Money well spent... Time well spent!

[ANNASDAD]

I always looked at the time/money spent on softball activities through the lens of replacement value. As a family, if we were not involved in softball, what would we have done? I suppose we would have traveled more (or at least to different places). I'm sure DD would have found other activities to be involved in (most of which would cost $ anyway). Personally, I probably would have spent much more time on the golf course (again, $$$). I'm sure the three of us would have managed just fine without softball, but I doubt we would be any better off financially. I'm sure that money would have been spent in other ways.

Honestly, my fondest memories of the sport are the time I was able to spend with DD and her teammates. Second are the times on the road with other families. Dinners, nights out, lawn chairs and a grill outside a hotel room, etc. Yes, as a coach, I still remember a lot of the game play. But what I truly miss was all that other stuff. Now that DD is in college, I miss it. I miss it a lot. It was great having her home for the summer. Just something as simple as playing catch in the front yard was a great joy to me.

My parents were right. Time goes by way too fast...

Just seeing this tonight, FP26 worded this for me perfectly, I couldn’t have said it any better!

 

[ANNASDAD]

I didn’t start the OT sh$@ in this thread.
I made a softball comment..just because I was being truthful and it didn’t read like a f’ing hallmark card doesn’t mean it wasn’t relevant.

How about this? Everybody that wants me gone because I am so bothersome can give me $5 and I will take my annoying a$@ somewhere else. Sound good?

No way, I’ll give you $5.00 to stay, $10.00 if you piss off RAD! No offense RAD, I love you!

 

[radness]

No way, I’ll give you $5.00 to stay, $10.00 if you piss off RAD! No offense RAD, I love you!

LOL it would probably piss off @pattar just to know when he thinks he's arguing with me, i'm ok with people thinking whatever they want!

Whats the value in that LOL

Seriously just think we all make our points in different ways and it makes it fun!

 

[JayW]

do you take venmo?

 

[Eric F]

I didn’t start the OT sh$@ in this thread.
I made a softball comment..just because I was being truthful and it didn’t read like a f’ing hallmark card doesn’t mean it wasn’t relevant.

How about this? Everybody that wants me gone because I am so bothersome can give me $5 and I will take my annoying a$@ somewhere else. Sound good?

You alright, bro? Your panties aren’t usually this bunched up.

In other words…Lighten up, Francis.

 

[FP26]

I see people spending money without putting time into getting quality out of moneys spent.

This is a great point and is relevant in other areas as well. I have a good friend that spends a lot of time complaining about school teachers. His daughter is struggling in class. Apparently that is the teachers fault... Meanwhile, he doesn't spend any time trying to help her. I spent some time with her myself helping her with math. She isn't a bad student. She just needs someone to work with her. My friend's attitude is that it's the teacher's job and he simply can't be bothered with it.

The same goes with any other activity you choose. My wife and daughter were big fans of Dance Moms. I watched it a few times with them and was very impressed by the skill and discipline that the young ladies had. That didn't come from one or two practices with the school owner. That came from hours and hours of work outside of practice.

 

[HunterMO]

This is a great point and is relevant in other areas as well. I have a good friend that spends a lot of time complaining about school teachers. His daughter is struggling in class. Apparently that is the teachers fault... Meanwhile, he doesn't spend any time trying to help her. I spent some time with her myself helping her with math. She isn't a bad student. She just needs someone to work with her. My friend's attitude is that it's the teacher's job and he simply can't be bothered with it.

The same goes with any other activity you choose. My wife and daughter were big fans of Dance Moms. I watched it a few times with them and was very impressed by the skill and discipline that the young ladies had. That didn't come from one or two practices with the school owner. That came from hours and hours of work outside of practice.

First off, hats off to teachers. Underpaid and overworked. DD#2 has always been a half-step behind her age level in overall development. Mechanically, emotionally, mentally. She's caught up quite a bit as she's getting older, but it took A LOT of work at home and tutoring services through the school. And it will continue to be a lot of work at home. She's smart. It just takes her a little longer and often times needs some help to grasp a certain subject. Once she's got it she is good to go. But I can't expect her teacher (teaching however many kids in the class) to always have the extra time to do that.

DD is now at a point where she has to put in the time on detail work for her pitching. It really boils down to four things. But those four things will take countless hours this off season. Lessons will turn into check-ins for evaluation of progress, minor tweaks, and help if a certain spot is lagging. As well as having someone not named Dad tell her the same things I tell her. But, if she's not putting in the practice at home then I'm not going to schedule the lessons.

 

[YOCOACH]

Could I have funded her college tuition with the money spent on travel costs, gear, bats, catching equipment, etc, throughout the years? No. But I could funded a major part of it. That said, how can anyone in their right mind put a price on seeing their DD having a smile on her face and competing on the field of play? How can anyone say that the life lessons learned and instilled through playing sports at a high level isn't worth it? It doesn't matter what sport they play. Just to see all of that puts everything in perspective for me and my family.

Through the years, we've made many great friends. We've traveled to other cities, countries and locations that we wouldn't have traveled to otherwise and had experiences, both as a team and as a family that we wouldn't have had without TB. We traveled to the Netherlands and played other nations' national teams. We visited London and Paris because of it. We wouldn't have done half the things we did nor spent nearly as much time as a family. We don't regret any of it. Overall, it's been money well spent IMO.

Unfortunately, in todays high pressure, hectic world, there's always something else that would take the place of time spent with the family that ALWAYS seems more important at the time. Fortunately for us, my DD fell in love with SB, wanted to play at a high level, wanted to play at the next level (college), put the time, effort and work in and achieved her dreams. This has made it all worthwhile...just seeing the happiness and smile on her face as she exited the field in her final season.

 

[Westwind]

I didn’t start the OT sh$@ in this thread.
I made a softball comment..just because I was being truthful and it didn’t read like a f’ing hallmark card doesn’t mean it wasn’t relevant.

How about this? Everybody that wants me gone because I am so bothersome can give me $5 and I will take my annoying a$@ somewhere else. Sound good?

This place WOULD NOT be the same without a little dash of east coast spice via OK.

And Pattar, you still suck, lol!

 

[Westwind]

I hear that college coaches blame the parents, TB coaches blame the tournament directors, and tourney directors blame the college coaches. Plenty of blame to go around while the machine chugs along.

Absolutely. It has become its own ecosystem.

No way, I’ll give you $5.00 to stay, $10.00 if you piss off RAD!

Dude! I put in the work on the other thread, where’s MINE?

And for whatever it’s worth, love me some RAD too. She is doing Gods work even if I have to make sure to keep her in line, lol