{"id":2696753,"date":"2026-11-03T08:38:58","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignskip-travel-sports-and-put-your-sons-in-little-league\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T09:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:04:18","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignskip-travel-sports-and-put-your-sons-in-little-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignskip-travel-sports-and-put-your-sons-in-little-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Skip Travel Sports And Put Your Sons In Little League"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignskip-travel-sports-and-put-your-sons-in-little-league%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2696753&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the passage in plain English:<\/p>\n<p>Last Saturday my oldest son played his final fall-ball Little league semifinal. It was close &#8211; our hitters were twice denied by outstanding outfield catches, including a running, over-the-shoulder grab in centre. Afterwards we watched the Brewers-Rays World Series game adn talked about hitting and strategy, already looking ahead to next season.<\/p>\n<p>Baseball has long been a central part of many American boys\u2019 childhoods: organized local leagues run by volunteer parents, pickup games in the neighborhood, trading cards, and poring over box scores. The game gave people a shared vocabulary and cultural touchstones. But youth baseball is shrinking &#8211; not just because kids have more choices, but also because youth sports are becoming more professionalized and commercialized, which undermines their accessibility and spirit. Preserving youth baseball matters for preserving a piece of American life.<\/p>\n<p>Having two sons in Little League for the past five years has shown me what makes local baseball special.Aside from the usual benefits of youth sports &#8211; fitness, teamwork, friendships, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >resilience &#8211; local baseball creates community bonds<\/a>. Playing in the same league connects families; volunteer coaches (usually dads) foster camaraderie because they\u2019re investing time out of love for the game, not pay. The volunteer-run snack shack and seasonal fundraisers also involve every parent, which deepens local ties.<\/p>\n<p>Youth baseball is also relatively affordable. Our recent fall season cost about $400 for two boys &#8211; roughly $8 per game or practice &#8211; and equipment can be bought used for low prices. That makes it cheaper than many other organized activities.<\/p>\n<p>Participation in Little League has fallen sharply since its 1990s peak. studies show big declines in recent years &#8211; more than 25 percent from 2008 to 2020 and nearly 20 percent from 2019 to 2024 in some analyses. In my Northern Virginia town only around 10 percent of eligible boys join Little League. Contributing factors include more families choosing travel teams and private clubs, competition from other year-round activities, and the disappearance of informal neighborhood play that once sparked kids\u2019 interest.<\/p>\n<p>I believe travel sports are harmful in several ways. They consume a lot of time and money through travel, hotels, tournament fees, and long weekends, and they force families to rearrange their lives around schedules rather of community and family priorities. Travel teams also reduce free play time for kids and limit community involvement, while offering little chance that most players will earn college scholarships. The shift toward \u201cprofessionalizing\u201d youth sports also narrows participation to those who can afford it; private-equity investment in youth sports further turns them into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignfrom-cradle-to-krispy-kreme-to-grave-private-equity-is-making-everyones-life-worse\/\" title=\"... Is Making Everyone&#039;s Life Worse\">profit-driven enterprises<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Baseball, some argue, reflects core American values &#8211; honor, individual duels between pitcher and batter, stoicism, and democratic participation where everyone gets a turn. If you care about keeping those traditions alive, getting your sons involved in youth baseball helps. Teaching kids to throw and hit takes effort and a bit of practice at home, but those moments &#8211; tossing a ball, working on a swing &#8211; are rewarding. Through learning baseball, children gain more than athletic skills; they absorb parts of American culture and character.<\/p>\n<p>Casey Chalk is the author of several books and a contributor to multiple publications; he writes about these topics from that perspective.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>On a recent Saturday, my oldest son had his last Little League game of the fall-ball season, a semifinal match up against a competitive foe. It was a tight game, but, like they say about the playoffs, defense made the difference \u2014 twice our bats were silenced by impressive catches in the outfield, including one in which the centerfielder caught the ball over his shoulder while running back to the fence. That night, my son and I watched the second game of the Brewers-Rays World Series and talked strategy and hitting mechanics, already thinking about next season.<\/p>\n<p>For generations of American boys, baseball was an integral facet of their upbringing. They played in local leagues run by volunteer dads and organized pickup games themselves in their neighborhoods. They collected and traded baseball cards and scoured the daily sports section of the newspaper to see standings and statistics. They learned a common American language based on the game\u2019s unique parlance: out of left field, in the ballpark, thrown a curve, struck out. And yet, like many aspects of American life, youth baseball is suffering \u2014 not only because kids\u2019 interests have diversified, but because of the professionalization and commodification of youth sports that harms the integrity of the game. Saving America, in a small but important way, means saving youth baseball.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What Little League Gives Americans<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Over the last five years, with two of my boys playing and a third soon to join them, I\u2019ve been consistently surprised by the unique character of Little League house baseball. Some of the benefits, of course, are generally applicable to lots of youth sports: exercise, honing athleticism, learning teamwork, making friends, developing resilience. But many others are peculiar to local youth baseball.<\/p>\n<p>For one, because my boys play in the same league we become familiar with lots of families in our community \u2014 my son\u2019s most recent majors team was composed almost entirely of kids he had previously played with on earlier teams. Because the coaches are volunteer dads, there is a deeper <em>esprit de corps<\/em>. No one is paying Steve to make the lineups, prep the fields, or deal with rowdy 10-year-old boys \u2014 it\u2019s all out of the goodness of his heart and love for the game. There\u2019s also the built-in volunteer component \u2014 not only the (somewhat annoying) annual fundraising of selling coupon books, but running the league\u2019s \u201csnack shack.\u201d Every parent, regardless of their personal schedule or annual salary, has to run the shack for a few innings every season, grilling hot dogs and burgers and interminably waiting for indecisive 8-year-old boys to decide between candy options.<\/p>\n<p>When compared to other youth activities, youth baseball is also a bargain (part of the reason for which, admittedly, is the fundraising). This most recent fall ball season, the registration cost for my two boys was about $400, which amounts to somewhere around $8 per game or practice. Equipment for the kids is minimal, and there are online used-equipment markets (my younger son\u2019s bat was about $40 with shipping). Many other youth activities are much more expensive.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Little League Baseball Is Slowly Dying<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sadly, <a href=\"https:\/\/frontofficesports.com\/article\/little-league-participation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fewer and fewer kids<\/a> are getting to experience youth baseball. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/08\/05\/little-league-participation-down-world-series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reaching its peak in the<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/08\/05\/little-league-participation-down-world-series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1990s<\/a>, youth baseball participation between 2008 and 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2023\/05\/28\/where-have-you-gone-little-leaguers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropped<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/politics-society\/2022\/05\/19\/catholic-youth-sports-little-league-club-baseball-243016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">by more than 25 percent<\/a>; a separate study found that between 2019 and 2024, it <a href=\"https:\/\/aspen-institute-project-play.squarespace.com\/state-of-play-2025\/participation-trends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropped<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/aspen-institute-project-play.squarespace.com\/state-of-play-2025\/participation-trends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">19 percent<\/a>. In my own town in Northern Virginia, only about 10 percent of eligible boys play in our Little League. There are at least three reasons for this: (1) more families are electing to put their boys in travel baseball and private clubs; (2) a variety of other sports and youth activities compete with baseball, and year-round schedules for those activities leave little room for the traditional Little League season; and (3) kids rarely do informal neighborhood play anymore, meaning they don\u2019t play pickup baseball games that generate interest in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>Though I know many parents won\u2019t like to hear it, I\u2019m persuaded that travel sports are bad for kids, families, and the nation. As scholar Tim Carney argues in his recent book <em>Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be<\/em>, travel teams eat up huge amounts of time and money because of extensive driving, hotel stays, tournament weekends, and thousands of dollars in fees. Rather than orienting family life around religious faith and quality time together, travel sports demand we coordinate our schedules \u2014 including Sundays \u2014 around games, practices, and out-of-town tournaments. This means not only minimizing kids\u2019 free play (which they need), but also that we spend less time in our communities. And for what? Few of these kids are going to get collegiate scholarships.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/politics-society\/2022\/05\/19\/catholic-youth-sports-little-league-club-baseball-243016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cprofessionalizing\u201d<\/a> of youth sports naturally limits who can compete \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2026\/01\/07\/youth-sports-cost-parents-investors-profit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">few can afford the time or money<\/a> needed for travel team schedules, undermining the natural democratization of the game. Babe Ruth learned the game in a Baltimore industrial school; Mickey Mantle developed his love for the game in a working-class mining family in Oklahoma; Hank Aaron hit bottle caps with broomsticks and sticks on makeshift sandlots; Rickey Henderson and Tony Gwynn honed their craft in California sandlots and backyards. Moreover, as American Principles Project president Terry Schilling <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/07\/from-cradle-to-krispy-kreme-to-grave-private-equity-is-making-everyones-life-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently argued<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbusinessjournal.com\/Articles\/2025\/03\/17\/the-youth-sports-buy-in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">private equity<\/a> is turning youth sports into a lucrative network of profit-making businesses, with investors purchasing teams, facilities, apparel, and streaming services to profit off us and our kids.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Get Involved in Little League and Save America<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As Hayden Daniel <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/30\/soccer-is-spiritually-third-world-sport\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued in The Federalist earlier this year<\/a>, baseball is a truly American game derived from Western, chivalric principles of honor and athletic excellence. Pitchers and batters engage in one-on-one duels. Unlike soccer, where players suffer slight scratches and fall to the ground weeping, a batter will be hit by a 95 mile-per-hour fastball, wince, and stoically take his base. And unlike other sports that disproportionately lean on their best players, it is a truly democratic sport \u2014 every few innings, your lackluster right-fielder will have to take his turn at the plate.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to know how you can contribute to the preservation of our nation\u2019s identity and traditions, get your boys involved in youth baseball. Properly throwing and hitting a ball are tough but important skills, and if your kids are late to this great game, you\u2019ll need to spend an hour or two of your week practicing with them in the yard or on the street to help them catch up. But isn\u2019t that itself a gift? Few parts of my week are as happy as those I spend with my sons tossing the ball around or helping the boys improve their swings. Teach your boys the game of baseball, and they\u2019ll learn more than a sport \u2014 they\u2019ll learn America.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Casey Chalk is a senior contributor at The Federalist and an editor and columnist at The New Oxford Review. He is a regular contributor at many publications and the author of three books, including the upcoming &#8220;Wisdom From the Cross: How Jesus\u2019 Seven Last Words Teach Us How to Live (and Die)&#8221; (Sophia Institute Press, 2026).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Saturday, son&#8217;s fall LL semi-defense carried it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2696754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1280px-Sliding_Home-1-e1793365157570.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[87443,87441,17459,87440,87442],"class_list":["post-2696753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-family-activities-2","tag-little-league-2","tag-parenting","tag-travel-sports","tag-youth-sports-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1280px-Sliding_Home-1-e1793365157570.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2696753"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696785,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696753\/revisions\/2696785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2696754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2696753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2696753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2696753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}