child is just it for us.

 

Sarita did performing arts classes on saturdays, since she was 2, we took her because she was always dancing and singing...we were both working on stage when she was little so she grew up with it...but I have never forced it... she did ballet for some time but then stopped because I didn;t have money, then ice skating, which also stopped when the cantre increased the prices, and for the past 8 years she went bacl to musical theatre classes on satuyrdays, plus whatever activities they had in school. Now she is in college also doing msuical theatre and she begged me to pay for a summer course....
I guess the key when they are Bianca's age is that they WANT to do it....
I see moms forcing kids into 4 sports/activities a week, and if the kid doesn't enjoy it...is only traumatic in the long run.
I don't think it will over work her body if she really wants to do it....
with the figure skating,do you think she will want to compete?
if so, better not stop, as (like someone already said)...it looses flexibility and the practice is 70% in ice skating....)
you have amazing competitions in the USA, here in the Uk nothing much goes on...and it ends up being horribly expensive, but if you think she loves it enough to get serious & compete...I wouldn't stop her....

 

i almost hate to answer this question.... don't judge.

sebastian is a gymnast. he just moved up in hours. he now practices 18 hours a week. yes. 18. yes. he is 12. yes, it's a lot. i know.
to address some of the issues that come along with such a rigorous schedule, we've done a few things.
1. we carefully monitor his diet. we try to get at least 2500 calories in a day. 3000 if we can muster it. he's just not a big eater, though, so it's hard to get him up that high and keep it healthy.
2. we do lots of egg white protein. Rob John makes a great vanilla flavored powder that is delish mixed with vanilla almond milk. yum!
3. fish oil extracts with 600+mg EPA and 400+mg DHA. these help with more rapid muscle repair.
4. chiropractic maintenance as well as working closely with a sports med dr and nutritionist.
yes, it's more extreme than most kids' normal sports schedules. it is what it is. but i do definitely think that if your kids are wanting to do an increased number of hours of training, there's much more to consider than 'will it fit on the calendar'

isaac does lacrosse and football. about 4 hours of practice a week and at least 1 game, sometimes 2.

meagan does soccer now (although she was a gymnast for 5 years). she does 1 1/2 hours of practice, and one or two games a week.

 

Rebecca...I think the question is...he does want to be a gymnast, right?
is not like you are forcing him to do it?

As I understand things, my view is that this world is not meant for the weak.
Even in jobs that are not competitive...my dad always said that success lays in this recipe:
Capacity (the studying/learning)
Will Power (which means practice practice and more practice)
and a drop of luck.
Any profession take (in my opinion) 25% of talent and 75% hard work.
A prima ballerina will never make it if she doesn't train hard...along with other requirements.
Some professions require more work, more hard practice....
And in some cases, if you (the child , of course, but as mums we are part of it) don't put in the long hours and hard work...the kid will never make it.
And some kids love what they do, others haven't found their calling...but I see that you haven't forced your daughter to continue with gymnastics on full...so I don't see why anyone would judge you on a bad way...I think you are supporting your child on a dream to become a gymnast and compete...right?

so, to me,the whole thing, about how much is too much, it all depends.
You have to have a good relationship with your son/daughter in order to know if they really want it...and support, never push, but sometimes a bit of a push is good...thing is not let that push become an obsession....