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On the Road Again
Tackling Travel Teams – Family Style
By Lisa A. Goldstein
Ashley Robinson travels a lot. The 12-year-old resident of Cherokee, N.C., plays for the Amateur Athletic Union's (AAU) basketball team, the Lady Royals. She usually travels twice a week to practice, an hour away. She travels a greater distance for games. She likes playing basketball, but she doesn't like sitting through the traveling.
When asked the effect all this traveling has on her family, Robinson says, "Dad gets upset about all of the money we spend on basketball, and Mom, who is a teacher, gets behind on her schoolwork. She also gets behind on housework since we are gone many weekends. My sister gets bored and irritable during lengthy travels and from sitting in hot gyms."
Indeed, when preteens are involved with traveling sports teams, it affects every aspect of their lives. Their families are caught in the crossfire. Decisions such as who travels, how often and how to balance academic obligations are a few of many that parents have to make.
"Traveling team schedules rule family life, and the young athlete and his or her parents basically have little choice in the matter," says Susan Newman, a social psychologist at Rutgers University who is studying this topic in depth. "If they don't attend practices and games, however far away they may be, they are asked [or] told to give up the sport."
Clearly, participating in a traveling sport is a commitment. In order for parents to maintain a healthy balance, they need to be honest about what they hope to accomplish by enrolling their child in competitive athletics, says Gregg Heinzmann, director of the Youth Sports Research Council at Rutgers University. "Is it a college scholarship? A professional sports career?" Heinzmann says. "These goals are certainly commendable, but are they realistic?"