October 3, 2025 • 6 mins
We got a question in for our American Mamas...
Dear Mamas, do you think that parents who put their kids in Travel Sports are just living vicariously through their kids?
If you'd like to ask our American Mamas a question, go to our website, AmericanGroundRadio.com/mamas and click on the Ask the Mamas button.
Dear Mamas, do you think that parents who put their kids in Travel Sports are just living vicariously through their kids?
If you'd like to ask our American Mamas a question, go to our website, AmericanGroundRadio.com/mamas and click on the Ask the Mamas button.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got a question for American mamas. De your mamas,
(00:01):
do you think that parents who put their kids in
travel sports are just living vicariously through their kids. Well,
let's ask our American mamas.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Mama, mama, and joining us now our American mama's Terry
Neediville and Kimberly Burlison.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Okay, so y'all kind of know something about this, right
then y'all deal with travel ball with your kids.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Both of our kids did travel did travel ball, and
we spent thousands of dollars. And so I saw this
article where people are saying, these are parents living vicariously,
you know, through their kids. And I my side of
it is, we live in Texas. You have to be
incredible to even make your team in high school because
you've got five thousand students in.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Your school, right, the five A high schools in Texas.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yes, it's like I'm talking massive school, and so your
kid has to play on a whole nother level. I
can tell you that Shane's volleyball team, every kid got
a D one scholarship to play. So this is where
it is. These coaches, it is my own little grids,
these little high school coaches, they're not great coaches.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
They're lucky.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
They're lucky people because you've got all of these club
coaches that are professionals teaching your kids. We did not
live vicariously through our daughter. We wanted to give her
the best advantage to go to a university on scholarship,
which it worked, she did, And I felt offended for
somebody saying that I know living. I was just wanting
(01:39):
to give her everything that we could to give her
the best foot forward to be able to succeed, which
she did. Now know you feel the same way.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Well, you know, it's so funny because when we started
travel ball and soccer, so both of my boys did
travel baseball and my daughter did travel soccer. It was
like a fun thing for the for us to do
as a family, like you know, vacations it was, and
you got to be with this community and you have
this like mindedness over whatever sport it was.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
And some of your kid's best friends yes, were on.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Those teams yeah, and now in each other's weddings, and
you know, they really were like a family. So it's
almost like it was exciting like here comes soccer, you know,
here comes soccer season again, or here comes baseball. Season
and that group of friends you traveled and watch your
children play the game that they love to play so
very much. I do understand. Okay, this is when it
(02:28):
was really getting started. You know, this is years ago.
I do understand that now it's a little bit of
a different ball game. I have a friend that's still
on a thread with some of the I'm not on
those threads anymore. You know that kids have aged out, Yeah,
they've aged out a long time ago with the travel ball.
But she said, there's this thing now where it's paid
to play where you have to stay in the hotel,
(02:50):
like your son or your daughter, whatever sport, you have
to stay in the hotel with the team, or you
get penalized. You don't play unless you pay this amount
of money. Wow, Because it's like because they're getting kickbacks
from the hotel for staying there. That that's a whole
new thing. I've never we never dealt with that at all.
For us, it truly truly was our children found a
(03:11):
love for a sport. It was their passion. And if
you know us, we're all in whatever our kids want
to do. We're like, let's do it. We're all doing
it together. So we traveled and what we found from
it was a family unit for those seasons, all those years,
and the memories and also of course mine were great.
The boys got D one you know, baseball, and my
(03:35):
daughter was offered to play D one, but she declined it.
She didn't want to do it anymore. So it does
help you in that realm.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The problem is is it costs a lot of money
and there are families that cannot afford to put their
kids in, you know, a sport like that, and so
there is an unfair it, you know. So I do
understand the frustration that parents feel, you know. And it
was a sacrifice for us. It wasn't We don't have
a ton of money, so it wasn't like, oh, let's
(04:02):
go willy nilly, and it took sacrifice, you know. So
I do understand the frustration.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Well. Also, the other thing, Kimberly, is that now it's
almost moot because the way that they've done college baseball,
our college sports is so different now with the NIL
and the transfer portal and all of that that a
lot of us that did the travel ball and the
older years were thinking about college. These kids were going
to get out, they were going to bind themselves the
perfect college to go play ball. They were going to
(04:29):
go to these showcases and all of that. Well, now
with the NIL rules and the transfer portal, and they're
saying that now junior college students can have those two
years plus the four years, so they get six full years.
It's like the people who are getting just craft on
are like these high school kids that want to go
(04:50):
to a four year school. But even if you do
the travel ball, they're saying, go ju Co first, and
then you'll have four years so you'll have your own family.
You'll freaking have a family, you know, six by the
time you graduate college, and you don't be playing baseball
or whatever. So things have changed. So I don't really
know what the climate is. But back in the day,
travel ball is great. But I see Kimberly's point too
(05:11):
about it being unfair for those who maybe cannot afford.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah to do that. Yeah, and it very much can
be very expensive. And if that's especially in you know, Texas,
where you need to be that good to be able
to play varsity in your high school. It's not just
a rite of passage anymore. It's it's you know, there's
a serious competition there and if you're getting a leg
up because your family's got money, right, well, yeah, that's
(05:37):
that's not quite fair. I don't think it's necessarily living
vicariously through the kids, but I understand why people get
upset about it.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
If you like desk our American Mama's a Question, go
to our website American ground Radio dot com slash Mama's
and click on the ass the Mama's button. Turning out
of the book Kimberly Brotherston, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Thank you Andy.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Coming up next here on American Ground Radio, we are
digging deep, so make sure you stick around. We'll be
right back your listening to American Ground Radio with Lewis
r Avaloni and Stephen Parr
We got a question for American mamas. De your mamas,
(00:01):
do you think that parents who put their kids in
travel sports are just living vicariously through their kids. Well,
let's ask our American mamas.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Mama, mama, and joining us now our American mama's Terry
Neediville and Kimberly Burlison.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Okay, so y'all kind of know something about this, right
then y'all deal with travel ball with your kids.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Both of our kids did travel did travel ball, and
we spent thousands of dollars. And so I saw this
article where people are saying, these are parents living vicariously,
you know, through their kids. And I my side of
it is, we live in Texas. You have to be
incredible to even make your team in high school because
you've got five thousand students in.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Your school, right, the five A high schools in Texas.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yes, it's like I'm talking massive school, and so your
kid has to play on a whole nother level. I
can tell you that Shane's volleyball team, every kid got
a D one scholarship to play. So this is where
it is. These coaches, it is my own little grids,
these little high school coaches, they're not great coaches.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
They're lucky.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
They're lucky people because you've got all of these club
coaches that are professionals teaching your kids. We did not
live vicariously through our daughter. We wanted to give her
the best advantage to go to a university on scholarship,
which it worked, she did, And I felt offended for
somebody saying that I know living. I was just wanting
(01:39):
to give her everything that we could to give her
the best foot forward to be able to succeed, which
she did. Now know you feel the same way.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Well, you know, it's so funny because when we started
travel ball and soccer, so both of my boys did
travel baseball and my daughter did travel soccer. It was
like a fun thing for the for us to do
as a family, like you know, vacations it was, and
you got to be with this community and you have
this like mindedness over whatever sport it was.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
And some of your kid's best friends yes, were on.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Those teams yeah, and now in each other's weddings, and
you know, they really were like a family. So it's
almost like it was exciting like here comes soccer, you know,
here comes soccer season again, or here comes baseball. Season
and that group of friends you traveled and watch your
children play the game that they love to play so
very much. I do understand. Okay, this is when it
(02:28):
was really getting started. You know, this is years ago.
I do understand that now it's a little bit of
a different ball game. I have a friend that's still
on a thread with some of the I'm not on
those threads anymore. You know that kids have aged out, Yeah,
they've aged out a long time ago with the travel ball.
But she said, there's this thing now where it's paid
to play where you have to stay in the hotel,
(02:50):
like your son or your daughter, whatever sport, you have
to stay in the hotel with the team, or you
get penalized. You don't play unless you pay this amount
of money. Wow, Because it's like because they're getting kickbacks
from the hotel for staying there. That that's a whole
new thing. I've never we never dealt with that at all.
For us, it truly truly was our children found a
(03:11):
love for a sport. It was their passion. And if
you know us, we're all in whatever our kids want
to do. We're like, let's do it. We're all doing
it together. So we traveled and what we found from
it was a family unit for those seasons, all those years,
and the memories and also of course mine were great.
The boys got D one you know, baseball, and my
(03:35):
daughter was offered to play D one, but she declined it.
She didn't want to do it anymore. So it does
help you in that realm.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The problem is is it costs a lot of money
and there are families that cannot afford to put their
kids in, you know, a sport like that, and so
there is an unfair it, you know. So I do
understand the frustration that parents feel, you know. And it
was a sacrifice for us. It wasn't We don't have
a ton of money, so it wasn't like, oh, let's
(04:02):
go willy nilly, and it took sacrifice, you know. So
I do understand the frustration.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Well. Also, the other thing, Kimberly, is that now it's
almost moot because the way that they've done college baseball,
our college sports is so different now with the NIL
and the transfer portal and all of that that a
lot of us that did the travel ball and the
older years were thinking about college. These kids were going
to get out, they were going to bind themselves the
perfect college to go play ball. They were going to
(04:29):
go to these showcases and all of that. Well, now
with the NIL rules and the transfer portal, and they're
saying that now junior college students can have those two
years plus the four years, so they get six full years.
It's like the people who are getting just craft on
are like these high school kids that want to go
(04:50):
to a four year school. But even if you do
the travel ball, they're saying, go ju Co first, and
then you'll have four years so you'll have your own family.
You'll freaking have a family, you know, six by the
time you graduate college, and you don't be playing baseball
or whatever. So things have changed. So I don't really
know what the climate is. But back in the day,
travel ball is great. But I see Kimberly's point too
(05:11):
about it being unfair for those who maybe cannot afford.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah to do that. Yeah, and it very much can
be very expensive. And if that's especially in you know, Texas,
where you need to be that good to be able
to play varsity in your high school. It's not just
a rite of passage anymore. It's it's you know, there's
a serious competition there and if you're getting a leg
up because your family's got money, right, well, yeah, that's
(05:37):
that's not quite fair. I don't think it's necessarily living
vicariously through the kids, but I understand why people get
upset about it.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
If you like desk our American Mama's a Question, go
to our website American ground Radio dot com slash Mama's
and click on the ass the Mama's button. Turning out
of the book Kimberly Brotherston, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Thank you Andy.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Coming up next here on American Ground Radio, we are
digging deep, so make sure you stick around. We'll be
right back your listening to American Ground Radio with Lewis
r Avaloni and Stephen Parr
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