Travel sports-is this common?

[Dmmetler]

My DD is on her first year of travel cheer (All Star Prep, which is regional travel only), and I’ve already discovered that 2 practices a week becomes 3, 4, or 5 when a competition is looming.

 

But I wasn’t expecting to discover that “gym closed†on the initial contract signed back in April doesn’t mean “no practiceâ€. The gym is closed over the local district Christmas break-but I just got a text yesterday that we will practice much of that time. Her team is not scheduled to compete again until February.

 

Now, this year we actually are in town for those days, but honestly, when the schedule came out of gym closings, I assumed those days were “safeâ€. And if we were flying, I would probably have bought non-refundable tickets back in about October.

 

DD loves the sport and the gym, but the idea of being basically on call all the time during the competition season really is not setting well with me. Even if DD doesn’t need a break, I do. Am I just off base and this is what is expected?

[Pink and Green Mom]

I feel your pain.  DS16 plays travel baseball and yes, our practice days and hours per day increase in advance of the big tournaments.  Sometimes it is just hitting practice or pitching practice and not a "full" practice, but it still requires being there.  Two weeks ago we were told we were done with tournaments until the next season, but the past two weekends have been full of tournament play.  Sigh.

 

Is there a mom who has been with this group in previous years that you can ask about what actually will happen over break?  Whether these are full practices, strength/conditioning "optional" practices, or required pratices, etc?  I put optional in quotes because sometimes "optional" really isn't. 

[JudoMom]

That sounds normal to me.

 

Also, when my ds17 was a competitive gymnast, gym closed didn't mean no practice, either. I learned to talk directly with Coach.

[kroe1]

Another vote for normal.

[AngieC]

That sounds normal to me, too. For my son’s sport (swimming), they get Christmas Day off and then it’s practice as usual. My daughter (a gymnast) gets the day after Christmas, as well, but then it’s back to regular practice.

 

Neither sport would expect a family to not travel in order to make every practice, but since cheer is more of a team sport, I’m not sure if that differs.

Edited December 10, 2017 by AngieC

[bolt.]

Wow, that's a serious sport. Is there a way for her to enjoy the activity in some other way? (Possibly without making quite so much "progress" in the sport?)

[Selkie]

That's normal where we live, for both travel teams and high school teams. The only days taken off are Christmas Day and maybe Christmas Eve Day.

[Dmmetler]

Rec basically evaporated once she got to middle school age and every school had a team. Overall, it’s been good for her, but I was SO looking forward to a couple of weeks of not having to make that drive almost daily....

[JumpyTheFrog]

My boys are in competitive gymnastics. Gyms may close for rec classes, but team members still have practice for all holidays except Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4th, and New Year’s. Their practice schedule may change a bit those weeks, and people may miss some days, but the coaches still expect at least some kids to be there. This has been the case at all three gyms.

 

ETA: Even taking two days off from gym leaves boys rusty. The first practice after Thanksgiving looked terrible. You wouldn’t think it had only involved missing two days. I’ve found that missing 1.5 weeks at Christmas usually takes my oldest 2-3 weeks to recover from.

Edited December 10, 2017 by HoppyTheToad

[SKL]

I was looking at a gym I might put my kid in when she ages out of our current gym.  I looked at the rules for "team," and it says plan your vacations around our vacations.  In the future, I would check with the teachers for the actual days off so you can plan safely.

 

I can't speak for all programs, but I've noticed that "no classes" often means "we are using the space for something non-routine" rather than "we won't be around at all."

 

Kudos to any parent who has the energy and discipline to participate in travel programs.  :)  I am having a hard enough time imagining high school sports.  :P

[Library Momma]

That's normal where we live, for both travel teams and high school teams. The only days taken off are Christmas Day and maybe Christmas Eve Day.

 

Our experience as well.

[katilac]

Completely normal. Travel teams do not play, lol. 

 

You basically have to decide if you are willing to let travel sports be a lifestyle for your family. I know many people who do it and love it; they like the camaraderie, enjoy the travel, and so on. They just expect it to consume most of their free time (and money!) during the season.

 

If you don't want to go all in, I would be looking for a new activity for next year. Otherwise, it's just a constant series of annoyances. 

[Tap]

Yep, normal.  In cheer we also had last minute practices added.  If the coach changed a routine last minute or sometimes, it was seemingly on a whim, we would get a notification about a mandatory additional practice day. 

 

When my son swam they didn't have practice Christmas morning that was it.  They had twice yearly, 1 week breaks, that were between seasons.  BUT, there was almost always a 'camp' or two that was Highly suggested to attend during those two weeks. Coaches laid guilt on heavy that missing a week of swimming would take them backwards months of progress. If they weren't in camp, they were expected to find a pool and put the laps in. Even on vacations parents were expected to find an appropriate sized pool and to find time for the athlete to swim.  We still took the breaks instead of going to camps.  To me, mental health is just as important as physical conditioning in any sport.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Tap

[magnificent_baby]

With a competition in February, this sounds pretty normal. Dd danced at Disney last year, and the last 2 weeks they increased to nearly daily practices to be ready. There was a HUGE improvement in this last 2 weeks. 

 

The only time we miss (without feeling guilty) is when we are in off season and doing another sport. For example, we are knee deep into basketball, so we are missing some indoor baseball practices. And I don't feel bad. I just let them know the situation and agree to be there when we can. We do all club sports right now, but I do make sure my kids have at least a few evenings off per week to play outside, relax and just be kids. 

[mom2scouts]

Yes, that sounds normal.

[teachermom2834]

Normal. We haven't done cheer but when my boys played basketball even at a more rec level we were required to practice and even play in a tournament over the holiday. I hated it. Even though we don't travel for holidays it felt like the whole break was taken up working around sports.

 

Our travel sport was baseball. In that case we probably would have had practices or hitting over break but there would have been no consequences for missing for family travel.

 

That part of our life is behind us now. I don't exactly regret it but I'm a little bitter about how much was required when often it was not in line with the abilities and seriousness of the teams. For example my boys played homeschool basketball. They were competitive with the very small private schools but would get absolutely killed by the big public schools. But every Christmas week the coaches would put us in a holiday tournament against the best teams in the area. The whole week between Christmas and New Years spent in gyms getting beat 84-6. It was nonsense.

 

Everyone needs to determine their own comfort level on these things.It just told makes me crazy when the commitment is cranked up way beyond what is reasonable for recreational participants.

 

But yes, it is normal for teams to continue. There may be some wiggle room on what is acceptable to miss over holidays from team to team. Our travel baseball days actually saw a fair number of families take vacations and miss a tournament here or there. People might grumble a bit but people got over it. Sometimes you need to draw a line and just tell the coaches that you will miss a certain week and that it is just how it is going to be. As long as that is discussed before everyone is committed I think it is reasonable.

Edited December 10, 2017 by teachermom2834