It’s no news to anyone that I did not grow up playing sports. It’s no news to anyone that my husband absolutely DID, and the discrepancy was almost a deal-breaker for us. At any rate, the world of children’s “pee wee” sports was completely new to me when I entered it. I was naïve to the fact that your ability to actually play a sport is only half the battle, if that.
The other half is comprised of who your parents know, how involved they are, and their time and money resources. Who knew? Everybody but me, apparently. But, I’ve wisened up and understand the system now. This is how it goes on around here these days. If you want for your child to possibly play high school sports, you better start now. First, everybody starts in the city recreation league. Here, you pay a meager $25 to be randomly thrown on a team coached by volunteers, who may or may not know anything about the sport. At this level, savvy parents and would-be coaches start “scouting” out the good players, the kids you want your kids to play with for years to come. 
After a couple of years in rec league, you form a competitive team, which gives you the ability to choose your own players and allow them to play together for years. Or you have your child “try out” for one of the uber-expensive and time consuming club teams. The coach of this team is important. You want him to be in the “pipeline,” so to speak, because he may end up being the Jr. High coach or having some connections to the Jr. High coach, also a volunteer position. If you were really smart, you would volunteer to be the Jr. High coach yourself to further ensure your child’s opportunity to play. And, everyone know that the Jr. High coaches are in cahoots with the high school coaches. And high school coaches at Timpview have their team chosen before the kids even reach high school, let alone high school tryouts. And, if you were really, really committed, you would hire a private coach/trainer for your child to work with one on one. That’s what everyone around here does.
There, now you know the innerworkings of childhood sports. Does that blow anyone else’s mind?
