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Travel Sports · Let's Ask the Mamas!

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We got a question for American mamas. De your mamas,
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: do you think that parents who put their kids in
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: travel sports are just living vicariously through their kids. Well,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: let's ask our American mamas.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Mama, mama, and joining us now our American mama's Terry
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Neediville and Kimberly Burlison.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so y'all kind of know something about this, right
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  Speaker 1: then y'all deal with travel ball with your kids.
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  Speaker 3: Both of our kids did travel did travel ball, and
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  Speaker 3: we spent thousands of dollars. And so I saw this
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  Speaker 3: article where people are saying, these are parents living vicariously,
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  Speaker 3: you know, through their kids. And I my side of
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  Speaker 3: it is, we live in Texas. You have to be
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  Speaker 3: incredible to even make your team in high school because
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  Speaker 3: you've got five thousand students in.
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  Speaker 1: Your school, right, the five A high schools in Texas.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's like I'm talking massive school, and so your
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: kid has to play on a whole nother level. I
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  Speaker 3: can tell you that Shane's volleyball team, every kid got
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  Speaker 3: a D one scholarship to play. So this is where
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  Speaker 3: it is. These coaches, it is my own little grids,
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  Speaker 3: these little high school coaches, they're not great coaches.
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  Speaker 4: They're lucky.
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  Speaker 3: They're lucky people because you've got all of these club
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  Speaker 3: coaches that are professionals teaching your kids. We did not
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  Speaker 3: live vicariously through our daughter. We wanted to give her
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  Speaker 3: the best advantage to go to a university on scholarship,
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  Speaker 3: which it worked, she did, And I felt offended for
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  Speaker 3: somebody saying that I know living. I was just wanting
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  Speaker 3: to give her everything that we could to give her
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  Speaker 3: the best foot forward to be able to succeed, which
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  Speaker 3: she did. Now know you feel the same way.
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know, it's so funny because when we started
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: travel ball and soccer, so both of my boys did
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: travel baseball and my daughter did travel soccer. It was
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  Speaker 4: like a fun thing for the for us to do
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  Speaker 4: as a family, like you know, vacations it was, and
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  Speaker 4: you got to be with this community and you have
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: this like mindedness over whatever sport it was.
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  Speaker 1: And some of your kid's best friends yes, were on.
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  Speaker 4: Those teams yeah, and now in each other's weddings, and
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  Speaker 4: you know, they really were like a family. So it's
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  Speaker 4: almost like it was exciting like here comes soccer, you know,
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  Speaker 4: here comes soccer season again, or here comes baseball. Season
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  Speaker 4: and that group of friends you traveled and watch your
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  Speaker 4: children play the game that they love to play so
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  Speaker 4: very much. I do understand. Okay, this is when it
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  Speaker 4: was really getting started. You know, this is years ago.
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  Speaker 4: I do understand that now it's a little bit of
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  Speaker 4: a different ball game. I have a friend that's still
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  Speaker 4: on a thread with some of the I'm not on
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  Speaker 4: those threads anymore. You know that kids have aged out, Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: they've aged out a long time ago with the travel ball.
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  Speaker 4: But she said, there's this thing now where it's paid
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: to play where you have to stay in the hotel,
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: like your son or your daughter, whatever sport, you have
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  Speaker 4: to stay in the hotel with the team, or you
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  Speaker 4: get penalized. You don't play unless you pay this amount
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: of money. Wow, Because it's like because they're getting kickbacks
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: from the hotel for staying there. That that's a whole
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  Speaker 4: new thing. I've never we never dealt with that at all.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: For us, it truly truly was our children found a
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  Speaker 4: love for a sport. It was their passion. And if
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  Speaker 4: you know us, we're all in whatever our kids want
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  Speaker 4: to do. We're like, let's do it. We're all doing
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  Speaker 4: it together. So we traveled and what we found from
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  Speaker 4: it was a family unit for those seasons, all those years,
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  Speaker 4: and the memories and also of course mine were great.
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  Speaker 4: The boys got D one you know, baseball, and my
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  Speaker 4: daughter was offered to play D one, but she declined it.
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  Speaker 4: She didn't want to do it anymore. So it does
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  Speaker 4: help you in that realm.
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  Speaker 3: The problem is is it costs a lot of money
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  Speaker 3: and there are families that cannot afford to put their
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  Speaker 3: kids in, you know, a sport like that, and so
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  Speaker 3: there is an unfair it, you know. So I do
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  Speaker 3: understand the frustration that parents feel, you know. And it
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  Speaker 3: was a sacrifice for us. It wasn't We don't have
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  Speaker 3: a ton of money, so it wasn't like, oh, let's
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  Speaker 3: go willy nilly, and it took sacrifice, you know. So
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  Speaker 3: I do understand the frustration.
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  Speaker 4: Well. Also, the other thing, Kimberly, is that now it's
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  Speaker 4: almost moot because the way that they've done college baseball,
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  Speaker 4: our college sports is so different now with the NIL
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  Speaker 4: and the transfer portal and all of that that a
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  Speaker 4: lot of us that did the travel ball and the
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  Speaker 4: older years were thinking about college. These kids were going
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  Speaker 4: to get out, they were going to bind themselves the
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  Speaker 4: perfect college to go play ball. They were going to
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  Speaker 4: go to these showcases and all of that. Well, now
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  Speaker 4: with the NIL rules and the transfer portal, and they're
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  Speaker 4: saying that now junior college students can have those two
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  Speaker 4: years plus the four years, so they get six full years.
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  Speaker 4: It's like the people who are getting just craft on
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  Speaker 4: are like these high school kids that want to go
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  Speaker 4: to a four year school. But even if you do
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  Speaker 4: the travel ball, they're saying, go ju Co first, and
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  Speaker 4: then you'll have four years so you'll have your own family.
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  Speaker 4: You'll freaking have a family, you know, six by the
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: time you graduate college, and you don't be playing baseball
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  Speaker 4: or whatever. So things have changed. So I don't really
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  Speaker 4: know what the climate is. But back in the day,
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  Speaker 4: travel ball is great. But I see Kimberly's point too
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  Speaker 4: about it being unfair for those who maybe cannot afford.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah to do that. Yeah, and it very much can
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  Speaker 1: be very expensive. And if that's especially in you know, Texas,
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  Speaker 1: where you need to be that good to be able
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  Speaker 1: to play varsity in your high school. It's not just
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  Speaker 1: a rite of passage anymore. It's it's you know, there's
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  Speaker 1: a serious competition there and if you're getting a leg
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  Speaker 1: up because your family's got money, right, well, yeah, that's
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  Speaker 1: that's not quite fair. I don't think it's necessarily living
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: vicariously through the kids, but I understand why people get
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  Speaker 1: upset about it.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: If you like desk our American Mama's a Question, go
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to our website American ground Radio dot com slash Mama's
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: and click on the ass the Mama's button. Turning out
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  Speaker 1: of the book Kimberly Brotherston, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you Andy.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Coming up next here on American Ground Radio, we are
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: digging deep, so make sure you stick around. We'll be
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: right back your listening to American Ground Radio with Lewis
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: r Avaloni and Stephen Parr