Growing up like most average kids, I enjoyed playing baseball, dodgeball, kickball, tag, and other outdoorsy activities that eventually dwindled down as I got older. I was raised by working parents who always made the effort to make sure my sister and I had everything we needed, but once I reached high school, the minimal chores I was once given, became a bigger responsibility.
As much as I wanted to join the school paper, the volleyball team, or drama club, I couldn't because at this point my parents saw this as an opportunity for me to help out at home since they didn't have time to do so in between their two jobs. This is an issue that many teenage Latinas face as we sometimes have to put our families first and it gets in the way of us partaking in extracurricular activities–such as sports.
Besides our chores at home, joining any sport costs money that most Latinos can't afford to splurge on. On average, according to NBC Latino, the C.S Mott Children's Hospital says that school team sports charge a fee of $93 and it could go up as high as $381 with additional costs. It doesn't matter if you're wealthy or not–that's A LOT of money to spend on a kid.
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Even worse is if your parents aren't educated and don't know the importance of daily exercise and think investing in team sports is a waste of money. Shockingly, proof of this issue can be seen on the soccer field as the U.S. Women's Soccer Team has ONLY 2 Latinas, according to the same NBC Latino story. People identify our culture with soccer and there are only two Latinas on the ENTIRE team?
Thankfully there are now ways around the money problem since non-profit organizations, such as Girls Inc., make it affordable and easy for young Latinas to participate in sports. Latino parents would also be pleased to know that sports aren't just for fun,but that athletic girls are healthier, have higher self esteem and gain higher paying jobs as adults and professional success.
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I managed to find my own ways to get exercise in during high school by running, but I do know that I plan on having my future kids involved in all the sports they want to participate in.
Do you encourage your kids to play sports and be active after school?
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