In my experience, if parents were put in this moral dilemma, they as well would sign on and make the money. Most parents would do almost anything to make their kids happy. My parents were victims of this desire to make their kids happy. Growing up, my father would work 15 hour shifts 5 days a week to put food on the table in our row home in Kensington, Philadelphia. My mother would quietly go to her office job and greet people with the best possible “smile” she could muster up. In the summer when my sisters and I were younger, my dad would work night shift while my mother worked her 9-5 so we did not have to hire a babysitter. According to Yeskel, my family falls into the middle fifth quintile which means, my family “has an income between $37,700 and $56,000 and includes households with one service or professional income, with one unionized worker, or with two full-time lower wage workers” (Yeskel, 2003).
My oldest sister is the crafty one, my middle sister is the smart one, and I was blessed as the athletic one. Growing up, I played recreation soccer, baseball, basketball, and hockey; actually it is important not to leave out the adjective of street hockey. When not at school or practice for these sports, we would play foot hockey, backyard football, or half-es with friends. Half-es is enjoyable to talk about because I chuckled out loud when thinking about this game after reading what you wrote about the type of equipment you would use to play sports. Half-es is like baseball, only using a broom stick with the broom broken off and half of a tennis ball. You also needed the side of a three story building. There were no bases, first story is a single, second being a double, third floor a triple, and finally the roof being a home run. Growing up in the city we did not have the space to play real baseball so we improvised by playing across a street. With practically no grass fields in biking distance, we would satisfy ourselves with a two-hand-touch game of football on a skinny one way street. These were the sports we played and this is what made us happy.
Before high school started, my father received a promotion and a transfer which led us to “Jersey”. If you were to ask any 12 year old city kid if he wanted to move to the suburbs, especially a New Jersey suburb, he would probably give you a certain finger or yell at you with slang. I was distraught, but eventually settled in. For an adolescent boy, sport is how you meet friends. A boy my age asked me to play hockey one day, this was so exciting because of my familiarity with this sport. Showing up with just a stick, I can still picture in my head the glare I received. The other kids had their Mission roller blades, their graphite sticks, and their Eric Lindros edition Bauer gloves. Eventually, I ended up playing with the other kid’s “old” equipment that was not “good enough” for them anymore, I thought I was the luckiest kid.
My parents, excited about their increase in income, helped me get the up to date equipment because no parent wants their kid to be the odd one out. Looking back, I realize how unappreciative I was. Out of all the sports I played, I excelled in soccer. Since soccer is a sport every class plays, class did not highly affect my choice of sport. Although, it did have a great impact on the different sports I played and the ways they were played. In the end, moving from the city to the suburbs and playing sports on different ends of the spectrum helped me appreciate the finer things in life and helped shape me into a better person.

Throughout my life in sport, social class has been a huge factor. I come from a fairly wealthy area in Westchester, NY. When I was younger I was a very big hockey fan. My brothers and I were signed up for house leagues at a very young age. Fortunately at such a low level it is not necessary to have all of the expensive equipment required to play at a peewee or high school level. I quit before my parents had to worry about paying for all of that expensive equipment, although my brother continued to play as a goalie through high school. Our high school was known to have a very competitive hockey program. Looking back on it, the team was always made up of the kids who lived in Pound Ridge or Bedford Village, which were two of the wealthier areas students from my school came from. I also always found it strange that the kids who played hockey made up most of the lacrosse team too. Now when I look at it I can tell that this is because they were the people in our school that had money. My friends on the baseball team played for our basketball team if they played another sport at all. This shows that social class had an effect on who played which sports in my high school.
The other thing that I noticed is that different areas of my county were known to be good at different sports. The towns and schools in the surrounding towns to my high school were very wealthy, more so than my own town. Our rival high school from a town over was always a lacrosse powerhouse and was often ranked in the top 5 in the country. The same went for some of the other schools in my area of Westchester County. If one traveled south into southern Westchester and closer to New York City, this changed. This is where Mount Vernon and Yonkers schools had their basketball dynasties set up. These less wealthy areas were known to be breeding grounds for college basketball players. Mount Vernon was constantly ranked in the top 5 nationally for basketball and often played teams from all over the country. Most recently the school produced Ben Gordon who was an outstanding player at UConn and is now a talented player for the Chicago Bulls. Elton Brand came from Peekskill High School in the northwest corner of the county, but still a lower class area. It is evident that even within a county social class can determine which sports are favored and played. Wealthy towns in my county were known for their lacrosse while the less wealthy areas were basketball powerhouses.
-Josh McGrath

My family would probably fall into the lower middle class socioeconomic classification when I was younger. So when I grew up I would play soccer, basketball, and baseball. When I was younger there wasn't really a big difference with the other kids, I knew that some of the kids were wealthier and had better equipment then me, who usually got hand-me-downs from my older brother.
Yeskel (2003) describes that, “wealth is important because it is what people have to fall back on and pass on to their children” (p.52). Therefore, wealth has an influence on a person’s sporting experiences and had one on my own. Wealth wasn’t that noticeable as a youth, but in the late 1990's and early 2000's the difference became rather disturbing. In the economic success, the area I grew up in was extremely successful, yet my father as a chiropractor saw little growth and success. So we continued to stay in the middle to lower middle class, but my community was now moving into the upper middle class and high class. This is around my middle school and high school era. I remember all my with the best equipment, the newest Red Line Z-Core bats, $250 A2000 baseball gloves, the new Air Jordan XV's, etc… But it wasn't only the equipment. I was always on the best competitive teams around the area so our teams would travel with baseball, soccer, and basketball. I constantly remember my parents discussing and arguing how to pay for not only my sports but also my 3 other siblings sports. Whenever our teams would travel I would always ask my friends if I could stay with the and travel to tournaments with them because my parents couldn't afford to not only miss work but also pay the outrageous prices for hotels in Aspen, Omaha, Durango, Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, etc… My parents would come to all my games around the area but went on only a few of the traveling trips because of money. And like an ignorant, teenager I would make it worse, by wanted all the things my friends would have or to go the places and do the things my friends would do.

As I got older my friends started golfing and snowboarding. So I wanted to also. I remember getting clubs from Play-It-Again sports while my friends who were only 14-15 years old would have Calloways, or Titleists, and get private golf lessons. Also, they would have brand new Burton, or Never Summer snowboarding gear. I still went to the mountains, but would borrow some of my friend's gear. The worst was when you looked at our high school parking lot. The lot was filled with BMW's, Audi's, brand new fully loaded Jeeps and Mustangs, numerous Lexus's, and there even was an H2. I rolled though with a 1986 Jeep Wagoneer with wood paneling on the outside, dubbed the “Woody Wagoneer.”
But in my area it was all an image thing. My parents and I got caught up in it. We wanted to show that we were adequate and that we belonged. Like we talked about earlier social status is also about “things” that you buy and that somewhat defines and represent who you are and your social status.

I now understand how lucky and privileged I was to be able to do the things I did, even though it was a struggle in some sense. I now can more accurately understand my situation. I always thought I had it bad but comparable to my area and location. I was comparing myself to upper middle class and high class because that's all I knew.

Ryan Kannegieter

I have lived on Long Island, in New York my whole life; I am from a somewhat wealthy white neighborhood on the south shore. I have an older brother and a younger brother and ever since we were little we have been involved in sports. At age five my older brother started playing football for a youth team and as soon as I was old enough I was on a cheerleading team cheering for him. Naturally my younger brother joined the same league when he turned five. We were all in the league until we got to middle school where joined the school team. Along with football and cheerleading my brothers and I started to play on youth PAL lacrosse teams, the boys could start in 3rd grade but the girls team didn’t start until 5th grade. Before lacrosse my older brother Mike played little league and I believe he tried to play soccer one year, but neither gained his interest like football and lacrosse. I was never really interested in any other sport either, I tried gymnastics one year but I didn’t really like it. As we got older we would go to camps, as well as join travel teams. Both my brothers played for the Long Island Sting travel lacrosse team during the summer, which has gotten to be very expensive year after year. For my older brother this really paid off, he was able to go to camps and get looked at by numerous college coaches, and in the long run he went off to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and got a full ride to play lacrosse! My parents are hoping that the five years they invested in the Sting for my younger brother will pay off in the same way. As well as paying for them to play, and travel, my parents vacations changed over the years and instead of going to Disney World or Ocean city, Maryland, they would be making long weekends out of the lacrosse tournaments or college games the boys were playing in.
I wasn’t left out when it came to travel teams. I stuck with lacrosse until I graduated high school but I wasn’t into it as much as cheerleading. I cheered in Middle School and High School, I made our varsity team as a sophomore, and knew I was going to stick with it for a while. I joined an all-star team my junior year and we would travel to different competitions. Although we would fundraise to go away it was still very expensive to be on the team and then to travel. My dad knew that college cheerleaders didn’t get scholarships but the team made me better and in the long run I was able to join the Towson Cheerleading team. We don’t get scholarships but its still fun and a great experience.
As we grew up playing sports for fun and social reasons, the money my parents invested was hoped to lead to a college education. My brothers and I never thought we would be professional athletes, but hoped to play in college, and possibly get a scholarship. This would lead to our diplomas and possibly getting successful careers. We never imagined the upward mobility though sport, just the chance to play in college. In Stanley Eitzen’s article Upward Mobility Though Sport? he states “but while the possibility of staggering wealth and status through sport exists, the reality is that dramatic upward mobility through sport is highly improbable (p.249).” We did not grow up in the lower class, hoping to make it through sport.
I think that my social class background is between middle class and upper middle class. Based on the number of different opportunities we had with sport. Growing up where I did my parents we never worried about me and my brothers playing outside. In fact my dad would get made if the sun was out and we were inside watching TV or playing video games. The street I grew up on had a number of young kids and we were all around the same age. We would constantly play outside pick up games such as tag football, wiffle ball, manhunt, running bases. When it was time for dinner our parents had to yell for us to come inside. As we got older we all continued to play sports just in a more organized way.
Being from New York there are tons of opportunities to go see sporting events as well. My dad and brothers have gone to Giants and Jets games. I have been to a number of Yankee games. We have also gone to a couple Islander games as well as to Belmont Racetrack for the Belmont stakes, or just a fun day watching the horses. Ever since I was little we had a boat that my dad would take us out fishing and tubing on. I have never gone water skiing but it something I would love to try. Another great sporting experience I had growing up on Long Island was when I was in High School I took a marketing class and we were able to take a tour of Madison Square Garden, and Yankee Stadium as field trips.

Kristen S

Growing up I know I was privilege and still am for attending games and playing the sports I wanted. I know I was one of the lucky ones and I know a crap load of people in the world today that haven’t had the chances to do at any of the things I have done.
I was born in one of the 10 riches city in the United States. The 2010 Golf’s United States Open will be help 5 minutes from my house. So sports like hockey, golf, lacrosse, and soccer where always big where I lived. I played lacrosse for my high school and played soccer and basketball outside of school.
Once when I was playing lacrosse I got to see how difference my class was from ones below me. A D.C. public school who formed a lacrosse team of their own came to visit us at are home. They where all wearing pads and helmets that looked ancient because we were all wearing brand new matching blue helmets and most of us had brand new pads. When we played you could tell it wasn’t there strongest sport but we continued to play anyway. At some points of the game we even felt bad for them. At the end of the game we even got yelled at because we won 21-0 and my coach never liked to shut someone out by more then 20 because he thought it was bad sportsmanship, But even as we kept scoring they didn’t look that upset because they new they had a opportunity to come here and play lacrosse. If it was me and my team on the other hand we would have been devastated to lose a game that bad.
I know social class in the world today is a big thing and not everyone has a chance to have so many experiences like I had and still have. During lecture when we watch the video of the kids who wanted to be professional basketball players I was taken by surprise. My parents were more into having fun and getting good grades and theirs were saying basketball and basketball and even more basketball. In the article Moving Beyond No Child Left Behind with the Merged Model for Reading Instruction by Peggy Pruisner she states,

“The view of reading has narrowed, and the focus on five essential elements of reading has become the driving force behind professional development, classroom instruction, and assessment in most elementary and many secondary schools throughout the nation”(Prusner, pg 43)
There are so many more important things than just playing basketball. The lower class people need to learn how important a good education is and start reading more so they aren’t left behind.
It made me think do people really think the only way out of their class is by sports? I have found the answer to be yes and sometimes I have to agree with that.
As Lecture III talks about marxs words;
“Men [sic] make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like an Alp on the brains of the living...." (Lecture III, Marx)
This shows how Marx thought a person could make what they wanted for themselves but they had boundaries they have stay in like social classes. Each person has there own regulation and expenses they can afford.
In Lecture III the slide that says ”Social Class Mater”(Lecture III) I found it is very hard for someone actually make in America outside there class unless they have a special ability.
As the article The Picture Growing Economic Insecurity and Inequality Collins and Yeskel say, “ The national obsession is so compelling that we are willing to accept large-scale poverty in exchange for the prospect of a few lucky folks hitting the big time” (Collins and Yeskel, pg 67) I am lucky to be one of the lucky few that get to do or see just about anything I want.
I am very lucky to have a dad that works in the sports and can get me tickets to almost anything. Being born into the upper class makes me have many privileges that I would have never had if I was in the lower to middle class. These privileges could be something simple like playing whatever sports I like.

I definitely think that social class directly correlates to what sports individuals play. Growing up in an upper middle class household, I had ample opportunities in the world of sports. My parents were able to put me on teams in all types of sports such as basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and snowboarding, among others. They had disposable income available to put me on all sorts of teams and camps to give me the best possible sports experience and give me a leg up on the competition. Not only was I privileged enough to participate in a wide array of sports on a first-hand level, but they also took me to watch sporting events, collegiate, amateur, and professional. I realize that not everyone had the same kind of opportunities that I did as a youngster, but that is reflective of the socioeconomic class that I belonged to. People in the lower classes aren’t going to be able to participate in the same kind of sports or attend the same type of spectator events that those in the higher social classes do. Looking back on it now, the children that were on my teams and the individuals who attended the same sporting events that I did came from similar economic backgrounds. I find that fascinating because I never would have thought in that type of mindset as a youngster, but now as an adult I am able to think more critically.

-DJ Walker

Growing up I played on all different kinds of sports teams. I played basketball, baseball, and soccer. Probably the most played sports by young kids. Looking back, when I was young I did not feel my sporting experience told my class background. Once I grew up and continued to play I feel it gradually developed its classes. When we were young it was not as expensive to throw your kid on a team for a couple seasons to let him try out sports. It is once the kids get older and more serious about the sport is when money really comes into play and when social classes start to come out. You may realize some kids quitting sports and getting a job at some point because of social class reasons. It’s the kids that have the parents to pay for them to continue to play sports. I was very lucky and able to play sports all through high school with the help of my parents but I still had a part time job. “But for all the moms and dads who take special time out of their lives are able [sic] to play the great sport of baseball thank you from the bottom of our hearts”(page 5). It shows it is all about the parents and them taking time to put their kids in sports and try not to worry about the social class. The younger days were much fun when it came to sports because kids didn’t really know about social classes but once we got older things changed.

I believe that the sports I played, when I was younger, did reflect my social class background. Both of my parents were in the lower-class. My mom would put me and my brother in any club sport she could afford, by working two jobs. I played softball and soccer when I was younger but then got into dance and cheerleading. By the time high school came around I was very dedicated to cheerleading and was not able to participate in any other sport because of the time constraints. Cheerleading was very expensive because of all the traveling to competitions, especially going to nationals in Disney World. My mom would help me fundraise every time we had a fundraiser and if that wasn’t enough I had a part-time job that helped pay for expenses.
After graduating I was going to go to University of Maryland to continue cheerleading because all of my friends did and received scholarships for books. Since I was not sure of what I wanted to do after I graduated, I took a year off instead. Sports were always just something fun I did, never thought of sports as a way to make money. I believe that the sporting business if not a way for women to make a ton of money. Eitzen states “In addition to the glaring pay gap between what the coaches of men’s teams receive compared to the coaches of women’s teams, men who coach women’s teams tend to have higher salaries than women coaching women’s teams” (254). Sports are very essential in children’s lives if it is just for fun or “their only hope of escape from life of crime, poverty, and despair” (Eitzen, 253).

I consider my family as part of the middle class. Both of my parents, however, came from really poor families and they are the perfect example of people that have to work extremely hard to accomplish their objectives, given their limited opportunities. So they put a lot of effort and thanks to them we have an economically stable family. For this reason, my parents wanted to give my two siblings and me all the opportunities they could not have when they grew up; but at the same time they thought us to appreciate and to take advantage of them.
I lived all my life in South America, so I think my experience with sports is more limited than it would have been if I had grown up in this country. At home, sports are not promoted as much as they should for several reasons. Soccer is, by far, the most popular sport and it is widely played regardless the socioeconomic class but it does not include women at all. So, for girls, it comes down to volleyball, track and field or in some cases basketball. In the schools, the four sports previously mentioned are the ones thought as part of physical education but most schools do not have organized teams that compete and practice in an organized manner. Unfortunately, the chances of trying different sports for most kids are very limited; it depends on the parents’ willingness and ability to pay an academy of a given sport. Since my dad considers that sports are necessary to get discipline and to stay healthy while having fun; he always motivated us to at least try one sport . At the end, I was the only one in the family that actually enjoyed playing sports and they became part of my life, until today.
From the ages 7 to 12 I played volleyball, basketball and I would also go swimming. All these sports reflected my social class background; I would have practice with friends either from my school or my town. Then when I was about 13 I accidentally got in a tennis court and hit a few balls. I loved it right away and told my parents that I wanted to play tennis only. At that point I did not realize how expensive it is to play this sport in my country and that it is mainly played by the upper class. My parents made a great effort to get all the equipment because they saw that I was taking it seriously. As I grew up I started to notice the difference with my teammates. Not only did they have the latest rackets and shoes, but also I realized that we had nothing in common other than tennis. I lived a completely different reality, which made me feel out of place many times. I had to learn how to deal with it because ultimately, I just wanted to have fun playing tennis. Now that I look back and analyze things from a different perspective, I think that all the effort was worth it even when I felt that I did not belong, it is all a learning experience. I am just really thankful to my parents for all the unconditional support.

Evelyn Izaguirre

Growing up I was always heavily involved in sports. I do believe that my social economic background had alot to do with the sports and the number that I was able to play in. From as far as I can remember I have always been a competitive cheerleader and basketball player. Later on in my middle school years I got into tennis.Cheerleading I think is the best example of how your socioeconomic background results in the sport you play. From the first day you step onto the field there are registraion fees just to sign up. Then you must attened cheerleading camp which is about $2000 with the clothes, fees, food, lodging and spending money your parents have to give you so you can buy the gear there. After camp you have to hire a choregrapher, buy music and rent time at a gym so you can practice on a competition mat. Then there are the gymanastic classes that are required. After all the prepration you have competiton season which for me was very busy. Almost every other weekend it was a new city or state whcih was about $600 each trip. As you can see it was very costly. Sure we had fundraisers but that money only went to things the team needed like to aid the burden of the cost for us for new uniforms, or to throw our parents a nice dinner/ award banquet for us at the end of the "season"( I put season in quotes cause there is never really a end). Cheerleading was a sport in which you have to have the money to participate in just for the bare necessities, even if you are not on a competitive squad like I was. But as I mentioned earlier I, cheerleading wasnt my only sport. While in middle school on the nights in which I didnt have cheerleading I was in Tae Kwon Do. Which people may think is inexpensive but the dojo fee is killer not to mention all the sparing equipment. Then I had the baketball as well and tennis followed. Even in high school the equipment I played with was brand new. The stadiums and arena we played in were well maintained and kept up to date with the lastest technology.Even when I went to a sporting evet it was the "red carpert" experience. I have grown to have box seats as the norm that when it doesnt happen I then realize the expensive experince a sporting event can be. As you can see I wasnt cheap and not to mention I also have a younger brother who was in as many competitive, costly sports like myself.

I feel as though these sports are there for kids to play but in order to be the best there is a cost. When you get to the point in which you need more competition you have topay a great deal for that competition. I was fortunate enouugh to the point where my father was able to provide my brother and I the opportunity to try the sports we wanted to try and to go as far as we wanted with them . So with that I do believe that your socioeconomic background has alot to do with the sports you choose to play and the intensity in whcih you choose to play those sports. If I wanted I could have gone further with the sprots I played into the coligete level. Both my brother and I were offered athletic scholarships but turned them down becasuse we knew" a career in professional sports is nearly impossible to attain because of the fierce competition for so few opening, ( Eitzen 250). We both knew that we could get hurt and then our scholarships would be done after that year. We both viewed sport as sport and our education as "our way out." The tool we needed to ensure the life we want is education. Even in the sports we played the coaches never really stressed the subject of scouts , I think were a competiting on a level in which we all knew it wanst the way out due to socioeconmic status, it made the game that more fum and we wanted to compete for the purity and enjoyment of that sport. I do believe the sports you are introduced to refelct where you come from as does the experience you receive from it. There are exceptions, but if you are not around horses everyday how do learn about polo and its culture?

Luckily for me, I have had the privilege of growing up in the “middle-fifth,” class family, whose father’s primary source of income has come from the alcoholic beverage industry throughout nearly all of his adult life. I am quick to label my fathers employment in the this industry as a privilege not only due to the fact that even in times of economic turmoil (like the turmoil our country is currently experiencing) the alcoholic beverage industry continues to flourish, but more specifically working in this industry, flat out, has its perks. There is an undeniable, clear-cut economic relationship between the alcoholic beverage industry and professional sports. That being said, throughout most of my childhood, and even up until today, I have had the privilege of attending professional sporting events at the expense of my father’s company. Along with that, I think it is also important to mention that I grew up in a suburb in Northern New Jersey, that is roughly about a twenty five minute drive from New York City, and that the tri-state area plays host to nearly half a dozen professional sport teams within a 1 hour radius. In regards to hockey, at an early age I was able to attend a number of different New Jersey Devils games, in which my father was able to obtain box seats courtesy of Anheuser-Bush. What is most important to note about this experience is the fact that, looking back on it now, I can remember feeling entirely out of place when I attended these games. As I mentioned earlier, my family’s income would most likely teeter on the “middle fifth,” portion of what Yeskel has defined as “families with incomes between $37,000 and $56,000.” It is easy for one to see why I would feel out of place. While my prior professional sporting experiences involved above average seats, sitting in a private box during a professional game is an experience all in its own. For starters, you have access to all the food and drinks you can eat, while having your own personal waiter at your every beck and call. This is in stark contrast to my prior experiences, where my father would hesitate to spend money on a beverage for me, let alone food. Needless to say, the box seats that my father was able to obtain usually played host to families whose yearly incomes were well above the six-figure mark. I can actually remember one game, where my father advised me to not “over indulge,” and act like I “had been there before,” in an effort to maintain a “clean,” image in front of his more “well off,” co-workers. I should note that obtaining box seats was no easy task for my father, because they were usually only available to managers, and my father was a sales representative at the time. Luckily for me, my father was well liked by his superiors. In order to obtain tickets he would have had to ask a manager for them. Needless to say, I consider my father’s employment in the alcoholic beverage industry to be a blessing, for it has yielded a number of perks in the form of FREE professional sporting experiences, that had my father been employed in any other industry, I most likely would not have been able to experience. The free beer doesn’t hurt either.

James Ryan Hanley

As a child growing up my fathers philosiphy on athletics was "let the kid play as many sports as he can and let him chose which ones he likes." As a young kid I played everything like hockey, soccer, baseball,football, and even golf. Luckily I was fortunate enough to be a member a country club so my dad and I would play golf all the time (because it was the only sport we could really play competitive together). As I grew up I found my self playing less golf but more and more baseball. This did not bother my dad one bit because my family comes from a long line of good baseball players. My grandfather, dad, and uncle all played division 1 baseball and my mom's brother was the closer for the Cincinnati Reds (Big Red Machine) in the 1970's and was a 3-time National League All-Star. Once high school came I began to take baseball very serious and was fortunate enough that my parents could send me to college and professional showcases around the east-coast. They also paid for me to get instructions from a former major league baseball player. Also they allowed me to play in leagues that traveled all over the state and in 2003 my team made it to the legion world series which held in Oklahoma. Luckily i was fortunate enough that my parents could afford the plane and hotel fees, otherwise i wouldn't have gotten the oppurtunity to play in the legion world series. I really believe that if my parents hadn't had a good financial situation I may have fell under the radar of some colleges. I received several offers from colleges to play baseball and I chose to go to Temple University. Unfortunately in my first year there I injured my arm and was told I needed to get "Tommy John Surgery" on my elbow. I opted not to get the surgery and I transfered down to Towson to have fun. Now a days I play as much golf as I can (whether it be summer or winter) because I need to stay active since I am not playing baseball. I also have a boat near my home in New Jersey and I hope to get nasty at wake boarding this summer. I definately think people's class and financial situation have a direct effect on what sports and recreational activities people participate in. I also think people's parents and family history also play a role. I know in my case it has.

Tanner Strow

If I were to tell you that I came from a lower middle class family that lived paycheck to paycheck since I can remember, and that I played lacrosse since 3rd grade, not many people would believe me. From the day I was born until about my sophomore year of high school my family had trouble getting by. I never played any organized sports of any sort. The only option for me was backyard free for all football and the occasional pickup game of baseball. My neighborhood was filled with families in similar situations, so I knew nothing different. I would come home from school, do my homework (or lie to my parents and say I was finished), then go out back and find some kids to play catch with. I had always wanted to join a baseball league, but every year my parents gave me the same answer, saying there was no time or money for them to afford it. They knew how much I loved sports, and I now know how much they hated telling me I couldn’t join the league, but they had no choice. Halfway through 3rd grade my parents got a call from a random guy, who said he got our number from the gym teacher at my elementary school. He said he asked the gym teacher for the names of the most athletic guys in his class, and mine was on the list. He was trying to put together a rec lacrosse team in a nearby town. I had no idea what lacrosse was, and neither did my mom, so we gave it a try. My mom explained our financial situation to my coach, who said he would pay half the cost for the league. She finally said yes and I went to my first lacrosse practice with no stick, helmet, or pads. We didn’t know I needed them, and did not know how expensive they would turn out to be. I begged my mom in the store to buy the equipment, and she spent over $250 on used gear. I remember her saying I wouldn’t be able to eat for 2 weeks now. I don’t know how much it hurt us to spend that much money, but I know it didn’t help. I had the worst equipment on the team, and other kids made fun of me, but I was finally playing in games that mattered so I didn’t care. I had to play for almost a year with a broken stick, where other kids on my team had 2 or 3 backups. I may have been the only poor person to ever play lacrosse, so clearly my social class background had nothing to do with the sport I played.

Sports played a vital and crucial part in my daily life from the time I was 3 through my first 2 years of college. I grew p playing baseball and football mainly but in high school I was introduced to track and lacrosse. At the younger age I would say that I was categorized in the “upper-middle class” according to Yeskel and reaped the benefits. I received personal coaching in regards to baseball and made many of the traveling teams in my area which were an added expense due to the travel and added cost of another team. In football my parents bought me added protection in padding and neck guards or up graded chin protectors. As my father fell ill and was forced to leave on disability we were bumped down into the “middle fifth” according to Yeskel, the “families with incomes between $37,000 and $56,000. This includes households with one service or professional income, with one unionized worker, or with two full-time lower wage workers.” My mom became a part-time elementary catholic school teacher and my father provided what he could with day trading activities. I still enjoyed the same sports but being conscious of our financial change, I steered away from the “extras” my friends had. For baseball I used the same glove ii had used in little league or the one my father used when he coached. Many of my friends got 2-3 gloves per season. In lacrosse my pads were given to me by teammates and coaches and were anything but protective. Still this never took away from my sporting experience and allowed me to progress at the same level which maybe attributed to my parents support and my determination.

Kathryn Lawrence

I grew up on fifteen acres in a very rural area of Northern Harford County. To put it in perspective there are maybe twelve houses on my back windy road. Despite the majority of people who reside on West Heaps road, I come from a upper middle class family. However, because of the location of our house my parents believe whatever activity or sport we were interested in they were going to peruse those interests. I have been an athlete since I could walk. I have played basketball, soccer, and lacrosse since early recreational years. Majority of the time I played two sports at once. Once I entered middle school AAU basketball was the next step, and I had yet to really fall in love with lacrosse. As you probably know AAU isn't a free team. Large contributions must go to the organization just to begin to play, then comes all of your traveling costs. However, I was left with a decision to make because I made the AAU team however I was playing club soccer as well as traveling up and down the east coast for games and weekend tournaments. I had to choose one team because my brother and I were both on club or metro teams at the same time. I am sure if we thought we could make all the team events and stay sane we would have, however our lives would have been way to hectic and extremely expensive. I decided to continue with club soccer and love every minute of it. There is not a day that goes by when I see a young girl in a soccer uniform and miss those days. As entered eighth grade lacrosse became my go to sport, I was a natural and my parents saw that. They put every cent towards whatever I needed for lacrosse. For young woman who want to pursue college level lacrosse their are teams, very expensive teams you can join where you practice but most importantly you play at tournaments where college recruiters juts line the side lines and watch you play. My parents began to realize that i had a great chance of receiving a scholarship and knew that maybe all their expenses might pay off. Once my recruiting process began the NCAA allows a prospect to visit five schools on official visits. Luckily my interests kept me on the east coast, but between hotels and traveling and buying clothes from each school it was very expensive. I eventually received a large scholarship from Rutgers University which did really help my folks. Once I got to Rutgers and began meeting the girls, but more importantly meeting players from other schools realized my social class and way of life was not the typical women's lacrosse profile. Majority of the girls were from Baltimore County all who attended private or bordering schools and were born with lacrosse sticks in their hands. However, I fit in just fine because I could play and I wasn't a snob. This might be hard to imagine but as a lacrosse player there is literally a clothing style that majority of lacrosse athletes wear, but that just was not me. At first I was perceived as not a threat solely on the way I dressed. This type of athletic experience is very similar to hockey, typically upper class prep school type of people. Overall I would say my social status rarely impacted my athletic experience, and that is absolutely credited to my parents who gave me all the tools I needed to succeed. Nonetheless, though I did not have a huge struggle to fit in like my other teammates, not coming from a lacrosse bread family who all attended private schools was a challenge for me to prove myself, especially as a teenage girl fitting into the typical lacrosse society.

I grew up in Gaithersburg, MD in a middle-class suburban area. My family’s earnings were probably in the middle-fifth income section. The first sport I played was organized soccer when I was 5 or 6 but I only played for 1-2 seasons. Soon after that our neighbors around the block got a basketball hoop and I started playing ball there all the time. I played in my first organized basketball league in 5th grade and continued throughout 11th grade. The leagues I played on were usually school or neighborhood organized. Throughout ages 11-14 I attended many basketball summer camps where we organized into teams, ran drills, practiced, conditioned, and played games. I always enjoyed going to these camps and I feel grateful I had the opportunity to attend them. As I got older I played varsity basketball at my high school with some old neighborhood friends.

Throughout my life I always played local playground basketball all the time. Basketball is considered a lower/working class sport, but the area I grew up in and the fact that I attended many summer basketball camps does not reflect my sport’s social class background. I chose to play basketball during my childhood because I love the sport, not because it was the only sport available to me (economically) at the time. If I had started playing golf or baseball at a young age my parents probably would have supported my involvement in those sports as well. The large amounts of expensive equipment required for golf and baseball are definite limiting factors for youth involvement in those sports.
Basketball is a sport that requires little to no equipment at all, even if you don’t have a ball someone at the court will always have one. The fact is that summer basketball camps are not cheap and some kids will not be able to attend them. Instead they can always play at the local neighborhood court all summer (which is much cheaper than camp).

Evan Johnson

The background that I grew up with played a major role in my sporting experiences. I grew up in an upper class family that has always backed my decisions and goals. Ever since the age of three when I began skating I have been surrounded by hockey. Throughout my childhood I spent literally every weekend on the road with my hockey team. As a child you don't really notice the expenses that come with the game but looking back I can only imagine how much money my parents had spent on hotels, gas, rink time, private lessons, plane tickets, and equipment, just to name a few. That doesn't even include all the hours they spent before and after school driving me to the rink and spending their time away with me. I will always be grateful for that looking back. Going to a live hockey is always one of the most expensive professional sporting tickets around. One way this is seen is through the New York Islanders, they are the 30th-placed team in a 30-team league however, they are among the top 5 when it comes to ticket prices. While their play is subpar, they are in a market that includes many rich individuals and so the market can bare these prices. While I completely agree with most of the comments and how hockey is an expensive sport, this is not the case globally. Take Canada, Russia, or any of the Scandinavian countries for example. Just like is it to me, these people see hockey as a religion, they eat, sleep, and breathe hockey. Even the poorest citizens of Canada can find a way to play. I believe a major reason that hockey is such an expensive sport is because it is not part of our heritage. It almost seems as though in order to play this sport you must include a luxury tax here. For me though, hockey is the most exciting, graceful, fast, furious, and riveting sport to either watch or play so I will never stop supporting and helping the game grow.
Josh Stein

I believe that it is true in my case that my social class has had a direct effect on the sports I have played growing up. I grew up in Suffolk county of Long Island in a middle to upper class family. As a kid growing up I tried playing soccer for a year and decided that it wasn’t for me so I went right to the next sport in the fall which was football. Football at a young age can be expensive depending because of all the equipment required plus league fee’s. Another sport I played was basketball which wasn’t very expensive by itself but when it came to summer camp’s and travel leagues, the fee’s had become pricey. The last sport I played which I believe cost my family the most money was baseball. Throughout all of public school I have played baseball, whether it was during the spring summer and even fall ball. As a kid playing travel baseball, you are very much influenced to buy the top of the line equipment. It was no longer alright in most situations for teammates to be sharing bats, mainly because they cost so much money. Another thing which comes with travel baseball is the amount of tournaments that you are submitted into. These tournaments can be anywhere in the country. As I continue writing this assignment, the more it dawns on me how fortunate I was as a child growing up being able to play whatever sport I felt like. Taking for granted the little things.

-Mike Levy

I guess within really examining sports in a critical sense, one would never trully understand why it is they love the sports that they do. For me personally I can totally agree to with that notion. I grew up in the inner-city of Baltimore where drugs and crime were something that was a part of my everyday existence. So for everyone that wasn't into that lifestyle then there was usually entertainment or sports. So a lot of my friends tended to play certain sports, but I on the other hand attempted playing until I was probably at the age of 10. I played basketball in elementary school, because all of my friends played and one of my older cousins who I looked up to was an avid player. All they did was play basketball in their spare time so I thought that would definitely work out for me too. The only problem was that I never was a big fan of basketball to begin with so that lasted for only about two years. Directly after that I picked up playing bowling because my uncles and cousins played almost every Saturday morning. I love bowling for the three years that I played on a youth league, but as I got older I realized that I needed to start helping my mother out and start taking care of myself more. So I began working at the age of thirteen and haven't played sports since. Making money and being able to do what I wanted was more important that playing sports, but as I got to junior high and high school that started to change. Most of the people that I was around from that point on played football. Now that was an easy sport for us to play seeing as though all you really needed was some open space and an object that we could use as a ball if one wasn't available to us. So we would play as often as we could; that meant in the street, at the parks, for youth leagues and for our respective schools. We all played for bragging rights or even just to pass some time, but it was almost guaranteed that a game was going to be played at least once or twice a week. That love for football is still there even today.

I never really thought about why it was that I liked football so much until recently. I think it was because of the contact. Growing up in a city where everything around you seems to be going "wrong" tends to make a person develop a level of coldness to them. It's almost like you have to prove how tough you are on a daily basis and that alone made it easy to translate it to the field. Being able to take all of your frustrations out by hitting and tackling someone was a constructive way to get your emotions out without having to actually deal with those issues. On top of that not having the money at home or from most schools to buy equipment made this almost the sport of choice for us. Even though I never played for a league or school team, I have always trained and worked out as if I were an athlete.

Lucas Conrad

I grew up a military brat with my dad in the navy and my mom a stay at home mom. I would have to say my family was lower middle-class. My family’s income would I guess would have fell into the lower potion of the “middle fifth”, according Yeskels definition of “families with incomes between $37,700 and $56,000. Although I do recall my family using food stamps and receiving free lunch at school during my elementary school days.
I grew up playing baseball, soccer, and basketball. Baseball being my primary sport from approximately age 7 to 13 years old. My dad was a baseball “nut”. He coached the majority of my youth teams, as well as playing softball non-stop himself. So a large percentage of my childhood was spent on a ball diamond. At this time basketball and soccer were just secondary sports that I did when it was not baseball season. Football was not in option at this time, because we were living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and there was no organized football league.
I would say in my case growing up a military brat and live in Cuba had a greater influence on my sports participation than the pure economic class of my family. On a military base the vast majority is in pretty much the same economic status. When I came back to the states during my teenager years this economic class became very apparent to me. Baseball and soccer in the states seemed to be kids of the upper middle class, kids that I just were not as comfortable around at this time. I think this is only one small factor that pushed me towards basketball, which it seemed all social classes competed in.
During high school I went from living on a baseball field to living on the basketball court. I was cut from the junior varsity my freshman and sophomore years, but this only pushed me deeper into the sport. I quit playing all other sports, so I could devote all of my time to basketball. Which fortunately paid off with me playing varsity my junior and senior years. I desperately wanted to play basketball in college, but my only opportunities were at D-3 private schools. Whose tuition to say the least was a bit out of my parents price range. Just another way economic class can play a factor in your sporting opportunities.

I lived in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, my whole life. I am from a somewhat wealthy white neighborhood on the south shore. I have an older brother and a younger brother and ever since we were little we have been involved in sports. At age five my older brother started playing football for a youth team and as soon as I was old enough I was on a cheerleading team cheering for him. Naturally my younger brother joined the same league when he turned five. We were all in the league until we got to middle school where joined the school team. Along with football and cheerleading my brothers and I started to play on youth PAL lacrosse teams, the boys could start in 3rd grade but the girls team didn’t start until 5th grade. Before lacrosse my older brother Mike played little league and I believe he tried to play soccer one year, but neither gained his interest like football and lacrosse. I was never really interested in any other sport either, I tried gymnastics one year but I didn’t really like it. As we got older we would go to camps, as well as join travel teams. Both my brothers played for the Long Island Sting travel lacrosse team during the summer, which has gotten to be very expensive year after year. For my older brother this really paid off, he was able to go to camps and get looked at by numerous college coaches, and in the long run he went off to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and got a full ride to play lacrosse! My parents are hoping that the five years they invested in the Sting for my younger brother will pay off in the same way. As well as paying for them to play, and travel, my parents vacations changed over the years and instead of going to Disney World or Ocean city, Maryland, they would be making long weekends out of the lacrosse tournaments or college games the boys were playing in.
I wasn’t left out when it came to travel teams. I stuck with lacrosse until I graduated high school but I wasn’t into it as much as cheerleading. I cheered in Middle School and High School, I made our varsity team as a sophomore, and knew I was going to stick with it for a while. I joined an all-star team my junior year and we would travel to different competitions. Although we would fundraise to go away it was still very expensive to be on the team and then to travel. My dad knew that college cheerleaders didn’t get scholarships but the team made me better and in the long run I was able to join the Towson Cheerleading team. We don’t get scholarships but its still fun and a great experience.
I think that my social class background is between middle class and upper middle class. Based on the number of different opportunities we had with sport. Growing up where I did my parents we never worried about me and my brothers playing outside. In fact my dad would get made if the sun was out and we were inside watching TV or playing video games. The street I grew up on had a number of young kids and we were all around the same age. We would constantly play outside pick up games such as tag football, wiffle ball, manhunt, running bases. When it was time for dinner our parents had to yell for us to come inside. As we got older we all continued to play sports just in a more organized way.
Being from New York there are tons of opportunities to go see sporting events as well. My dad and brothers have gone to Giants and Jets games. I have been to a number of Yankee games. We have also gone to a couple Islander games as well as to Belmont Racetrack for the Belmont stakes, or just a fun day watching the horses. Ever since I was little we had a boat that my dad would take us out fishing and tubing on. I have never gone water skiing but it something I would love to try. Another great sporting experience I had growing up on Long Island was when I was in High School I took a marketing class and we were able to take a tour of Madison Square Garden, and Yankee Stadium as field trips.

Kristen Stottler

Growing up I would say that I was part of the middle class. I had my fair share of opportunities to play and attend sports but it wasn’t as much as some of my friends who I would put in the upper middle class. When I was younger I played baseball, basketball, and a year of soccer before I realized that I hated soccer and it was probably my least favorite sport. Needless to say I never played soccer again. I also wanted to football as a kid but my mother was too scared for me to get hurt and wouldn’t allow me to play. I pleaded with my dad to talk some sense into her; I guess he lost that argument. So I didn’t play football as a kid but it wasn’t because of our social class. I was very privileged to play almost whatever sport I wanted to as a kid. I played baseball and basketball all my childhood, although those weren’t the most expensive sports to play. For basketball all you needed was a pair of tennis shoes. For baseball it was beneficial to have a pair of cleats, but you really only needed a glove. You could bring your own bat but it wasn’t necessary. If you didn’t have one you could just use one of your teammate’s bats. The only sport I couldn’t play because of our social status was hockey. I am a huge hockey fan and wanted to play more than anything in the world when I was a kid. We just couldn’t afford it. The equipment was too expensive and there wasn’t an abundance of ice hockey rinks around where you could just go play pick-up. You had to travel every weekend to make games and practices. As much as I wanted to play, we just couldn’t afford it. As far as attending games I was pretty privileged in that aspect as well. My dad and I would go to see 5-6 Orioles games a year and maybe throw in a Capitals game every couple of seasons. We even got lower level seats to a Capitals playoff game when I was younger. One year we were even lucky enough to have season tickets to the University of Maryland football team. I never got to go to my first regular season NFL game until I was 15 and I never attended an NBA game until last year, which is still my only pro basketball game ever. That being said I still think I was in the middle class as far as playing/attending sports concerns. My high school was also one of the nicer in the county. We had a large number of students but there was no shortage of athletic opportunities for either men or women. There were not really any students in my school who were using their sports as a way to better improve themselves, most played for enjoyment or to further their education in hopes of attending college for their respective sport. They already knew they were going to college, they just would have liked to play at the next level. As Eitzen states “Sport appears to be a major way for African Americans to escape the ghetto” (252). There was none of this in my high school. I had friends who attended such schools, where they played sports just to get out of their current situation. If someone from my school wanted to go to college, they would likely go. So, looking back at my ability to play/attend sports I would put myself in the middle class. I had plenty of opportunities, but was still held back in some aspects due to social status.

I would consider myself to have grown up with a lot of opportunities to play many sports giving my families economic status. I would not classify my family as rich but we always had the money if I decided I wanted to play a recreational sport. My father wanted me to play almost every sport as I was growing up because he thought it would help me build character and make new friends which it did. From the ages of 7 to 11 I played basketball, soccer, baseball, one year of lacrosse and bowling. By age 11 I told my dad that I only wanted to play basketball and bowl because they were the 2 sports I was best at and I continued to play both sports and I thank my parents because it wasn’t cheap. Bowling is very expensive when you are in a league. You have to pay a fee every week, sometimes you buy drinks and food while you bowl and not to mention that a bowling ball and shoes are not free but my parents bought them for me so I could have the best opportunity to succeed in that sport. In bowling there were some kids that just used lane balls and the alleys shoes which are fine and they were there to have fun just like I was but were less serious about the competition. And even in basketball we paid a one time fee at the beginning but my parents bought me new basketball shoes and shorts every couple of years. In the Yeskel article, the chart on page 42 shows the real family income from 1979 to 1998 and according to the chart my family would have fit in the category of income 83700 and up making my family fall in the 38% group. I feel that is about where we should have been because I had he money to play sports but I wasn’t extremely wealthy to play in private leagues or more extravagant sports. I was very happy with my childhood and I thank my parent’s economic status for letting me expand my horizons when it came to my choices of sports.
Corey Cline

Growing up in a small, secluded town, my access to sports was limited for a while. To make matters worse, I went to a private Christian school that was so new to the education system that it didn’t even have its own school busses, cafeteria or gymnasium. We had an organized gym class once a week where we participated in games such as kickball and soccer in our uniforms. After school I attended tennis lessons at the YMCA, and from there I went straight to piano lessons. My father ran his own business which allowed him to make a decent amount of money from week to week, and my mother had a good 9-5 job. I guess you could say we were middle class before they got a divorce, the “middle fifth” according to Yeskel, the “families with incomes between $37,000 and $56,000. This includes households with one service or professional income, with one unionized worker, or with two full-time lower wage workers.” Once this happened I was pulled from my private school, tennis and piano lessons and put into a public middle school.
During my seven years in the public school system I was able to develop as an athlete. I joined the club soccer team where I played as the only girl. We traveled to Florida for a tournament where again I was exposed to a whole new level of competition. Along with these practices after school and games throughout the week, I also played in a recreational league which was much more fun. I played against classmates and friends instead of strangers.
In high school I tried out for the varsity soccer team, being the only freshman that year to make the team. I prided myself in starting all but one game that year. I was recognized in my county and district, which is when I decided to join the district development team. My life revolved around this fall sport, so it was no surprise that I found the need to pick up something in the spring. All of my friends had been playing lacrosse since they were in elementary school so I decided to look into it. As many of you know, it’s not exactly an inexpensive sport. A stick can go for anywhere in between $80 and $300. Now coming from a single parent home, it was tough to keep up socially if sports were going to be a part of my life (I come from one of the wealthiest counties in the state). Soccer was inexpensive, a pair of cleats didn’t match up to lacrosse stick, protective eye wear, a million and one mouth-guards (because who can honestly get through a season without losing at least a handful) and in some cases gloves.
My passion for sports reached an all time high when I got the opportunity to play in other parts of the world. I traveled to Europe and Australia while in high school. Through sports I got the opportunity to see other parts of the world, however, this didn’t come at a cheap price. I raised most of the money to travel on my own. The way I portrayed myself as an athlete did not reflect my social class background accurately. I was surrounded by the Lexus-driving soccer moms, the fathers who owned their own law firms. I was the only one within my group of friends with single parents.
All in all, I feel as though I’m one of the exceptions to this stereotype because my friends are the ones whose social class backgrounds and athletic careers were all-in-one.

Growing up, I would say that the sports I played reflected my social class background. I would consider my family to be in the middle class. According to Yeskel, I would be in “the top fifth (which) includes families with incomes starting at $83,700 and ranging up to the top income earners in the land” (p. 40). I am very fortunate to be from Howard County Maryland, which is considered to be among the best counties in the country to live in (in terms of schools, sports, lifestyle etc.). I, along with almost all of my friends growing up, played soccer at a very young age. I started when I was five years old and played all the way up through high school. I wouldn’t say that my parents made me play any sports to keep me from being fat, or to fit in with the social norms. I actually wanted to play when I was that young. It was probably a relief for my dad when I signed up because that meant I would stop bugging him every second to go out back and kick around with me. Looking back on it now though, I wouldn’t be surprised if my friends in the neighborhood who all played soccer influenced me to go that route as opposed to basketball or baseball. After a few years of playing, I wanted to branch out and try new sports along with soccer. Because of my social background, I was able to try a variety of sports, some more expensive than others. I played baseball for a few years, but decided it was to slow for me. Then I went on to football for two years, and gave lacrosse a shot for another year. I enjoyed them, but I decided that soccer was the sport I wanted to focus on. I was playing it pretty much year round and had developed a great relationship with my team. Now I realize that I cost my parents a lot of money just trying out new sports, but back then I didn’t even think twice about it. Luckily, my younger brother went the same route I did when he was young so he got a lot of my hand me downs. He ended up dropping soccer for lacrosse though so it kind of worked out. I never really thought about the social class I was in affecting the sports I played, but now I realize that I was pretty fortunate and appreciate the opportunities I was given.

After reading the blog on socioeconomic status and how it influences the sporting experiences, I was somewhat dumbfounded. As ridiculous as it sounds, growing up, I never stopped to think that an individual would never have the opportunity to see a live sporting event. I was one of the extremely fortunate people who overlook things of this nature, and, in a way, take it for granted. I was often invited to sporting events through my childhood friends, my close adult friends, and more often than not, my father.
My father, who has worked for Clark Construction Company for over 25 years, has probably had the greatest influence on my sport outings. Since I was a child, he has taken me to everything from professional hockey to football. I distinctly remember when he was one of the Project Managers of the MCI Center, now known as the Verizon Center, in Washington D.C.. While he was in the midst of building it, I would sometimes go to D.C. with him, grab lunch in Chinatown, then walk around the arena and upper levels of the building. I even met Abe Pollin, not that I had any clue who he was at the time. I was never “into” watching sports, just as I still am not today. Going to the game was more of a social experience for me, rather than a spectator sport. Never the less, I was at the MCI Center on the day of the special pre-opening event, where I got to walk around the Center, back in the locker rooms and other restricted areas. After, my dad would often offer to take me and my brother to various Wizards and Capitals games, many of which I would decline. As Clark Construction Company was leading company on the project, they purchased a box at the center. Because of this, my dad can request tickets to events that take place in the MCI/Verizon Center, which he may or may not be able to get depending on if the box is being used for business-related purposes.
Currently, my dad is the project manager of the renovations on Byrd Stadium at The University of Maryland, College Park. He attended all of the home football games this past fall, and goes to many of the basketball games in the Comcast Center. His work requires this of him, and he still asks me to go whenever he gets an extra ticket. I still turn him down.
I should feel so lucky to be able to be given these opportunities, and sometimes I do. However, more often than not, I simply overlook how fortunate I am to be given these opportunities that some people are never even given the chance to say “yes” or “no.” In a way, this is a reflection of my class background. I grew up in two middle class families, with all of my parents working. As a child, my mother was able to run a daycare out of her home in order to be able to stay home with me and my younger siblings. My father worked a full time job. My step mother also worked a full time job, until I was in middle school, when she started doing business out of the house. We were always financially secure, as far back as I can remember. If I ever really needed anything, there was never a doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to get it. But at the same time, my parents didn’t just hand me everything. I worked extremely hard at everything, my parents taught me that in order to get the things you need and want in life don’t just show up out of no where. Wanting them to be proud of me, I set my goals and standards high, always reaching out, wanting to do my best and accomplish everything I set out to do. “. . . economic security is based on a lifetime of hardwork, financial risk, sacrifice, and commitment. This work ethic, combined with a commitment to saving money, has made many people comfortable in their senior years” (Yeskel 59).
This being said, I can see how sports reflects upon my class status. Though I never took advantage of the sporting opportunities I had a chance to go to, I never thought anything of it, simply because they had always been there. I was never in a place where I couldn’t have something if I didn’t need it If I wanted something, I knew I would simply have to work hard, or I would have to patiently wait until the time came where I would be able to get what it was I desired.

My social class background had some effect on my sporting experiences. The primary sport that I played was football. However, I come from a lower class to middle class background. My family and I are originally from a lower class area of Brooklyn, New York. We moved to Bladensburg, Maryland when I was in the first grade and were still lower class, but better well off. We then moved to Bowie, Maryland when I was in the third grade, and more of a middle class lifestyle. Through my early years in Brooklyn, Bladensburg, and Bowie I played sports in the neighborhood. During those years we could not afford the crazy and vast expenses of amateur leagues like little league, pee wee, and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). My parents and I also really didn’t know much about it and did not know other families that were involved in it. My parents were also from Brooklyn, New York and were just use to playing sports for their schools or with unofficial teams in their neighborhoods. My sister on the other hand has played in organized athletics since she was seven. She does not even remember our time in Bladensburg or Brooklyn or our first few years in Bowie. By the time she was seven we were middle class. Since then my parents have paid large sums of money towards AAU, little league softball, and soccer.

Even with our social class I do not think it contributed solely to me playing football rather than other sports. I think my long family history of playing football was more of a factor. Even though my Dad and uncles were raised in the lower class and the city, they played football and baseball not typical city sports such as basketball. I think I would have played football no matter what. My love for the game has always been a huge factor.

Travis Macklin

My social background growing up would probably be middle class. I grew up in a small town in Queen Anne’s county on the Eastern Shore in a single parent home. In school I did track both indoor & outdoor & cross-country. I wanted to play lacrosse but it was too expensive and mostly white at my school so my mom didn’t really get it, the lack of hand eye coordination didn’t help my case. I tired field hockey, but for a while but dropped it to play in the marching band which was also expensive. There were a lot of sports I didn’t try because the equipment or participation was too expensive. Track is a cheap sport; you just need shoes & a physical.
Our schools were really well funded and if you wanted to play something a lot of times they provided equipment. There were a lot of things I want to do as a kid then I tried them in gym and like I said the hand eye coordination just wasn’t there. We were exposed to a lot of sports through gym class and summer and after-school programs. Basketball was probably the most accessible because there was always open gym, so I don’t know why our mens’ team always sucked. I remember going to Shorebirds games and to see the Washington Wizards as a kid. Because I grew up in middle to upper middle class white town I was exposed to a lot of sports that my friends have never seen or played.
Over time I think that I have been a casual fan of just about every sport. It varied from month to month starting with basketball, lacrosse, NASCAR, tennis, figure skating, gymnastics, then football, and there was that brief hockey and golf period. I mostly watched basketball & football. I liked lacrosse because everyone played lacrosse in my town our school was always conference champions in both mens and womens. NASCAR is like a country thing I think a lot of people watch especially since I lived so close to Dover Downs racetrack. I don’t really go to any professional sporting events because it’s too expensive, I mostly just watch on TV and it’s mostly basketball, football and track.
-Alex

By the time I was three I was bouncing off the walls with more energy than my parents knew how to deal with. So, since my grandfather was a coach and my mother a previous gymnast it was an easy decision that I would be put into a gymnastics class. And seventeen years later I still am an active participate in this sport. Gymnastics is not a cheap sport, my parents have spent thousands of dollars in order to allow me to be happy. They were forced to cut back on vacations and they went back to school so they could get an increased salary. So, by increasing their salary my parent’s total income put them in the upper middle class. So, the sport I participated in did reflect my social class background because not everyone can afford sending their child off to one of the best gymnastics clubs in the nation. The gymnastics club that I attended produced many Olympian athletes such as Dominique Dawes and Courtney Kupets. I am very lucky and I know because my parents never let me forget it.
Alise McDonald

My family is probably as white middle class as anyone could get. And being from the Towson area made it extremely possible to participate in any sport I wanted to. And my favorite sport is figure skating and I could not even imagine if I were not able to ice skate, it is something I have been doing since the age of five and it is a skill I will hopefully never lose. My parents, my mother especially, made sure my brother and I were able to do any sport we liked and for the most part we were taught in all sports, except for ice skating to a certain level, by our mom because she was a gym teacher and wanted us to be well rounded. We learned all the sports at the local fields, no country clubs or exclusive gated places. And we got most of our early sports equipment second hand because the deal in the family still is that until you became serious enough/dedicated in the sport, there was no reason to buy the top of line brand new products. I remember getting my custom figure skates (really any top of the line skate, hockey or figure skate is upwards of $500) and my mom made me promise to continue to take lesson for at least three more years before they made that investment, and I kept my end of the deal.
Overall, we played whatever sport we liked until we didn’t like it anymore. I played softball for the rec league until I wanted to play lacrosse in high school and I have always played tennis in some form or another, either summer camp or hitting the ball against the school wall in anger. My brother has always played baseball, soccer and ice hockey year round with some team and has been on the varsity teams for baseball and soccer three out of four years in high school. We both did swim team at the local pool for a year or two, but that was because my mom insisted on either swimming lesson or swim team because she wanted my brother and I to have the “life saving skills” and if given the chance I would have much rather been on a diving team.
I am so glad my mom made us learn to appreciate sports and encouraged us to try new things with very little limitations. I would not trade my knowledge and ability to learn sports for anything.
~Cory

I would consider my social status growing up as middle class. Growing up I did play sports both organized and pick up games. I started out when I was 5. I played in a soccer league. It was a neighborhood league in Prince Georges County and the field was only a short walk from my house. I do remember having orange slices at half time as well as a bigger snack at the end of the game that that the parents brought. When I was 7 I moved to Calvert County a rural county(at that time) and I began to play many more sports. I would play a sport every season. I was not forced to play sports at all. I was asked if I would like to play and I did. I started out playing pee wee football in the fall, I would play basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. Baseball was a big sport in Calvert County and It came to be my favorite sport. I only played two years of football. My teams were not very good so I did not want to play anymore. I did not face any pressure to continue to play football. I stuck with basketball and baseball. I played from 7 until I was 15. I was able to get good equipment to play sports. I got new basketball shoes every year. My main focus was baseball. I got new cleats,new batting gloves and other things every year. Also a new glove and bat probably every other year. My position was catcher. The team provided catcher equipment but is was old and well used. I also got full catchers equipment a few times during my career. I was chosen to an All Star team a few times which required travel around the state. We never made it very far in the tournaments but if I had I know travel arrangements would not have hindered my being able to go.
As well as organized sports growing up, many days would spend my time after school playing sports. I had a basketball hoop and so did many of the kids in the neighborhood. In middle school and high school I would play roller hockey after school in the streets. I got several skates, sticks, balls, pucks and other things over the years. I even got pipe to make goals. I would play sports at family get together like basketball, softball, and football. It is a tradition to go to a football field and play a football game on Thanksgiving before the turkey.
Sports has always been a big part of my life. I am glad that I had the opportunity to play sports. Sports are a great learning tool growing up. Hopefully one day I can give my kids the same opportunities to play sports but I would like to hope that I do not pressure them into sports.

I was extremely blessed in terms of personal athletic opportunity as a child. In San Diego I not only played club soccer, and little league baseball at extremely competitive levels; I was also introduced to recreational league of sports like tennis, basketball, and lacrosse and was provided an opportunity to watch pro sports because my dad had invested in season tickets of the Padres and the Chargers.
With my soccer club team we traveled to England to play as 11-12 year olds against kids of the same age group across the pond. Obviously, this was an incredible experience and there were definitely other historical benefits of the trip, but my soccer team was why the trip was planned.
From ages 7-14 I attended big name sports camps including Michael Jordan Camp, where you were lectured daily by the man himself at UC Santa Barbara. Here you were surrounded by the NBA and College elite who were considered the “counselors” of the camp. I also was privileged to attend High Cascade Snowboard Camp....which was a snowboard camp during the summer on MT Hood (Oregon).
Experiences like these not only give you time to practice your craft, but also allow for coaching at the highest of levels. Obviously they are a financial burden on those who participate. My family who at that point may have been included in the
(pg 40) “Top Fifth (referring to income levels), families with incomes starting at 83,700 and ranging up to the to income earners in the land,”
Clearly set aside funds in order for my brother and I to participate in these “elitist activities” and I am grateful because literally these were the coolest experiences I ever had.
We lived in a gated community in Middle School where houses were directly next to each other and provided a park, pitch and put golf course, swimming pool, as well as basketball court. The most important thing was that there were kids who were easily found to play with. This is where I learned and developed my personal skill as an athlete. We organized and played Football, Basketball, Tennis, Golf, Swimming on a daily basis. If we didn’t have enough kids, we would invent strands of the game, such as Home Run Derby (baseball) and 21 (basketball). We played a lot so inevitably we all got pretty good at a variety of sports. The competitiveness we had as kids pushed and promoted each other to get better which eventually developed most of us into promising high school athletes.
The balance I had between the elitist sport (such as the camps, and trips to England), and the street sport environment of my gated community definitely contributed to the athlete I am today.
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Justin I was kind of going off the fact that we paid $200 per month per car in baltimore, and the price per evening was about 1/5 the cost as the lot in DC. We sat in the top ring, but it wasn't bad. I figured if we knew the area we could get in for cheaper, but just the lot we pulled into was crazy.

Ryan, you over shot how expensive it is to park in downtown DC. It is probably more like $300 and most companies have cut deals with the Owner of the building to have a lower rate. You can get to a Caps game for e decent price you just have to know the right avenues. Like Metro. You could have let me know you were going to be at the game and parked for free at my house. JK. I was at the game too. Where were you sitting?

Growing up my attitude towards sports was always that you should always try every sport once because you never know what you’ll be good at. I always thought that I could make it big in a sport I just didn’t quite find that sport, so I always explored. I played most team sports like basketball, soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, cheerleading and played many individual sports like baton twirling, track and field; ice skating, and rock climbing. Other then softball there weren’t many sports I wasn’t willing to try. I also think it helped that I was able to pick up most sports with ease and practice.
I grew up in a town called Fallston, where it’s generally known that we’re a wealthier community. So, I grew up in an upper middle class family where I never had to worry about money. Since I grew up like this I was given the ability to try many different sports and activities and not worry about the cost. Even now in college I still have my parents helping me in my sports. I am now an avid rock climbing and for most birthday’s and Christmas’s I ask for new gear and normally get it.
The sport of figure skating definitely shows my social class background since my parents were able to afford the costs of the sport. In your blog you said that ice skating was something you never had the opportunity to do because of the price of skates and ice time. Ice skating then does not represent the lower class community but it represents the upper middle class or upper class community. I was a figure skater for 5 years, having private lessons at the occasional sixty dollars an hour, having figure skates where I had to buy the boot and blade separately, and having outfits made for me. I shared ice time with Kimmie Meissner who would go on to compete in the Olympics, and whose father is a doctor, also having the money to support her figure skating career. Growing up I didn’t have many friends who couldn’t afford to skate or play whatever sport they wanted. I am an extremely lucky kid.