Thinking of Softball as an Investment?

This is a post from another site I frequent. It seems so many are forgetting the true meaning of the sport. I like the poster's view.

EP Dad

How do you feel about it? What are you expecting from softball?

 

Cheese you are exactly right. Raising all my kids and all the money I have spent has been worth it. My house is generally a mess. I don't drive a fancy car. I would like to have a vacation sometimes without softball for the kids who don"t play that. My oldest played some and loved it. She is in college trying to figure out what she wants to do. My second daughter is horse rider. We never owned the horse, but she went to Mississippi traveling for judging horses. She got a full ride on academics to our local community college. Her riding instructor has been such a positive in her life that the money was worth it. I have my academic daughter who loves to shoot bows, but has the highest grade point average in the house has an interview for a full ride this weekend to a great private university.

Then my softball player. I am sure if she gets some ball money for college it won't cover the cost of what we spent in softball. She has learned how to work hard. She has made friends all over the state. Her many coaches each have each taught her things. My wife is sweating how we will pay the travel bill this summer as it is the most we have done. it has all been worth it. Some how God will help us make it happen.

I have one more kid. The boy who I am trying to get him to find his thing. I work weekends half the time, but have made him offers to do things. There is not much money left for him, but I will try to find it just like most of you who love your kids and want them to have better than you did

My Dad who died before any of my kids ever had the chance to know him told me. That is our goal in like to make our kids life better than ours.

 

Dead On

I agree with both post. As my dd starts her last year of HS ball, I realize that all of my summers are going to be different as compared to the last 8 years. Sure my dd will play a few tournaments before she heads off to college this fall but it's going to be a whole new chapter in her life. When she first got introduced to TB, there was no expectation on my part or her part that "hey, this could pay for college", it was just plain FUN! As she went through the different age brackets, the catch phrase "college scholarship" became all to common and yes, we eventually believed that it was possible for her to utilize her talents with the game she loved to play to help her to continue her education and it has. I have, like most parents, spent a a lot of money on softball but I can say without a doubt, I have no regrets for any of it. The bond that I have with my dd is PIRCELESS!!!

To all the parents that are just starting and still doing the TB circuit, enjoy the ENTIRE ride because it will be over before you know it but you will always have the memories that you make along the way. It truely is about the journey, the destination will take care of itself

 

I would simply say this; if the sole purpose of your child playing softball or any other sport is to get a scholarship you will most likely be disappointed. First off the player should play the game because "they" love too play. If they hope to earn a college scholarship the player should understand early in the process about 15yr old that they will have to work harder then most every player they know if they want money to play. Its tough to make it and when you get to college its even tougher. But enjoy the ride as your child pursues their goals, there is a heck of a lot more money out there for academics then softball.

 

I just got to say, my girl is a senior, and has loved playing softball, it is her passion, but I am amazed at her outlook on college, she has turned down many offers to play, and may not play her 1st year of college because she is going to a D1 school and knows softball is very serious. She is going into a hard field, and knows that is where her focus will have to be, and knows her education is more important than softball. Since she was 9, she has lived for softball, but as I see her mature, I see her focusing on her future. She is a pitcher and pitcher or catcher gets the most money and there are no full rides anymore. A full rides usually comes from softball and acedemic, which is very reachable, with close to a 4.0 GPA. So you see your grades are very important and your studies should not be neglected. I agree, enjoy the ride, and if they don't play in college, it is not the end of the world. All the time and effort spent is softball has kept them focused, out of trouble and made them a well rounded individual.

 

do it all over again

I have no regrets and do it all over again and I am in some ways, doing it all over again. I did learn from the 1st one and am doing somethings different on the 2nd. But $$$ wise. I think I have spent more on this one and traveled farther. She is just 14. The older is now giving back to the younger and helping with kids, also. I don't think I would 2nd mortgage my house, but my wife thinks I might would try. One of my youngest favorite movies is "Soul Surfer".....How you can over come all things in life and be the best you can be. Those things $$$ cant buy. If #2 turn out like #1. Then it was worth all the time and every dime or dollar I spent on both............

Billy Graham said "Finish Strong"

 

It was sports, in general, that first caught my daughter's attention, participating in recreation soccer, basektball, and softball. Since she first entered school, she was often looked on as "less than", laughed at by her peers and once used as an example by a Kindergarten teach as an example of what not to do and referred to her as Miss Messy. While she felt very confident in friendships outside of school and the daring tomboy that hung with the boys, her self esteem was battered and bruised.

Between kindergarten and third grade she was diagnosed with dyslexia and a severe visual-cognitive disorder - both nasty learning disabilities on their own, a nightmare when paired together. She felt like the only accolade she could achieve in elementary school was perfect attendance. By the time she hit middle school, she was diagnosed with severe test anxiety, only complicating matters further.

Then, in middle school she met a coach. He made her believe in herself on the field. He made her feel like she could be someone, do something, become who she wanted to be, not who everyone told her she would be because of the disabilities. He made her believe that she could one day play in college and that became her dream. Over the next 6 years, she played softball year round on the travel fields and studied ten times harder than her peers, often seen with a book propped across her legs when we were at a ball field.

Last year, she graduated with honors. She was unable to attend her own graduation as she was sitting to take round 3 of the ACT as test anxiety remains ever present.

She is playing in college now. Our family pays nothing out of pocket except for her personal expenses such as gas, laundry, toiletries. She is on track for Academic All-American, and has set specific goals for herself.

We never counted on that "full ride", though she has been so blessed. The magic of softball for our family was the confidence she found within herself, her determination to overcome, a place where she felt she truly belonged and a future she, once upon at time, could not envision.

We have spent about a 1/3 of our family income on softball each year. We did without many things, we never took vacations, and still do not own a flat screen TV.

But, it has been, oh, so worth it because of who it gave my daughter the faith to be!

 

My daughter was ruling out all division one colleges because she does not want the six hours a day softball work outs on top of classes. We had a long discussion and with a gpa of 4.6, I told her she needs to pick the school she wants to go to and she can always play club ball. Softball will not put food on the table later in life, but an education will.