And (gasp!) so what if sports are some families priority...not everyone is academically gifted...perhaps, for some children, sports are their ticket to personal growth and fulfillment and college...who knows? We're all dealing with exceptionally bright children. Some parents are dealing with exceptionally coordinated and athletic children. It is possible to be a gifted athlete.
The chances of a kid making it in sports is near zero vs making it in academics. A reasonably bright kid CAN become a degreed professional in almost any field. All of my HS friends have done very well - MDs, PHDs, etc, even though most were not super-gifted.
NONE of my HS classmates who played sports seriously made it in the pros and none were on top college teams or placed in the top 50 in their sports their Senior year in college. Most of these people worked VERY HARD at sports during HS while the rest of us studied.
So, it is an illusion to focus on sports when success in life requires success in non-sports venues. For most kids, it is a massive waste of time and sets kids up for disillusionment.
I know a man who played walk-on baseball at a top baseball school as a freshman. I was roommates with a starter as a sophomore at UT in football. I work out with retired pro athletes. They tell very specific childhood stories about phenomenal athletic feats - throwing the baseball 50 yards, outrunning kids twice their age, benching 200 lbs when they were 12, beating kids twice their age on the tennis court.
My baseball friend just laughs at families who spend most of the their discretionary income and free time on sports. All of his sons are very good athletes, but he stresses academics over sports and limits their sports practice to an hour a day while making them study a lot more.
The downside is debilitating injuries as well. A DW's uncle is so messed up from HS football that he can barely walk and the concussions he suffered have rendered him barely functional. My knees are messed up from HS football and my neck bothers me on occasion.
Nothing wrong with sports, but most kids would be better off hitting the books instead of the practice field.
The good side of sports for me growing up was that it allowed me to connect with my age peers whom I otherwise had nothing in common. I got respect from them when they otherwise would have tried to pick on me. By association, my geeky friends were mostly left alone.
