An article on SmartMoney.com details how some parents are spending upwards of $10,000 per year on their child's athletic activities, in the hopes of one day landing an athletic scholarship from a Division I college or university.

The article fully details how some parents have gone off the deep end with respect to travel teams, home athletic facilities, etc.  Some budding athletes have their own personal coaches, nutritionists, and personal trainers by the time they reach age 10.  Furthermore, the parents and siblings of these children spend countless hours following their athletic family member around the country at tournaments, practices, etc.  If you include the cost of everyone's time in the equation, the costs would be even larger!

We think that youth sports, in proper moderation, teach children important skills such as teamwork, fitness, etc.  Our 3 sons are involved in their youth recreation leagues, which they enjoy very much.  Sports clearly are fun to watch and are beneficial to the development of children.

However, some parents are not realistic with their expectations.  Only 2% of high school athletes end up earning a scholarship.  Some children who exhibit an athletic gift at a young age end up getting burned out by the time they reach high school.

In the example above, if the parents of these young athletes would have pocketed the $10,000 per year they were spending on sports, starting at age 5 through age 18, they would have ended up with more than $242,000 (at 8% interest) by the time that the college bills started rolling in.  This would pay for the cost of college every time, not just a 1-in-50 chance.

As winter sets in and youth sports begin a new season, I pray that all of us can find the proper perspective.