> a minuscule chance of making it in pro sports.

I’ve asked this question of some acquaintances that prioritize sports above all else. Their kids play different sports all year around and are on all these traveling teams. I’ve asked them if they seriously think their kids will be good enough to get a college scholarship or play pro sports (I’ve seen them, they won’t be). They just shrug. I have to presume this is how they were raised and so they are doing it to their own kids.

"The sieve" is insane. And it begins early. While there are plenty of people who get to play professional sports who weren't in peewee, who didn't do travel ball, etc. It does not hurt.

Because in order to even get a shot to play professionally, you have to play well in college, preferably at a notable school. In order to get a shot to play well in a notable college, you have to play well in high school. That means you have to make varsity, play on the team, be a starter. And that usually means you have to be ready to play when you get to high school. And the best way to do that is to play peewee, travel ball, etc.

You'll find out if the kid is coachable, if he can be made coachable, if he's got aptitude, etc.

I volunteer with kids, and I see parents who prioritize sports where they have to pay a lot of money for fees over more scholastic and much cheaper programs for the smaller chance of getting a sports scholarship/career than more plentiful academic scholarships.

I don't know if they think their children just aren't capable intellectually or what.

At least in my case, sports was my parent’s opportunity to socialize. It was never really about my interests or well being, they didn’t want to lose their contextual friends and contacts. It was so bad I was disallowed from doing speech and debate in high school.

There are some parents with delusions about their kids being pro athletes, but many are just providing their kid the opportunity to do something he likes, and can afford to do it.

There is a whole industry around youth sports that is designed to extract money from parents. That doesn't mean that the kids don't enjoy it though.

> over growing big and tall

How does a parent prioritize their kid growing tall?

Hold them back a year or two so they are bigger than everyone else in class and are a grown man/woman by the time they are high school sophomores.

She claimed Ritalin and stimulants would stunt my growth