When Did Kids’ Sports Get So Intense?
Remember when signing up for soccer meant a couple of Saturday games and maybe a juice box at halftime? Me too. These days, committing to a sport feels more like joining a semi-professional training program—with themed practice days, dryland conditioning, and apps to track attendance. Yes, attendance. For 5-year-olds.
Welcome to the Big Leagues (of Youth Sports)
Somewhere along the way, kids’ sports leveled up. One week you're signing your child up to "try it out,” and the next, you’re staring at a spreadsheet of practice schedules, tournament weekends, volunteer sign-ups, and snack duty rotations.
Last week, I overheard a group of 10-year-olds discussing protein intake and recovery stretches. Meanwhile, I’m just over here trying to figure out how to get dinner on the table between a 4:30 pm gymnastics drop-off and a 6:00 pm hockey practice. I don’t remember sports being this structured when I was a kid. I also don’t remember needing a calendar app just to survive Monday.
Multi-Sport, Multi-Schedule, Maximum Chaos
Don’t get me wrong—I love that my kids are active. I love the friendships, the lessons, the confidence. But juggling gymnastics, hockey, soccer, and baseball schedules has turned me into a human GPS-slash-cafeteria manager-slash-cheerleader with a PhD in “Where’s your water bottle?”
And then there’s the emotional intensity. The pressure to perform, to specialize, to be “all in” by age six (or else!). Whatever happened to just playing for fun?
Trying to Keep It in Perspective
We’re doing our best. Some days, that means showing up to practice on time with healthy snacks. Other days, it means drive-thru dinner and forgetting which arena we’re even supposed to be at.
But here’s the thing—our kids don’t need perfection. They need encouragement, high-fives, and maybe a reminder that it’s okay to miss a practice once in a while (even if TeamSnap sends us three reminders).
Still Showing Up
So yes, kids’ sports have gotten intense. But we show up anyway—with our coffee mugs, our sideline blankets, and our chaotic love for watching our little humans give it their all.
Even if we’re still secretly hoping for that one glorious Saturday off.
Because if there’s one thing more intense than youth sports, it’s the moms and dads making it all happen.
