# Sports intensity

**How seriously should our child take sports?**

How serious sport becomes: not at all, just for fun, school teams, competitive clubs, or travel and elite programs.

In short: Parents choose between 5 main approaches: None; Recreational; School teams; Competitive; Travel or elite. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: school age.

- Area: Play, activities and enrichment
- Evidence: Your call
- Best settled: School age
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/play-activities-and-enrichment--sports-intensity

## Sports intensity: what are the options?

1. **None**: The child does not play organized sport.
2. **Recreational**: The child plays in casual local leagues for fun.
3. **School teams**: The child plays for their school.
4. **Competitive**: The child plays on a team with tryouts and regular competition.
5. **Travel or elite**: The child plays at the highest level, travelling to games and tournaments.

## Sports intensity: what does the evidence say?

**Your call.** No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide.

No outcome evidence on level; injury and burnout data apply

## What else is worth knowing?

Organized sport ranges from casual local play to travel teams that take most weekends. Higher levels cost more in money and family time. It helps to decide whose ambition is driving the choice.

## Questions to ask each other

- How competitive were we as kids and how did that go?
- How much time and money would we spend on sports?
- What would make us want to dial it back?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=play-activities-and-enrichment&topic=play-activities-and-enrichment--sports-intensity