Is it worth it

go3,

Our vacations are baseball. Just back in NY from Impact in NC over the weekend. Kids got to see NC State, Duke, NC, and Virginia on the way home. 8 games in the next 6 days. I can't put into words the feeling I get seeing my boy play baseball (or my girl play lacrosse or s****r). He loves it so much that I think I would be depriving him of food or water if he could not play.

I am sure the parents of musicians, chess players, etc. feel the same way.

Yes..This has happened to me.

I've found that those who never had kids play sports typically think it's nuts to spend time shuffling from city to city playing ball all summer. Same with holidays like mother's and father's day, Memorial Day and 4th of July weekend. My thought was where else better to spend a part of those days watching baseball tournaments. Many just don't understand because they never been thru it or have a kid involved in sports. I've moved summer vacations around so that we can commit to the summer baseball tournaments. That's definitely something many don't understand.

I also remember those who had kids who tried out to play all-star summer ball and didn't make the team, then they rationalize, trying to convince me they're better off anyway because they don't have to tie up a summer going to ballfields. I don't buy into that for one minute. They would've cut off their limbs to have their kid make a team and play all summer and do the running around to the various tournaments around the state or region.

One of the best weeks we ever had doing the baseball circuit was Cooperstown Dreams Park. A week of nothing but baseball and more baseball. Despite Cooperstown being in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, the baseball more than filled that void.

My son graduated a few years ago and I still miss the busy hectic days of running to fields to take in weekend all-star tournaments, American Legion and travel games.

quote:

"Is it worth it?"

Of course there's no way to know until after your journey has ended.

go3,

Your **** right it is worth it! Everything about it.

Recently, I've started to reflect back when my kids were younger, and we were going from tournament to tournament like a bunch of travel baseball vagabonds! This feeling came over me when I started looking at Cooperstown pictures from 2004 and 2007 for my two oldest boys. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I really miss those days and coaching.....so I'm putting together some pictures (like a collage) from those special days.

Yup, have had that question too. Most especially at work.

Through baseball, my kids have seen Curacao, Guatemala, Canada and Taiwan...Kingsport, TN, Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle, Sarasota, Reno, Las Vegas, Jupiter, FL, Detroit, LA...and Omaha and Cooperstown.

Others too.

As a "reward" for all of that, my older son has had free bus trip rides all over the Midwest, California, Texas and now Northeast.

I'd venture to guess that none of their friends have had that kind of front row on the USA (and world!) education.

Yup, its been worth it.

SO nice to meet some new friends. Have sooo much in common. What mom has seen so much ball, and can call so many plays with accuracy? :0) Got me 5 sons-all ball players. And yeah, love it that our vacations have all centered around ball. So bite me.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

"Is it worth it?"

Of course there's no way to know until after your journey has ended.

Yea, and I think that was his point. "I hope your son gets a scholarship so you can recoup some of your money", is what he wanted to say I'm sure.

That's the part he'll never understand. I'm not worried about a scholarship. I'm enjoying the time RIGHT NOW, TODAY, THIS VERY SECOND! Traveling around with the kid watching him play the game he loves is ALL THE PAYBACK I NEED! We are even. In fact he has given me WAY more then my $$ investment! I owe him!


He'll never get that part.

IS IT WORTH IT?? How can any parent even ask that question? What is it worth to be around to watch your 10 year old live out his big league dreams on a little league field? There is no trinket I would rather have, no car I would rather drive, no vacation I would rather take, no house I would rather own than knowing that my son, as a young adult, now understands there is nothing we would not do to give him every opportunity to excel in a sport he loves. I like to think I live with a "no regrets" motto. That is what we have tried to do with son and baseball, no regrets! When he is no longer being asked to play on a team, we will all know that we did all we could so that he can play as long as he is sought after by a team. Would we do it all again? ABSOLUTELY!

I know I have posted this here before, but watching my son play baseball is one of the joys of my life....not only for me but for the joy it brings him......

I have hauled/followed him all over the country, man and boy since he was 5 years old....and next week he will turn 25.....

This sunday he has a triple header....I will be there...with gatorade and beef jerkey and my camera.....

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

"Is it worth it?"

Of course there's no way to know until after your journey has ended.

I don't look at it that way. If you are doing it for that purpose, it's clearly not worth it in my opinion. I think it's worth it because my son likes the journey along the way. If there's a pot of gold at the end, all the better. But that's not the reason for the journey.

It's funny that some first thoughts were "scholarships" and "gold". I never mentioned any of that. The journey has already ended for several of my kids. Some of my favorite tourney memories, my kids don't even remember the tourneys.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
It's funny that some first thoughts were "scholarships" and "gold". I never mentioned any of that. I have already completed the journey for several of my kids.

True enough. But saying "there is no way to know until the journey has ended" implied something, at least to me.

I know right now, it is well worth it. I don't need to wait until it's ended.

If baseball all summer is what you, as a family, want to do, I see nothing wrong with it. I guess 'it's worth it'. We chose to do other things that were just as 'worth it', in our minds. No big deal, either way. Time together is what's important.

It was worth it..............

Scholarships and gold were the furthest thing from my mind on this thread. It was worth every minute and would gladly do it all over again.

Now, being scholarships, gold and after the journey type have been brought up, it got me thinking, was it worth it for my son.

Perhaps he don't think about it but I think from him having been a HS team captain in a varsity sport, American Legion Baseball team captain and having to learn to organize time and priorities, I'd say it's far more worth it than my son even knows.

He's going into his senior year of college this fall, on pace to graduate with honors while holding down a job and just recently , got promotion from his second job as an area supervior with a lot of responsibility...He tells me, it's his "big boy job" and is proud he can write a real resume right after he graduates next spring. Not bad for a kid who isn't even 21 yet.

I'd say to this point in his life, it's worth it. His experiences as a leader on the ballfield and the preparation and commmitment being a multi-sport athlete have played some role with where he is right now.

My business partner is one of those questioners. he is constantly complaining about the time "wasted" watching his daughters play softball. He actually asked me "when does it stop being about them?" My answer was simple, "Never, as a parent it's always going to be about them. I brought them into this world I'm going to do everything to keep them safe and happy and enjoy them for as long as I can."
All those hours I spent with my sons and daughter, first teaching in the yard then coaching at the field and ultimately driving them and watching them play for more advanced teams are some of the best memories i will ever have and created a bond between us that a parent who never shared such an experience, whether it's baseball, softball, dance, chess, music etc. will ever understand. The money spent doesn't enter the picture, I kept the car a few years longer, didn't go out to dinner or vacation etc. I'd much rather spend it with and on my kids. My wife and I are going on our first kidless vacation next fall. My "kids are 22, 20 and 17!!!!! I'm gonna miss 3 Fall ball games but I'll survive!!!

My son played last night for the first time in 8 months because of an injury , I couldn't believe how much I had missed watching him play . I felt a joy I hadn't felt in a long time . Is it worth it ? IMO , oh YEAH !

During another weekend of out of town baseball last weekend we were eating another fine meal between games at Chick - filet with some new members of our baseball family. The conversation turned to the subject of this thread. We decided that one of the perks of these weekends was to hang around with other families that thought what we did was "normal". Any type of passion can be viewed as extreem in this culture. Our passion is not just baseball - it is family and the pursuit of excellence. I echo earlier poster's sentiments about the value of time with our son - but must add that baseball people are some of the best people in the world and we enjoy that part of the experience as well.

It is SO worth it. I can learn the meaning of free time when he heads off to college ball (recently committed) and then wish I could go to every game.

quote:

Originally posted by FormerObserver:
It was worth it..............

Yeah it was......

quote:

Yeah it was......

Yeah it is...and I am going to miss it when it becomes 'Yeah, it was'...

It's been worth every penny!

great topic. as a dad coaching, and now watching, my son playing the sport he loves...of course it's worth every second and penny. but i overheard my wife talking the other day (and this is a woman who could honestly care less about sports in general) saying her favorite thing to do is watch her boy on the diamond.

And that makes it even more worth it when both parents are committed.

I see very few kids with both parents at every game. I'm lucky that my wife is just as passionate as I am.

She took some vacation time today so we can meet and take the 1.5 hour ride to the game tonight as a family. Good times.

I remember when my son was a Senior in HS and the season was just beginning. I had won a 4 day trip to Vegas for me and my wife and I knew Id miss 1 game. I thought "heck, what's one game?"

Next thing I know Im walking up and down the Vegas strip with a cell phone to my ear listening to a play-by-play from my best friend and my wife was pulling at me the entire time "what's happening?!" LOL. True story.

He now plays in a local summer collegiate woodbat league. I am always asking if I can "hitch" a ride to the game. I hate when he says no that a friend is going! grrrr

A lot of great posts. Is it worth it? Well when your son is 30, married and has a family. And he has children. And that child wants Dad to play catch with him or her. Maybe he will remember all the time his Dad spent with him. And maybe he will want to make sure he does the same for his child. You see were setting and example for our kids. Were the parents that take the time to make sure we spend time with our kids. The ones that invest in what our kids invest in. We dont really think about it that way while were doing it. We are just enjoying it right along with them. But they will remember. They will remember that Dad, Mom, took the time to be a part of it. Made many sacrifices to help it happen. And they will want to do that for our grand children.

I feel sorry for people who are so busy living their life they miss their childrens life. And then one day when its too late they can't understand why the kids don't have time for them or their own kids when they have them. Is it worth it? I ask that to those that don't feel its worth it.

My favorite thing about Arizona is when people complain about the heat. They don't understand that we'd dso anything to play baseball in 115 if we had the chance.... All through this summer I have a temporary "Yeah it was" feeling being injured.

What would you pay to spend time with your son, doing something that you both enjoy and can talk about in detail? What would you pay for spending time with your son seeing parts of the country that you would not otherwise see? What would you pay so that your son learns to work as part of a team, deal with failure, have to pick himself up and work hard the next day?

My son has come and gone, his baseball career is over, but I can say that playing the game, seeing the country and learning to be accountable shapped the person that he is today.

For me it shaped our relationship.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
I feel sorry for people who are so busy living their life they miss their childrens life. And then one day when its too late they can't understand why the kids don't have time for them or their own kids when they have them. Is it worth it? I ask that to those that don't feel its worth it.

Cat's in the Cradle

quote:

I feel sorry for people who are so busy living their life they miss their childrens life. And then one day when its too late they can't understand why the kids don't have time for them or their own kids when they have them. Is it worth it? I ask that to those that don't feel its worth it.

I feel more sorry for their kids than the parents.

I agree Husker.

Along with Cat's in the Cradle that Dan mentioned, this is another one of those songs that speaks volumes. Even mentions missing "Little Bobby's first homerun".

Wish I could have been there

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"I see very few kids with both parents at every game."

It seems just like yesterday when my wife penciled in over 350 games on the calendar for our four players. That was quite a season...we did the best we could!








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That is a true story.

It did not include the tournament bracket games, only the pool play games that we knew about.


We've been doing the travel ball thing for 13 years----33 individual "seasons".

Our youngest daughter will be a junior in high school. The end is near.

Just finished our son's first year on varsity and we are halfway through his first travel season.

We get that question a lot and people feel sorry for us that we aren't taking a vacation this year.

We wouldn't have it any other way. 2013 is already dreading the end of next week . . . when the HS summer ball season concludes and he will only play four games a week of travel ball.

Some folks will never understand, and whether it's baseball or some other sport or activity that is their child's passion, those are the parents who are missing out. Not us.

We already know that it's worth every minute and every dime.

Is it worth it? People that know me, know that baseball is my one great passion in life besides my family. Therefore, it was kind of tough when my youngest son told me in January that he would like to participate in track and field in college instead of baseball. He had played travel ball since age ten and had gotten interest from several schools in baseball. We spent uncounted hours at tournaments and high school games and no telling how much money on it all. So in the end he didn't have the same dream I did but I will support him in his track endeavors and settle for one son in college baseball. He still loves the game and is even more into following the Major Leagues and things like that than my son that plays college baseball. He just enjoyed playing for the fun of it and really wanted to do his own thing. But my whole point is this: it was worth every penny and moment spent traveling and playing the game, good times and bad. To me that time was priceless and I guess now I'll just be spending a lot of time at college track meets as well as college baseball games starting this Fall. Anything we do with our kids is worth it in my book but for them to have given me so many years of my favorite thing which is watching them play the game means I actually owe them more than they owe me in some ways.

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Is it worth it?....He11 yes!!

There was nowhere I would rather have been than sitting on the sidelines watching my son play baseball every weekend.

It's very heartwarming to know that he and I have some of the same exact memories of those weekends, and weeks. One of us will bring up a game from 5 years ago and we both have vivid memories of a specific hit or out or pitch. It even gets better when he tells me a little back story of what was going on in the dugout or on the field at that time.

I can't remember someone's name I heard 5 minutes ago but I can remember almost all of the things that happened to my son on the baseball field since 1999. And I share those memories with him..FOREVER. Is it worth it...He11 Yes!!!

Yes! Some go hunting, some go fishing all the time. We go to the baseball diamond. When our girls were younger, we spent every weekend at their swim meets. And we loved it. Now our 2013 son is getting to play up and down the East Coast every weekend, and we love it.

There are so many intangibles involved that it is difficult to explain to those not involved. All I know is that I will miss it when it is over!

So enjoy the ride and don't worry about what others think. They don't understand.

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"I can't remember someone's name I heard 5 minutes ago..."

Happens to me all of the time Phil Fume...no, that's not it Full Fin? Uhh...Fum Bull? Dang! Let me check my history. Ah yes...happens to me all of the time fillsfan!




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