With both Shayla and Kiera playing soccer again this fall you can find us at a local field for either games or practices on 4 out of the 7 days of each week. "It is a short season" one parent recently said as we chatted about our fall schedules. Yeah, seven weeks of soccer isn't long at all. But, without breaking stride Shayla will head into basketball season which will seamlessly feed into Kiera's hoops season. After a few breaths and stretches we will lace up some tap and hip hop shoes for a bit of combo dance class in the spring. This all adds up to a bunch of shuttling, late dinners, and occasionally some overtired kids. It also brings endless amounts of fun. This is what being a sports family is all about. So while I lament a bit about the demands of organized sports on young kids today I wouldn't trade my athletic girls for a couch potatos any day.
Dajuan and I both achieved some level of success in sports (one of us more than the other of course) and we hope that our girls have similar experiences through athletics. However, with the current state of affairs in public schools, it is looking as if high school sports may not even exist by the time our youngest is ready to hit the field. Headlines everywhere are threatening the elimination and/or reduction of athletic teams and events. Pay to play has already been instituted in many Maine communities. While I understand that our schools are in crisis and our state is out of tax dollars, I cringe at the thought of making sports a privilege for the elite. The very kids who need the challenge, structure, and comradery that sports provide will be the ones that are left behind when fees escalate and fundraising becomes a requirement.
Apparently, I am not the only one out there with some concern about the financial demands that accompany participation in sports. One Westbrook family has created a program to help assist families with keeping their kids in the game so to speak. Check out this article detailing their plan for an organization called Re-Play.
After reading the article in yesterday's paper I knew that my downsize for today was a slam dunk. I discovered two pairs of lightly used soccer cleats in Shayla's closet during the great room reorganization and had planned on trying to sell them at Play it Again Sports. That adventure will have to wait - these cleats are officially donated to Re-Play. Never fear though, there will be more lightly used athletic footwear to sell in my future. Dajuan's size 17 shoe and my dainty size 11 are proving to be a potent combination. Shayla is donning a woman's size 9 1/2 cleat this fall and the growing isn't over. We are already paying to play with footwear purchases alone. Isn't that enough?
Be glad you're not buying $500 skates!! As for the pay to play, the ones to worry about are the middle class income kids. The city does and always will waive the fee or get funding for the "needy". I think we're all going to fit into that category soon. The difference is, we'll find a way to pay for our kids and, by default, a lot of others too. I'm glad for the kids. They need the exercise and involvement. Just mad at a system that has created this mess.
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