Who's Winning at Kids Sports?

**Kusha Navadar** (0:10)
It's The Brian Lehrer Show, I'm Kusha Navadar filling in for Brian today here on WNYC.
So when I was a kid, I played a lot of travel soccer from about eight years old. All the kids in our town who wanted a more competitive environment would try out for the traveling team, and my mom and I would drive to and from practices or tournaments almost every night. I played with the same group of boys from eight to 18, and I think it was pretty expensive for my family, but it was formative, positive, and I am very grateful for it. Today, travel sports are way more consuming and even more expensive. Private leagues cost thousands of dollars a year, can demand expensive international travel, and many foster a hyper competitive environment. Despite all that, according to Project Play, as reported by my next guest, families spent 46% more on primary youth sport in 2024 than in 2019
An industry has emerged of investors who see big potential profits in youth sports, and now families are in a tough bind because they want to give children the benefits of sports, but discover a sports ecosystem that is pay to play and with a potentially toxic culture. Caitlin Moscatello is a contributing writer at New York Magazine. Her latest article is titled The Pay to Play Childhood. Caitlin, welcome back to the show.

**Caitlin Moscatello** (1:27)
Hi. Thanks for having me.

**Kusha Navadar** (1:29)
So how are travel teams different today than what they might have been 20 or even 10 years ago?

**Caitlin Moscatello** (1:34)
Yeah. I mean, travel teams have been around for a while, as you mentioned. So it's not that travel teams themselves are new, but they used to be for the truly exceptional young athlete, and they're increasingly becoming the norm. You start to see about a decade ago, a lot of private capital is being funneled into the youth sports sector, and then, like so many things, during the pandemic, that really accelerates.
During the pandemic, you had rec programs, a lot of them, the budgets were cut, parks shut down, and private leagues were able to swoop in much quicker and then get back up and running, and it's really just taken off from there, and also with, you see the money is also coming in much quicker.

**Kusha Navadar** (2:18)
Listeners, we want to hear from you. I'm sure there are a lot of parents out there. Maybe there are even some athletes out there who are younger than 18 or around 18 that are in travel sports. What's the experience been like for you? I'd be especially interested to hear from anyone who's experienced travel or club sports over the past 10 years. Have the costs and culture changed dramatically in your experience? Give us a call or send us a text. We're at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.
So, Caitlin, you spoke to a parent, Elizabeth, whose son switched from a town soccer team to a $5,000-a-year club program, and you opened your piece with this. What was the switch like for her and her family?

**Caitlin Moscatello** (3:06)
Yeah, so Elizabeth had grown up in the 90s and played rec soccer, had a great experience, and then naturally, when she became a mom, she wanted that for her kids too.
So her son, she signed him up for the local rec program. They were having a good experience. But what started to happen, and really, this is a distinction too, quite early. So private leagues and clubs and travel teams are really attracting families now. Even in first grade, second grade, I've spoken to families where there were tryouts in kindergarten. So I do want to make that distinction also in terms of what's changed and what's a bit different. But anyway, so this started to happen in her son's league. He's on the town team, and around second grade, kids start to leave. By third grade, the program is really diluted. The level of play is lower. Her son is starting to get a bit bored. And it's not just parents who really notice the difference. Kids, even really young kids, notice it too. And he was aware that there were this private club, and he had friends who were joining, and that was attracted to him and he wanted to do it. And ultimately, even though she struggled with the inequity of it, because she knew, well, this is something we can afford to do, but we're going to be leaving behind our friends on the team who can't. She ultimately did decide to sign her son up and let him try out, and he's in the program.
Because she wants, as I have two kids, I totally get this, she wants the best for him and she was able to provide it. But really when she got into the program and they were in that private club, there were things that she didn't necessarily love either. So it wasn't just like they got in and everything was great. There was really a mix and ultimately, like so many parents, she's just trying to do the best she can for her kid.