Originally Posted by
nene
It keeps dedicated kids off the interwebs and focus on something to train for. I agree most won't see a payback, but the alternative "activities" for a teenager are more distructive in general. Burn out could be a factor, but much of it depends on the attitude of the club and training regimen. Some will use this venue to go on to play in college, but most will reach a terminus along the way.
The wrinkle is that dedicated kids will find a constructive outlet anyway. For the “less than dedicated” kids, the only answer seems to be boarding school in Woebegone, MN, away from local influences. Couple of kids in my extended family had to go that way, and it seemed to work better than sports probably would have.
Spendy, tho.