My son is quitting his travel team. Soon he’ll be telling his coach he’s done, turning in his uniform, saying goodbye to his friends and teammates.

He happens to be giving up basketball, but for the purposes of this discussion it could be any sport. And any parent of a travel team player will understand my feelings of both regret and relief.

To any parent contemplating getting a child onto a travel team, all I can say is, be prepared. You expect to sacrifice your time – long practices, longer weekends spent at tournaments near and far. But be prepared to question your motives, your parenting, your child’s abilities and desire.

This is not about playing time or about coaching or about personality conflicts. To dispel any question about that, I have to point out: Alec was often a starter on a team that made it to the semi-finals of a state tournament last year. In three years on the team, we had none of the usual travel team complaints.

My husband and I had long and heartfelt discussions about whether we were doing the right thing – to get involved, to stay involved, to quit. About when to push, when to pull back. We wrestled with it, because we expect our kids to be active. We don't abide quitting when a committment is made. But when basketball ceased to make Alec happy, it was time to say goodbye. It sounds so obvious now.

Now, the ball's in his court -- so to speak. He's decided to try travel baseball - a sport he almost gave up two years ago.