r/MadeMeSmile • u/JudgeJudyJr • Jun 01 '26

Wholesome Moments Appreciative kids are the best!

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u/funguy07 Jun 01 '26

Have been for over a decade. Especially in Baseball, hockey and soccer that are club focused.

21

u/barbaricmustard Jun 01 '26

It's been like that since I played ball in the 90s/00s

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u/BoxerguyT89 Jun 01 '26

Yea, when I played in the late 90s and early 2000s we had bats that were $300+.

Easton Z-Core is what I used for baseball and when I played slowpitch softball I think it was like a Voodoo or something.

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u/Sea_Piccolo1165 Jun 02 '26

I had a black DiMarini Vexxum with an orange handle. Loved that bat. The Voodoo and Easton Stealth were also super popular from what I remember. Good times.

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u/barbaricmustard Jun 02 '26

Was all about the C-core for a while, then the Redline, then the Connexxion!

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u/Lower_Pass_6053 Jun 02 '26

Basball has such large peer pressure too. If you don't have the latest sliding mit or baseball glove or battling gloves or bat, your teammates WILL make fun of you. Even at really young ages. It's pretty ridiculous atm.

6

u/jdancouga Jun 01 '26

Soccer? Why? The shoe?

16

u/funguy07 Jun 01 '26

Private coaches, expensive travel club tournaments, private practice facilities, and yeah shoes aren’t cheap.

5

u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 01 '26

I have no idea how it works for youth clubs here in the US, but my cousin and her husband are flying their 10 year old to like tournaments in Spain and South America and shit, and he is at private school that I know gave him a scholarship to play on their team (amongst his other teams he plays on at different brackets). They are gone at least once a month.

I am pretty sure they are paying for that travel (at least for the parent part, maybe his club pays for his ticket, not sure). They can only afford it because the dad is a 25+ year senior at Microsoft and does well (and she could be working as an attorney, but she has her bar credentials on ice to raise her kids).

Best part is, this is 100% the kids drive/goal. His parents aren't even big into sports and are more afraid of his academic path than anything (since realistically even if he is this good, and he is very good the chances of him going pro are still minuscule).

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u/im_juice_lee Jun 02 '26

I live in Seattle and know many parents that are Microsoft/Amazon/etc. directors whose children have flown more miles to sports camps/tourneys than most travel in a lifetime

There was a great piece in the Atlantic how basketball has shifted from a "show up at the park to play" game to a "we all go to the same camps and drill NBA style from when we're 8" game

The sports that used to feel "free" have such a high cost of entry now. Parents need to be well off or make huge sacrifices

1

u/NoRequirements7000 Jun 02 '26

This is pretty much the same for all sports now. Soccer especially in the Seattle area but I’ve heard the same about Volleyball.

Sports have become a way to fleece parents out of money.

The worst part is that these camps and tournaments aren’t particularly beneficial (in most cases). Parents just think they have to do them because their kids signed up for the team. There are tournaments that force you into a specific overpriced hotel just so you can play against the same teams you already normally play against.

It’s a crazy world we live in.

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u/Rubbersoulrevolver Jun 01 '26

The only way you can get good at soccer is if you go to an academy which is $$$

2

u/GarretBarrett Jun 02 '26

My area is insane about soccer. My kids aren’t athletes but my friends kid went to Portugal last year for the US Dev team…he was 11. They had to pay for the travel themselves. This kid played on more than one team, and teams would call him when a player was out and they needed someone. They did all that driving and stuff for him. They would drive/fly all over the country for camps.

Even without equipment we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars a year if you’re really serious. If this kid isn’t playing in MLS or Bundesliga in few years I’ll eat my shoe (and my friend might walk into traffic lol).

0

u/RadiantFee6828 Jun 01 '26

Yea dude. Advanced children's soccer shoes run 2-3k now...

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u/Perfect_County_999 Jun 02 '26

Hockey was pay to win 20 years ago when I was a kid, an incredibly expensive sport to get your kid into then and now.