Road Less Traveled

We recently made the decision not to participate in travel sports this summer. When I was sharing this story with a colleague he shared we are the only family he knows that doesn’t have kids in travel sports. Fun fact – he lives in AZ and we live in IL. More than a thousand miles away and he sees the same crazy phenomenon I see here in the Midwest.

It does feel like we are taking the road less traveled and I’d be lying if I said it was an easy decision. It seems like our culture operates in a way that if you don’t participate in travel sports you’re missing out. Missing out with playing on and against competitive teams, missing out on a chance to start on your school team, missing out on a future D1 scholarship, missing out on the fancy uniform with matching backpack, and missing out on weekends with your family and friends (because everyone is out of town for their travel sports).

However, we know to many families going in opposite directions for the weekend. I hear about the cost and the exhaustion, and how every weekend is booked from now until August. But it is a choice. I get it – we even tried to build our own travel basketball team last year so we could do it differently. We wanted our kids to play competitively, but not be gone every weekend. We made it affordable and made a team service project part of the deal. We wanted to give back and play in our local community, but the sense of entitlement of so many youth drained us on and off the court. Rather than viewing the ability to play travel sports as a privilege many kids feel it’s owed to them. And I use the word privilege cautiously and intentionally because even if you’re underprivileged financially the community rallies and pays, but the child believes it’s owed to them and they take advantage. We saw it over and over again. Sometimes talent trumped character and it was more about the athlete than the kid. We had to say no this year for the health of our family and the commitment to something bigger than youth sports.

We might be missing out, but here’s what we believe we’re getting in return. More time at home on the weekends – together – to rest and recharge. More meals as a family around our table and lazy days by our pond. More time to learn about how to take care of a home and a yard. More time to pray together and just play. While playing sports and being on a team can teach great lessons it seems our culture has lost sight of the “home” team.

So if you’re around this summer and want to enjoy the simple things, we invite you to come on out to the Welborn Wilderness Compound. We play backyard whiffle ball, driveway basketball, swim and fish. Your kids will leave tired and probably a little dirty, but sweet summer memories are guaranteed.

Sharing song lyrics from one of my favorite songs (The Blessing). It’s one we played at our wedding when we blended sand and made a commitment to our family unit.

May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children

May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, he is with you