What Is the Goal of Putting Your Kids in Too Many Sports?

I know a family who pays tons of money for their daughter to go to gymnastics...they pay huge monthly fees, huge meet fees and they also pay for multiple private lessons each month. They are hoping for a scholarship. Honestly, if they put all that money in a tax exempt college fund, they would do much better. With the time value of money, they'll have plenty for college and then some.

Besides, who says their kid is going to want to continue with this sport through college? Kids grow up and develop their own interests. So, here they are sinking all this money into one sport with no guarantees...

We have some friends whose kids are in sports every day of the week and LOVE it. My kids would HATE it. To each their own, as long as indeed it is the child wanting that level of involvement. I think you are railing against the perceived notion that the parents are making these kids take the amount of sports they do, but I would hope more often than not the kids ask for it themselves. I know my friend with 3 kids each of whom have multiple sport secretly wishes they would enjoy all these sports less since she has to drive them all over the place often at conflicting times, but as long as the school work is done too she allows them their sports passions. My kids prefer to go for bike rides and walks and play frisbee with their friends and I am soooooo glad they do not aspire to be on traveling teams for some sport that requires my friend to drive to track meets and games in other states.

i'm not really getting where the scholarship expectation is coming into play. is the ONLY reason these kids were so sports-focused so that they could get scholarships? if so then yes, i agree with you that it's unrealistic.
and many, perhaps even most, sports-kid parents have wistful dreams of scholarships. but i think most of us realize it's not too bloody likely.
most kids i know were in sports because they loved them. a few were in because their parents were reliving childhood dreams through their kids (guilty as charged- i practically begged my boys to take riding lessons and they dutifully did, but when i saw the fire wasn't there i sobbed and backed off) and some parents are just over-zealous with 'keeping them busy out and out of trouble.'
i had enough to do with baseball. with two working parents and everyone with outside interests, there was literally only so much we could do. because mom has always needed downtime, EVERYONE had to take downtime. i don't think it was a bad thing<G>.
:) khairete
S.

There are lots of unfair assumptions floating in this thread. Like that kids that are over-scheduled necessarily have helicopter parents.

Does the daughter want to play all of these sports? If so, then what is the problem? Isn't it our job to listen to our children, help them to explore their interests and support them in learning how to make decisions?

I am really not sure what playing sports has to do with scholarships. I highly doubt most parents sign their kids up to play sports with scholarships in mind.

Why over-complicate things with judgement.

When I lived in this one town (ages 8 to 13), it was the happiest and most exciting time of my childhood (and my brother would say the same about his childhood). We had an amazing school that took instilling a love of literature to heights I've never seen since. They did a great job. We had a great PE program, and we took cool field trips, and we thrived. On top of that, in 5th grade I discovered softball, through a faculty vs student game that the other classes and parents came to watch. SO MUCH FUN. I took to it and joined up with some other girls who played regularly, signed up for a team, did some fun fund raisers, did awesome in the sport. I was good at it, and it made my confidence soar, not just on the field. I devoured books about the old time greats (Gehrig, Cobb, Ruth, etc), watched movies, we won first place and a chance to go to the leading university in softball for the whole nation at that time for softball camp. It never crossed my mind to get a scholarship, I just wanted to play and have fun...but it DID show me that I wanted to go to college, and that women could do anything (Title 9 and all that was big at that camp). I played all the time. I was also on the school volleyball, track, and basketball teams. My brother played football, baseball, and was on the swim team. When I discovered soccer, I dropped everything else because it was my passion. I knew I wasn't good enough to get a scholarship, but couldn't have cared less. I lived for the game. I loved how it opened doors--I was able to develop a much bigger world view since all the foreign exchange students would play, and then the 94 World Cup? Forget about it! Best time of my life, SO much fun and I didn't go to a game, lol. Just being in the streets and having a good time. I played soccer with Def Leppard before a concert once...my boyfriend was an amazing player and when we were sneaking around near the barricades and busses a ball came out of nowhere and my boyfriend started showing off....then headed it to me, and then a pick up game behind the busses happened. We played a good half hour, all of us drenched in sweat, not one word spoken. Then a skinny man called the band back and said "Hey---you guys need to come in and get ready". They high-fived us and left, we never said anything but were smiling ear to ear....when we got back to the road we were like "NOONE is gonna believe that happened!" When I was on mission trips, no matter what country I went to or what language they spoke, we could break the ice and develop friendships just from playing soccer. I didn't get a scholarship. But sports were huge in my life and I treasure all my memories. I'd hate to imagine my mom saying "no you're spending too much time with all this stuff". As long as my grades were kept up, and they were.
My kids: when my son (now age 5 1/2 ) has been doing Kung Fu for nearly 2 years. Loves it! He found that interest on his own, and we noticed he had very strong legs and good balance (a natural ability for some of it) and we took him to watch a couple classes, and he said YES he wanted to do it. He's been sticking with it this whole time, and no end in sight. That's 2 days a week. He did soccer last spring, swim in the summer, and horseback riding lessons in the winter and now. (Fall we were too busy for anything but kung fu, but he did occasional horse lessons then). This spring he had his choice: Tball, soccer, sparring, or horses. He chose horses again, and that's what he's doing. End of next month he will stop horses for awhile and both children will do swim lessons again. In the coming fall, he'll have options again, depending on how he does in school. During the school year, he also goes to Awanas club meetings. Some say that's too much: 4 days a week of something to do. I absolutely disagree. For one thing, it's not DAYS that he's working on sports or whatever; he's awake 12-14 hours a day. 12 hours x 7 days = 84 hours. He's only spending 5 hours a week on "structured" activity and that leaves PLENTY of time for pick up games, imaginative play, and family time. He loves it and thrives on it. There's nothing wrong with it. And next spring he'll be old enough to have other options (drama, chess, science camp, as well as sports). I think as long as a family can provide the activities or opportunities, and a child can keep his grades up, has the energy and "spark" to do it, and isn't overwhelmed or too tired, he can do what he wants.

Both of my older girls play full time travel softball. They also play soccer (an indoor rec league during the winter) and my middle also plays basketball. We let them decide what they want to do. We have also told them that school comes first (both are straight A students). I love watching them play and getting to socialize with other parents at games and practices. We have no expectations that either will receive scholarships, etc. they play because they love the game.

Playing sports in order to get a scholarship is like going to college in order to find a husband.

A MINORITY people do it on purpose, and some people just end up there without that being the goal, but that is completely and totally not the purpose of going to college for the majority of people. And scholarships are completely and totally not the purpose of doing sports for the majority of people. (Just as a nod, being a competitive athlete is EXPENSIVE. Most Top Athletes, the ones who will probably GET those scholarships? Their parents have already paid for their college educations several times over. There's a reason why there are so many wealthy families in the olympics, and why many countries have state sponsored sports (because you have to be amateur in the olympics... but training costs tens of thousands every year or MORE at that level). The idea of the poor kid done good in sports is even RARER than any kid 'done good'. Sports do NOT come cheap. Not at the levels you're talking about.

How many people actually get sports scholarships? On average, maybe 5 or 6 per graduating class, IF that. Now, those numbers aren't be all / end all. There's a school here, for example, that scouts kids from elementary onward, and nearly every kid on the team (which goes to state and wins it nearly every year) gets at least a partial scholarship, and there are schools where the norm is no one gets a sports ride.... but most schools? A literal handful.

I'm VERY MUCH with April & Julie G others... there are a LOT of unfair assumptions being made in this thread.

I think over scheduled kids are showing that they cannot function well as adults. They cannot focus unless they are directed and supervised, they display much less creativity in terms of critical thinking, and they cannot entertain themselves. The same parents who put their kids in every single activity are the ones who are calling Human Resource Directors to complain that their 25 year old adult child did not get a good enough raise or get enough positives on his performance evaluation. These parents are calling college deans to ask for research paper deadline extensions. The industry term is "helicopter parents" - always hovering nearby.

There are few athletic scholarships available, far fewer than the number of kids who need financial aid. Division I colleges don't give athletic scholarships at all. (That's an athletic division of the NCAA, not a value based on the school's stature.) Nearly every student needs financial aid, and the various sources of aid include the federal government (Stafford loans and Pell grants, for example), the colleges themselves, state-administered assistance programs, and private organizations (e.g. the Music Parents Club, the local Garden Club, churches/synagogues, the Civic and Rotary Clubs, and so on).

Kids who are spread so thin that they don't develop a particular skill or interest don't usual fare as well. Most schools help kids develop an "activity resume" that accompanies the high school transcript and teacher recommendations. Colleges are more interested in kids who have varied interests and show some ability to stick with a few things rather than spread themselves so thin that they are not particularly good at anything or able to focus. They also want kids who know what to do with themselves without a schedule - a college student cannot success if he/she cannot be productive through self-discipline and good time management. Those are skills that are developed during a kid's "down time" away from directed and supervised activities. So parents who over schedule their kids are doing them a huge disservice.

I absolutely refused to have my kid in a different structured activity every day. He had religious school one day a week and an activity of his choice another day, and all other days were for playing alone or doing pick-up games or activities with neighborhood kids. There were a few scheduled play dates with kids who lived in other neighborhoods, but not every day. Because he was around the neighborhood all the time, he was well known and frequently hired by neighbors to mow lawns, walk pets, water gardens, handle newspapers and trash for people on vacation, etc. He developed a business, invoiced people, and showed a 7-year history of entrepreneurship and dependability on his activity resume. In high school, he discovered cross country and track, and CHOSE to concentrate on those. He did some volunteer work through a school club. He had great social skills and the ability to interview well. He was much in demand by colleges, and got $35,000 a year in combined financial aid from various sources. This was not an athletic scholarship but he was in demand by coaches for running 3 seasons per year. He's had a great college career, including internships with professors, and landed an engineering job because he's creative, works independently, and relates well to others. He's not a straight-A student but he's done great. He's happy, well-rounded, and a source of pride. I don't regret my parenting choices at all.

Personally, I equate it with the pageant moms mentality. It always looks to me to be the competitiveness of the parents, most kids are doing what their parents want them too.
I'm not sure why we can't just let kids be kids. My wifes son (12yrs old) is in Scouts, basketball and band. There is some overlap, and Scouts is definitely a lifelong deal, we do it to keep him busy, he doesn't do good with down time.
My daughter, also twelve, is in competitive cheerleading. They travel, compete, spend TONS of dough on uniforms, shoes, outfits etc. I've talked to my daughter one on one about this and she truly enjoys it. She also just made the cheerleading squad for 7th grade.
So I'm torn as to the answer for your question. Because we are guilty somewhat. But I can say it is not for any scholarship reason.

I think putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, hoping for a scholarship is not the best plan. Only the best of the best get scholarships for sports. For many, the point of playing sports isn't to get a scholarship. (It would be nice, but that's not the aim). It's to keep the kids active, involved and out of trouble, give them a sense of team, and give them the life skills that team sports fosters. Now, if your child truly loves one sport and it is a year round thing and they don't want to play something else, that's different. My 6 year old is like this with baseball. He plays in the fall and spring, and in the off seasons goes to camps, clinics, whatever else I can find baseball related. (And at 6 I can tell he won't have the talent to get a scholarship, but he has the heart and passion to play and that's what he wants to do with his time).

My mom's goal was to get me into a great college - which meant that i needed to be well rounded - i.e. have a resume full of stuff. So, I played 3 varsity sports, 1 rec sport, volunteered, had a job, had top grades, and was involved in about 6 clubs (I was also members of several others, just not really involved).

Substantial athletic scholarships are few and far between. Over the past 4 years I have tutored more than 50 kids in SAT prep and while most played at least one sport at a varsity level, only 3 have been recruited to play at the college level and received scholarships because of it. I have taught more than 200 kids in group classes and can recall only one of those kids who was being recruited for college athletics.

There is usually no financial reward for the investment of time and money that we make in having our kids play sports (or other extra-curriculars). Your motivation really should be that your kids play sports because they like to, they like their team and teammates, it gives them experience in setting goals, working for things, working with other people, winning, losing, keeps them busy and out of trouble, and gets them moving. My long-term goal with my kids and sports is that they decide to stay fit and active and continue to get up, get out and move even as adults.

I let my kids do as many activities as they want as long as their grades don't suffer at whatever level they are. One of my kids is a B or C grade student. I'm not going to tell him that he can't play sports and enjoy school activities just because academics don't come as easily for him as they do for his sister, who is capable of A grades. I think it's even more important for mediocre students to find something about school that they can be passionate about and succeed in because otherwise school is just a place where their weaknesses are highlighted every day. None of my kids is going to be a competitive athlete - I'll be happy if they make the JV team in one or two sports or continue to play at a recreational level if they don't. There won't be any athletic scholarships for them and that's OK - sports is about them doing activities that they enjoy for however long they want to do them.

The point of having my kids in sports (they only overlapped sports for short amounts of time each year) was because the PE system in schools has been whittled away to practically nothing. When I was a kid we had PE and recess everyday. Now they have it for like 45 mins twice a week. And wonder why our children are obese. The point of being in different clubs / activities is because when your filling out college applications it asks that specific question along with what clubs were your an officer in. It is good for them to be well rounded and part of clubs. It is not good for them if they are being so over scheduled that they have no regular life or time to play. I agree with the previous poster who says you should not put your child in one sport and assume he is the next michael jordan (sorry know he's not hockey lol) sports scholarships are very very few and far between. It is great to get one but wouldn't count on one just because your kid has played since kindergarten.

I didn't read the other responses.

My kids are all in sports. They do swimming in the summer, the boys do football in the spring and fall, and my one son who is old enough does basketball in the winter. My other son has one more year before he will be old enough. My daughter is a dancer year round - no break because of finals in the summer.

They do it because they LOVE it. THEY want to do it. Of course I hope they do end up with some sort of scholarship out of it, but if not, I'm okay with that too. They are forming amazing bonds and skills they would not get if they were home not doing anything.

To each their own :).

I think it's different for each family...we've had our kids in different sports since they were each 3 or 4. They've both tried all kinds of different things, including scouts, band & choir. This summer, they are both playing baseball/softball. My husband coaches all sports my son does & I coach volleyball. We do it 1) because they love it 2) it's important to learn the value of team work 3) it helps keep them active & busy 4) it encourages them to make friends & communicate. BUT, they both know the importance of homework & education & that studies always come first.

I don't expect either to get scholarships, but hope they enjoy the time they put into their sports (and learn how important it is to put 100% effort into whatever they do) & can use it later in life with their own kids, maybe. If they came to me & said they didn't want to continue, we would finish out whatever season they were in & then be done. We would never force the kids to participate in an extracurricular they didn't want to continue.

I live in a highly competitive community with a LOT of talented and smart student athletes and I can tell you that getting a scholarship is very difficult, let alone a free ride to a great university.
It's especially hard to get any scholarship money in the most popular/commonly played sports: baseball, football, basketball. Forget it, it's like hoping to win the lottery.
Play for fun, because you love it, and if you get a scholarship in the end? That's icing on the cake!

My kids have always played sports because they love to play sports. They also maintained a 3.5 or better so you can play every sport you can get your hands on and do well in school.

Funny thing was my daughter could have had a free ride for soccer and quit her junior year of high school. I wish she hadn't but let it go. She still got an academic scholarship. I guess I am saying her kids were not destined to have a scholarship the sports they played had nothing to do with it.

In my daughters case she was a goalie, one of the top in her age group for the state. It is a position that is hard to fill so easy to get a free ride...unless they choose to give it up...o well.

No one in my family ever has or ever will plan on a sports related scholarship. My daughters so far just like many diferent sports as did I. I don't think there's one sport I regret playing. It was all so fun. So as long as parents arent pushing, I don't think there can be "too many " sports. My father is a firm believer kids should try lots of things when they're young. See which one they really like and become well rounded. How can they find out if they're never given a chance to try multiple ones? And fixating on one sport can lead to burnout.

No it is not about scholarships, they are few and far between. My children played sports all their childhoods. They all discovered, through signing up for different sports, what they really loved to play. My oldest it was hockey, my son it was Alpine ski racing and my youngest it was traveling softball. Softball was far and way the most intense but she learned a lot of life skills from it. How to deal with psycho parents/coaches/players, how you had to prioritize and follow through on commitments, how to do your best, etc. They all made many friends with similar interests through their sports. I do look back and see how much money/time/effort we spent on these things for our kids and it really was worth it when I hear them talking about their childhoods. I say if they enjoy it you do it, if not don't sign up/try out again.

very few get scholarships. i think the right reasons would be for fun, exercise, love of the game, and social experiences. if you put expectations on it that you will get some other kind of return on it, you'll most likely be disappointed. and as far as your friend, yes those moms exist...i wonder if she was one of those "sooo busy, sooo with it, sooo together" moms. hmm. either way, her situation is her situation....not yours or mine or anyone else's. i wouldn't have my child in so many sports. one reason is because it's not my job to entertain the child. that's what backyard friends, playdates, and imaginations are for. and those sports cost. a lot. we do about one per year. at his age they are about 6-8 weeks at a time. it's a special treat and he loves it. as he gets older (he's 5 now) if there is one sport he ends up loving, we'll focus on that. but it's recreation. i don't expect him to make a career out of it. and as such i don't feel i need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars having him in something constantly. we simply don't put that kind of importance on something that is meant to be entertainment and recreation.

One of my kids loves sports and wants to play all of them. We don't let him, of course. But that's more out of my own laziness than anything else. It's fun to go as a family to his practices and his games. But, I don't want it eating too much of our free time. It gets too hectic.

The Goal of allowing him to play sports? It is a great activity for all of us. It keeps us close as a family. It provides tons of photo ops. He just loves it and wants to do it. I am not trying to get my kids a scholarship. That's when it turns into a job.

My daughter doesn't care to play sports and that's cool too. I still make her excercise with me. I'm trying to set a healthy example and train a healthy lifestyle in her.

Well, "too much" and "too many" is different for everyone - some families and kids can handle a really crazy schedule and for some others it is too much. My daughter is only 4 but so far I've tried her in some different activities just to give her a chance to burn some energy off and get a feel for what she might like. Except for swim lessons (which I consider essential), everything else is optional. If she ends up going far with something, and is really passionate about it, than great. If she gets a scholarship, even better. But that would be gravy - we are not counting on it. That's just an incredible amount of pressure on a kid to expect them to get a scholarship because of football or basketball or whatever and to be depending on that to get them into and through college. I realize that is a reality for a lot of people, but there are other means for paying for college that are available to everyone. I would never want my daughter to feel like she has to stick with something because it's what I want her to do, or because a college education is riding on it. If a kid is counting on a sport to get them through college, and even make a career of it, what happens if they tear an ACL or suffer some other catastrophic injury? What if they just get plain burnt out?

That being said, I wish my stepsons had been more active in something in school - it wouldn't even have to be sports, just anything would have been better than nothing. In grades 6 through 9, they started a number of things, but ended up quitting after a few weeks and their mom was okay with it. Now it's a struggle to get them to understand what it is to work toward something and accomplish a goal. Something that they will need to be able and willing to do the rest of their lives if they want to be successful in anything. And like Sherry pointed out, so many schools have cut back on recess and p.e., or cut it out completely, and if we want kids to have regular physical activity, we need to sign them up for it.

Okay a scholorship is NOT the only reason for a child to be in sports/activities. An equal focus should be on "book smart" as well as "street smart" and talent development.

I think there should be a focus on schooling, life lessons and talent development (sports/arts/music) and should a scholorship develop from it wonderful, way to go! Honestly, no one should bank on a scholorship or assume that one will be available, esp in today's deminishing economy there are fewer available.

I think it is different for each family and each kid. My older boy is in sports because that helps him with anger management, structures his week, provides a way for him to be physically active so he can develop normally his growing musculature and bones, and gives him unexpected rewards in forms of achievements. He never wanted to be competitive and after he was INVITED into a team based on his performance - he dropped the sport like a bomb. I can safely say that I have him in sports to make him a well rounded individual and a pleasure to look at.
My younger one is in sports because he loves it, he is good at it and he need an outlet for his energy and personality.
I do not have any scholarships in mind, my younger son is into competitive side of one sport and is seriously training 3 times a week, has a private coach, with a competition coming in November, but he enjoys it and I feel like I help him to achieve his inner potential, I do not have in mind to prepare him for a professional career or something like that. It is also expensive to be serious at any sport, so any parent would be wiser to put that money into a college fund instead of hoping for a scholarship based on a sport merit. My son is not in team sport, there are no team mates but there are other kids who take this sport seriously and they have a camaraderie among themselves.
I am in sports because it keeps me lean, energized, happy and focused. It is addictive to transform your body and to push your limits, to think "Heck, I can do that" Wow!" There is something for everyone!

My goal is for my kids to find a sport + one other non sports activity that they enjoy and stick with those. Plans are not going the way I thought they would but I am super happy with where they went. I wanted them to as many sports as they could when young...find one they enjoyed (all the while hoping it would be "my sport"....

Our daughter(turns 7 in three weeks) wanted to try soccer...so we put her rec ball at four (she has a cousin who is a teenager and wanted to play what Sammie plays). I on the other hand was a basketball/softball player so of course I would love for her to be a softball player like her mom. We tried it...she wasn't interested in basketball or softball...I gave up my dream.

She is a fireball soccer player...she is loves it, she's amazing at it. We come from a very athletic family on my side. My brother did get a scholarship to college for baseball. She and I also are heavily involved in Girl Scouts...next on our list is piano lessons.

Yes I am hoping for a scholarship...but realistically I'm not banking on one. With the number of kids that are playing sports these days the likelyhood of a scholarship is slim to none. Almost have to be as the saying goes "one in a million".

I can say getting a scholarship based on athletics is difficult, hard to maintain, there a so many more factors than just ability to be a great athlete.

My experience with scholarships is that you can work hard, you can be the star player on a team. But if you don't have the right people backing the player at a young age...you child can get screwed. This is I know, from my personally athletic catastrophe. Long story but when a new coach was brought in for our HS team my senior year...she didn't care about my possibilities...didn't fight hard enough for me. Then when it counted, she made a decision that altered my college experience. And it took be 11 years to finish college because I had to pay for all by myself.

My oldest is girl is very athletic. She's played soccer, bball, softball, volleyball and at one point danced. She is starting to cut it down. She's stopped playing soccer (though she still likes it) and won't play volleyball this year. She really loves softball and bball and is getting very involved with both. She loves them. We love to watch her. She's pretty quiet, so i hope that this helps her become more confident and keep her active and build friendships.
Younger daughter is pretty much following right behind in playing LOTS of sports. The difference is she is not going to be giving up dance anytime soon...she's actually doing competitions. At some point, she'll have to pick a couple of sports and/or dance...but not now! Why limit her if she loves it and wants to do it!!

My kids are in sports because they love it, Never more than one sport at a time though because with more than one kid and still being young it gets to be too much . If there is a slight overlap at the beginning or end of a season then that is fine. Plus it builds relationships that last, my husband still talks to all his baseball buddies that he played with since they were really young through high school. I never force my kids to play a sport they dont want to. We can all hope for a scholorship but realistically its not something to expect especially at a young age, if thats the case my daughter is going to be on the womans professional soccer team and win the world cup yes she is that good but shes only 5. If the parents and kids love sports that much no harm no foul. Plus it gets the kids outside they are stuck in school for so long and honestly they dont get enough exercise so it keeps them moving to where when they are at home they want to be moving and playing outside. It doesnt give them the chance to just come home and sit down. The more they can get outside the better and sports is a great chance to make them get up and stay active. Chances are that your child will not get that free ride to a great university. Make it fun for now and see what progresses.

I think the rewards of a good team experience are life long and educational. I think that if someone is so good they get offered scholarships they should take them.

My daughter loves sports and wants to play all of them. We limit her to one at a time, because sorry but we both work full time and we just don't have the time.

School always comes first. If her grades slip she can't play, and she knows this. She keeps trying different things and has found that she really likes most sports. It keeps her active and busy. If we have a down time from things like soccer, softball, basketball, then she does swimming. I do not want her sitting in front of the TV all winter. Just last night she said it wasn't fair that all of the kids in her class get to play video games every day but she can't. She does get to play them once in a while but certainly not every day.

Sports also boosts her confidence level. She struggles with this, but she has put in a lot of work and practice with Softball and they just asked her to sub on the older girls team since they might be short occasionally, and she was so happy and it gave her a huge ego boost that they asked her.

I appreciate that it's good to get involved in some sport or activity, but not at the cost of the education. Too many sports seems dumb except for finding out which you excel in.
In 1992 my 2 eldest boys wanted to start karate. Then in the spring one wanted to add some form of little guy baseball. Then the other one wanted to do soccer. Then there was scouts. I finally saw they weren't focusing on much of anything.
Ultimately I made them choose. They chose taekwondo, dropped scouts, didn't do any other sports. High school band did interfere with the karate, but that's all. And ultimately all 3 of my boys became 2nd degree black belts. School did take a beating at times. But all three graduated.
Excess is time consuming, expensive, and leaves too much non-focus. They should stick to one and later try another.

What may be too many sports for one child and his parents may not be for another child and her parents.

My dreams of having a son play professional baseball were shattered when he turned out to be a righty instead of a lefty :(

My daughter plays lots of sports, always has. She is a sophomore and this year she played field hockey and basketball for school. She is also on a travel soccer team which plays fall and spring and indoor in the winter. Right now she playing on a township softball team, and will start an off season basketball league in May. Why? Because she loves it. She asks to do it. She is a straight A student. She's also involved in student government in school. I hope for her to get an academic scholarship, I don't believe there is any chance on a sports scholarship, that's not the reason she plays. I am not a helicopter parent. I just write the checks and support her. I never have to remind her about homework or projects. She is amazing at time management and gets incredible grades. She is a hard worker and extremely focused. Even with all she has going on she does have down time that she spends with friends or at home. She loves to draw, write and pick up a keyboard and teach herself songs.
I think she loves playing sports, loves being a team player and loves getting better at each sport as the years goes by.

I think it is VERY unrealistic to hope for a scholarship. In our school district (which graduates nearly 1000 kids per year) I'm pretty sure only 8 kids got scholarships last year...

My kids are young still, but will only play sports they really love... it sounds like your son loves hockey, so he should play, but not because he thinks he'll get a free ride to college.