The cost that concerns me is not the money, but the time invested in a hobby that soon will end and whether that time would've been better spent doing something else. The answer depends on our daughters and their motives for playing. If you are sure your daughter is playing 100 percent for herself and loves it, then you don't have to think about this.
In the case of my daughter, she likes softball. She has softball goals. She wants to play on a better travel team. She had a really good year at the plate in '13 and wants to top that in '14. She wants to make her varsity high school team next year as a freshman. She's had many great memories playing.
But on the other hand, I'm the one got her into softball. She didn't come to me one day saying she wanted to play. She liked it OK at the start, but it was me who really liked it - to the point that I began coaching her teams, and later build a travel team for her and those she played with in the rec league. I've always been more passionate about my hobby of coaching and learning about softball and obsessively reading FPF than she has been about her hobby of playing softball.
My DD has told me that she played the first several years because I had a team. She didn't mean that she didn't like it, or that I made her play, but she did mean that she merely liked softball, didn't love it, and went along for the ride.
So when I think of the cost, I think about what she might've been. What if I'd never encouraged her to play softball? Would she have put this time in to singing, or acting, or other interests that seemed to be purely her own?
Or does the activity really matter? Whether it's softball, or drama, or fishing, my DD has chosen to continue on this path, and it's been full of experiences that she'll remember and use the rest of her life. Whether she chose it for herself or not, softball has built her character and taught her things that have made her what she is, which is a pretty neat kid.
Maybe it's better that she's not likely to play softball past age 18. She's spent hours learning to hit and throw - skills that soon will be pretty useless in the world. But then she can move on to something else.
I remember when Cheryl Miller retired from basketball and someone asked if she'd miss playing and her answer was, ''No, I want to see what else I'm good at.'' Great answer, IMO. Maybe softball will make our girls confident enough to say that when they hang up the spikes.
In the case of my daughter, she likes softball. She has softball goals. She wants to play on a better travel team. She had a really good year at the plate in '13 and wants to top that in '14. She wants to make her varsity high school team next year as a freshman. She's had many great memories playing.
But on the other hand, I'm the one got her into softball. She didn't come to me one day saying she wanted to play. She liked it OK at the start, but it was me who really liked it - to the point that I began coaching her teams, and later build a travel team for her and those she played with in the rec league. I've always been more passionate about my hobby of coaching and learning about softball and obsessively reading FPF than she has been about her hobby of playing softball.
My DD has told me that she played the first several years because I had a team. She didn't mean that she didn't like it, or that I made her play, but she did mean that she merely liked softball, didn't love it, and went along for the ride.
So when I think of the cost, I think about what she might've been. What if I'd never encouraged her to play softball? Would she have put this time in to singing, or acting, or other interests that seemed to be purely her own?
Or does the activity really matter? Whether it's softball, or drama, or fishing, my DD has chosen to continue on this path, and it's been full of experiences that she'll remember and use the rest of her life. Whether she chose it for herself or not, softball has built her character and taught her things that have made her what she is, which is a pretty neat kid.
Maybe it's better that she's not likely to play softball past age 18. She's spent hours learning to hit and throw - skills that soon will be pretty useless in the world. But then she can move on to something else.
I remember when Cheryl Miller retired from basketball and someone asked if she'd miss playing and her answer was, ''No, I want to see what else I'm good at.'' Great answer, IMO. Maybe softball will make our girls confident enough to say that when they hang up the spikes.
