I have 2 kids. Dd is 12 and she is a competitive gymnast. She trains in the gym 20 hrs a wk, 5 days a week yr round. She also plays soccer on a travel team, but dh is a coach and that is the only way she can do it. She is starting to phase out the soccer though to concentrate on gym more. She can make the one soccer practice that falls on Wed night because that is the only night that she doesn't have gym (M, T, TH, F evenings and Sat afternoon.) She misses a lot of soccer games and usually can only play in tournaments on Sundays.
Ds is 8. He makes my schedule much more hectic. He plays travel soccer too, again dh is coach which helps. He practices 2x a week, but dh takes him. He does this Fall/Spring. Winter they have had practice 1x a week indoors. He also does wrestling (Nov - Mar) which has practice 3x a week with matches on either Sat or Sun. He is also doing basketball this yr instead of indoor soccer. Basketball practice is 1x a week with games on Sat. He is enrolled in CCD too, which is on Tuesdays.
Both dh and I work full-time, but I have arranged my work schedule to 6:30 to 2:30pm. I do all the picking up from school, getting dinner ready, getting dd to the gym and getting ds where ever he needs to be (CCD & basketball). Dh does the other sports.
Our lives are very busy, especially this yr with dd travelling to different parts of the country for gymnastics meets. I feel like I don't have any time to get house stuff done. I do feel overloaded at times, but I also enjoy being at every sport event that I can get to.
I do not get criticism from friends because most of our friends are involved in sports with their children too. My closer friends are the gym moms, who live a very similiar life that I do. Most have other children and we all help each other out the best we can - especially over the summer when their gym times change and they usually go during the day. SAHM's tend to help the working moms and vise-versa.
I saw the mention of scholarships. I will speak of my dd because she is my older child and intensely involved in a sport. When we put her in gymnastics, I never thought, oh this could pay for college. She started when she was 4 and she is now 12 and has been in the sport for 8+ yrs. She continues to improve every yr and also continues to rise through the levels. If she can somehow maintain her health and doesn't get injured, she could have the potential for a scholarship. Girls from her gym frequently get them. We already have 2 Juniors who have given letters of intent with full rides to LSU and Michigan next yr. My dd sees this happen year in and year out. If you ask her, this is what she wants. She wants to go to college and do gymnastics. I always say - small girls, big dreams! I won't discourage her and plan to help her achieve her goals with any help I can offer. There are far worse things she could be saying, so I say let her dream - maybe her dream will come true. Somebody has to earn those scholarships, why can't it be my kid?
(Just wanted to add that this isn't something we talk about and harp on, so she does not have the pressure from us parents that she feels she needs to get a scholarship, it is something that she will free speak about herself and she wants to do.)
Can you say sports scholarship?
