09/01/2026
From NY Magazine article entitled "Pay to Play Childhood."
Basics never travels. We do not require weekend play. We do not charge admission. We limit enrollment. Our coaches are trained, positive models (nearly ALL former Basics players themselves) We are so the OPPOSITE of the way youth sports exists elsewhere, I could provide another 10 examples.
And if the litmus test is "how competitive your child is?", I'd love to have that conversation. Nearly 10% of our kids make it to the college level (VS the national average of +/- 1%) and over 90% of Basics players make their school teams.
I don't understand why parents feel trapped, at least within our purview. The title of the book I am writing says it all:
"Youth Sports in America: Think for Yourself. Question Authority. Do Your Best." Call with any questions. Coach McGannon. https://basicssports.com/archives/
ARTICLE-
Around 5 million children in the U.S. now compete on travel teams. Parents find themselves trapped. They know the benefits of sports and want that for their children, yet giving it to them often means buying into a sports ecosystem that’s inherently flawed.
The modern-day hydra of youth sports can partly be traced to the pandemic. While many public programs were put on pause, privately owned sports leagues had the capital to get back up and running soon after lockdown. Parents who could afford the fees were more than willing to pay if it meant returning their children to some semblance of normalcy. Investors saw an opportunity. Private investment firms began buying up teams, facilities, software, camps, apparel, and media streaming in a roll-up strategy that allows them to profit from almost every aspect of a family’s participation.
In 2024, families spent 46 percent more on a primary youth sport than they did just five years prior, according to Project Play. It estimated that youth sports generate up to $40 billion in annual revenue — nearly twice as much as the NFL. Meanwhile, profits for investors in youth-sports companies are growing significantly.
One reason parents accept these expensive and hypercompetitive conditions is they’re anxious about what will happen if they don’t. In a time of justified concern for children’s mental health and unease about the future, parents have latched on to sports as a lifeline. And in their pursuit of a competitive edge for their children, parents can inadvertently take the positive effects of sports and turn them inside out.
“Every day, it was soccer, soccer, soccer,” said London, who joined a travel team at age 9. “It could be so bad that I would start playing soccer and then start hyperventilating and have to sit down. I was so scared that I wasn’t doing good.”
Basics turned 20 in June. Excerpts from a book being composed on Youth Sports are below. There is so much WHITE NOISE in and around youth sports. Parents are inundated and often overwhelmed with “this, that and the other thing.” I would respectfully ask you to consider the title of this book (in...
