How have youth sports affected your family?  

So long as the kids are still enjoying it and they are able to keep their grades up, I think that youth sports are a great thing. They teach kids things such as teamwork, discipline, and working with others towards a common goal. This isn't even to mention the health benefits that come from an active lifestyle. My son is in youth football (he can't wait until he turns 10 and can play "real" (tackle) football instead of flag football) and I can understand where you're coming from. It can become a bit of a grind after a while. I just try to keep two things in mind: 1)He's only going to be a kid for so long. Eventually, he won't need me to take him to practice and I'll probably miss doing it when that happens. and 2) I'd much rather him be outside playing and excercizing his body and his mind than sitting in his room, playing Madden on the X-box. lol

Wow, it does soundl ike youth sports have taken over your lives, miamilady.

My three boys would play some kind of organized sport every season if I let them, but I no longer let them. I used to, but I just couldn't do it anymore, so I limited them to one or two sports a year. We live 18 miles from the nearest town with a recreation department, and, quite frankly, the price of gasoline is prohibitive to driving all three of them all over the place on a daily basis.

They all three like to play football, and so during the Fall, our lives are pretty much on hold while we ferry them from place to place. Of course, none of them are on the same team, and they don't practice or play at the same place. During the Fall, we are at some sort of football activity 6 days of the week.

Every Fall I swear to myself, "Never again." But then, I do relent, reasoning that it's really not that bad. It's good for them. They enjoy it. Also, while I don't like stopping what I'm doing to take them, when I'm actually at their practices, I find that I enjoy myself. I enjoy being outside in the cool evenings. Sometimes I will watch them practice, or even 'help' if asked, but a lot of the time it gives me a nice time to read.

What really blows my mind is how engrossed they become in football during this time. They will go to practice (or a game) then return home and play football with each other (and sometimes a friend.) I made a regulation size football goal for them in the front yard last year, and they love practicing field goals and running touchdowns. I don't know where they get the energy to play like this after practice. As if that's not enough, they will come into the house after all that, and play Madden '07. Oh, and if there's a football game on television, they'll have it on while they play Madden!

Youth sports don't have any impact on our life at all at this point in time. My son used to play both fall and spring soccer, when he was in elementary school, as well as playing baseball. Once he got into junior high, he gave it up. My oldest daughter played a couple of seasons of soccer, then she gave it up. My youngest daughter has never played any organized sports.

My dad always watched sports when I grew up, well when my brother and I grew up, and now it's kind of the bond my brother and I have. We go to sporting events with each other and we have so much fun. We love watching at home together too. So I'm glad that my dad raised us watching them. Of course we played them growing up too, but my brother and I will always have that bond of watching our sports teams together.

Way back when, when my kids were younger, from the time they were 4 until they were in high school, our lives were pretty much ruled by their sports. My sons are 2.5 years apart so they RARELY were on the same team, but it did sometimes happen. They played Baseball (spring and some summers), Soccer (fall) and Basketball (winter) evey year. My oldest stopped playing everything but Baseball when he was about 12 or so, but my youngest played everything until he was 16 or so - then he started coaching Basketball. We had practice and/or games almost every night, all day Saturday and even some Sundays. I worked full-time and was a single mom so, needless to say, I never stopped running. It was impossible to plan something in advance because we always had a game/practice to go to. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVED IT! It was just very hectic and I can remember thinking - When will this end???

Now, my boys are 24 and 21 (he's in Japan in the Navy) and I SOOOO miss those days!!!!! I made some really good friends - only a handfull I still keep in touch with though - had some really good times (and some bad ones...) but I will cherish those memories always! One of the people I have kept closest touch with now has a 6 year old granddaughter and she's cheerleading. I missed her T-ball season last spring, but I surely don't want to miss any more of her cheerleading!!!

Spend as much time with them now as you can, you'll never get these days back!

I have two boys who are sports crazy. They play sports year round. My youngest son plays baseball, basketball, and football. He also plays baseball and basketball all-stars. My oldest son played all three until this past year and now only plays basketball.
I think for the most part youth sports is a posite thing, however when it starts to become more abouth the parents and coaches it can start to take a turn.
I know exactly how you feel about it taking over your lives. It seems sports is what everything revolves around.
I started a group about youth sports at Yuwie for parents, coaches, refs, or fans of Kids In Sports to get together and share, ideas, tips, pros and cons, or just experiences. The link is on my profile if you would like to check it out.

There will come a day when this will end, and it will not end how you think, or when you think. She'll decide one day that she doesn't want to play this game anymore and quit.
And there's nothing you can do about it.
My son had baseball scholarship offers from schools all over the South.
On the last out of his last game as a senior, he came off the field, looked at me and said, "Well, that's it. I'm done. I quit. I don't want to play anymore."
I treated baseball like your daughter's dad treats softball...obsessed with it... making it more his job than a game. It was my son's job, predestined from the moment I saw he was a boy. He would follow in my footsteps. He would play professional baseball like his Dad did and do better at it because he has me there to guide him along the way.
Some of the worst things I've ever done as a father to my son, happened on the baseball field.
I used to be the single most devoted disciple to youth sports... now I am its greatest detractor.
Youth sports aren't for the youths...they're for parents trying realize their unfulfilled dreams.

My son plays soccer and loves it. He begged for a solid week to be able to play and after talking with some of the other parents and the coach, we let him play. His games are usually on the weekends during the spring months. Practices are once a week after school, so it's not a time consuming sport like baseball or softball.

My oldest daughter is into ballet. Not really a sport but it's something she loves donig.

My youngest daughter is only 2 so she's not into sports yet. She loves to swim and flop around in the bathtub, so I wouldn't be surprised if when she's older that she doesn't do something with that.

It hasn't affected us any at all. My husband and I split the time it takes to pick up and drop off our kids at practices and meets. We both try to be there for all the games and performances, but sometimes one of us gets tied up. But our kids are having fun and they are staying fit and healthy and not vegging out in front of the TV gaining weight like crazy.