Do youth sports demand too much of families?

Youth sports look a lot different than they did a generation ago.

Many parents are shelling out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to sign their kids up for club sports at younger and younger ages. They’re paying for summer skills camps and hiring private trainers, driving across town in rush-hour traffic for games and heading out of town almost every weekend for tournaments.

And some parents are questioning whether this is good for their kids and their community.

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Thursday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a journalist and a coach about what we gain and lose when we invest so much time, money and energy into kids sports.

And we want to hear from you, too.

Are you a coach, parent or grandparent? What kind of time and money are you seeing families devote to sports? What are the tradeoffs?

Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828. 

Guests:

• Laura Yuen is a parent and a columnist for the The Minnesota Star Tribune. She recently wrote a series of columns exploring the pressures of youth sports. She was previously an editor and reporter at MPR News and a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

• Johnny Tauer is in his 16th season as head coach of men's basketball at the University of St. Thomas where he led the recent transition from Division III to Division I. He's a former psychology professor and also runs a summer basketball camp for kids in elementary through high school. In 2015, he published a book called "Why Less Is More for WOSPs (Well-Intentioned, Overinvolved Sports Parents): How to Be the Best Sports Parent You Can Be."

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