Why are the mc & mc children more outdoorsy & sporty?

[Spaghettisavesmysoul]

Following on from the umc lifestyle thread, I noticed many posts saying they were much more outdoorsy & sporty. Skiing is nearly a pre requisite & a silent class marker! The mc kids we know can all swim very, very well, cycling loads, hike, ski, play hockey, tennis & rugby.
Why is this? Is it from the schools they attend, parental aspirations or interests? The wc class kids I know (mine included) are not that way inclined whatsoever, outdoors consists more of freeplay as opposed to sports & my boys enjoy unstructured footie with their pals...

@LisaJool The dad may not have been able to read.

@antelopevalley my dc had subsidised places as I'm a FT carer to disabled dc, but no one knew except the lady who registered them. The instructor nor the other children or parents would know.

@antelopevalley thats a good point, but utterly ridiculous to make a claim like that, it's hardly going to be conducive to his ds' attitude towards reading.

Where I grew up, some of us decided to use the empty tennis courts in the recreation ground backing onto some large detached houses to teach ourselves to play. We enjoyed it, we brought some washing line to pass for a net and we'd play singles, mixed doubles and, for a bunch of inner city brats, we weren't too bad seeing as we'd only seen it on TV and our racquets were £4.99 Head ones bought from somewhere like Sports Direct with a single tube of the cheapest balls we scraped together to buy from our lunch money.

Every time without fail, somebody would call the police to say there was a gang of youths hanging around their back gardens, trying to break in. These days, the narrative would be 'gang members hanging around, dealing drugs and planning stabbings' and they'd get a lot more attention from the police than the bored copper who'd wander over, say hello and wander back to the car again that we had. But even that made us feel like we shouldn't be there.

Other things we wanted to do included;

Riding bikes = gangs - and I'd outgrown my bike so wouldn't have been able to join in
Skateboards = gangs - and we couldn't afford them
Hockey sticks = weapons, even when the PE teacher said we could borrow them
Basketball = gangs to those people

A cricket bat, stumps and a tennis ball was interpreted as weapons.
A battered golf club and chewed up ball we found in a skip were interpreted as weapons.

We had police called on us for every sport - if we tried going to another park, the people living there would also call the police because we were 'not from round here'.
One of us somehow got hold of a cheap boules set - we even got reported for that.

It took three hours to get to the only ice rink by multiple buses. We did it once, but it was too expensive.

We went swimming for a few months on a Saturday morning. Until they decided to close the pool for private lessons and parties at the weekend.

Running would have meant needing running shoes rather than cheap trainers from the market.

Boxing and karate cost money we didn't have - and we weren't actually that keen on getting hit.

Every single sporting activity we tried to do was met with, due to the location of the parks, MC homeowners making sure none of those nasty common oiks defiled their airspace.

Had we had MC parents able and willing to fund us and ferry us around to structured activities, we'd have been sporty - even though we hated PE because it was shit and largely running around icy fields in crap clothing, we wanted to do something. But because we weren't, we weren't allowed to find what we enjoyed without it always ending with another report of nasty, scary youths in the area.

I live in a economically diverse London borough. There are real efforts from both local authority level and sports clubs / charities to try any make sports as accessible as possible. Everything costs money, but there are funds / subsidies available for families who are struggling. It's far from perfect but it does mean much easier access for those who may struggle otherwise.
Parental engagement is also key, which is much more likely if a parent isn't working every hour god sends to make ends meet, or has caring responsibilities etc.
My DC's do a lot of sport but that's because we have the time and the money to support their hobbies.
However I am impressed with their schools (standard primary and comp with a very mixed intake). Both have brilliantly engaged PE teachers who give the kids as much opportunity as they can to try different sports and to compete. Our main secondary rival is a local indie, and my DS loves it when they beat them (which they often do!).

@NeverDropYourMooncup I believe that. This whole 'let's go for a romp in the woods with our Quechua jackets' aged 14 wont be welcomed with open arms for Jayzel or lashana in the counties or further afield. Hence why the association Black Girls Hike and others exist.

@GerbilsForever24 No idea tbh. Local rugby club is a charity and pays for the coach. He is lovely and teaches rugby tots as a paid gig during the week. The twenty quid goes to RFU I think and pays for annual membership/ insurance. Use a local farmers field for training or the local schools astroturf when there’s snow. Rest of it runs on goodwill, volunteers and fundraising.

Borrow community minibus for games and/ or parents give lifts. Generally we’re an inclusive bunch if you can help you do

It's not just money for activities, it's the hidden costs of equipment and extras (competitions/ exams/ shows/ races). Equipment needs space to store it in. Washing/ drying can be problematic. Better quality equipment can enhance an experience (doing DoE with ill-fitting equipment that I could muster was much harder than a few years later where I had decent, reasonably fitting gear that was lighter, and better quality)

In spring 2020 it was easy for our family to go out walking and access the countryside and get good walks in. Less salubrious neighbourhoods don't tend to have that on the doorstep and there may be safety concerns in the local area.
Many areas have lost cheaper community/ council recreation facilities. Areas where there is anti-social behaviour can have maintainence problems.

If life is spent in survival mode there's not much spare time and energy to look into trying new things or low cost activities. If life is precarious there is comfort in the familiar. Survival mode is also more short termist and it's harder to consider opportunities in an abstract future.
Life may also be more physically wearing where there's manual work or walking/ using public transport. There's not so much need for strategic sport/ exercise.
Even where life is more stable with some disposable income, historic experience of these factors can form family/ localised cultures/ expectations.

Middle class life has far more opportunities and freedom to put time, effort and money in and a more strategic long term focus. That's a massive advantage.

Money.
friends son in posh school been abroad 3 x this year to swim, play rugger. Goes skiing and abroad with parents.
mine had a weekend at grannies!

I’m not a competitive parent. I wanted to give my child something she can rely on for headspace and wellbeing. I wanted her to be a team player and have discipline and focus and to be able to control and use her body and mind. And I wanted her to be able to survive. Nothing to do with MC or money as such.

I would reiterate that it is the opportunities offered in private schools and the time/ money to top it up. Our son's primary school can't even provide a football club, but the children at the private school directly across the road all play tennis, cricket, hockey and rugby. DS plays for the local hockey club, but the state school kids are way behind those who go to private school.

I would also argue that many UMC children don't have a huge amount of say in these things. DSs friend told us recently that he doesn't like tennis. But if he doesn't go to lessons he won't be good enough to play socially or against his boss when he's older, then he might not be in a position to afford the lifestyle he is lucky enough to have now. So in many ways, I think it is socialised cultural capital.

@TeaAddict235 sadly a Muslim hikers group got so much online abuse after featuring on Countryfile last week. The countryside is only for white people, doncha know 🤔

@Annoyed200722 it is 100% this too, it's cultural & social capital... Skiing, tennis, sailing are all very popular umc corporate activities.. If you're not competent you won't fit in.

You're right ots social capital but unless you're on very tight budget you can improve child's life chances by offering the 'right' activities outside of school.
Rugby often is a great equaliser. As is tennis. Neither requires huge income to start - although I accept for some access may be more of a challenge and fear of not fitting in might put off some parents.
Sailing is often very cheap at charity or local authority watersports centres. Our children's comprehensive had a successful sailing team (and they are not the only state school that does) but is probably perceived as expensive or not for less affluent children. The Taĺl ships trust offers free and heavily subsidised places for children living with disadvantage on their challenger series. It's accessible but you have to make an effort to know that.

I also think you're right about choices with more affluent children having a more structured life and an emphasis on commitment and team.

I don't think it's just cost, because the comparator is what happens with pets' exercise. Lots of fat, fenced-in WC dogs. I suspect it's to do with leisure time and expectations of how available time will be used. MC dogs are walked.

What I mean is, if you work difficult or long hours on your feet, you're more likely to walk your dog or take your kids out rambling hiking, and more likely to prefer time at home.

I can't articulate todau.

We are not rich, Im a single parent and receive CTC. But sporty activities cost, money and time. DD does sports where many of the other families are wealthier than us but part of that is because shes an only child so there is some time and money available.

DD plays rugby, subs are cheap at £80 a year, but I need a car to get her to training weekly and then Sunday is spent traipsing around the County going to matches and cluster training which costs time as well as fuel. Only compulsory equipment was boots at £50 a pair (or donation only to the club if there is a pair your size).

When DD swam the leisure centre swimming lessons were much more expensive than club swimming week to week. But again, a car needed to travel to galas and race fees for each individual race she took part in added up. Along with racing costumes which a cheap one started at £50 up to several £100s if you are serious. Timewise she trained 5 x nights a week + weekend galas, we would book a Premier Inn for 2 day galas more than 90 mins away as they start early.

Money I guess. We don’t ski, horse ride etc. but paying fees for football team and coach, swimming lessons at the local pool, chess club are doable for us. Our biggest barrier is time.

Where we are, Rugby is typically only played at private schools and our kids go to a government school and are football obsessed.

I do none of those things and fit in just fine. Same with golf which is a big corporate social thing but maybe for 20% of people? There is no rule that everyone has to do the same things.

I come from a working class background and grew up in absolute poverty. I worked hard and am probably mc as I own my home and have a professional job. My child has never been skiing or horse riding, but does hiking, climbing kayaking etc. but that's because we love it. Sports like hockey/rugby etc are def to do with schools. Most of my wc friends have put their kids through swimming lessons because it's an important life skill (and prob because we aren't too far from the beach). So some things def are due to class (the really expensive stuff) but some things are because the parents enjoy them too. I know that the parents like skiing etc as well though so I get what you mean. Hiking is free though!

It's a gut punch when your wc dc starts applying for Unis and realises the "good" Unis want to know you are well rounded and have had plenty of extra curricular/ sporty hobbies.
Amazing how far reaching these things are.
The reason these extra curricular activities are out of reach is financial obviously.
Classism still shines through brightly when it comes to anyone trying to "better" themselves.

I'd never heard of cultural capital until recently

As someone posted upthread, there's also problems aside from cost. If you are reliant on public transport, options are much more limited.
Finding somewhere to safely store equipment is an issue. Then transporting it on the bus/train.

If you work manually you feel you get your activity in at work, so don't necessarily want or need to do sports of an evening.

Commitment to regular lessons can also be difficult with shift work or jobs with flexible rotas.

Walking is free, but have people forgotten lockdown? Walking around the same local place all the time is boring and depressing.

Walking is lovely if you have the option of different places to walk, waterproof shoes and a warm coat.

Hiking is only free is you live within walking distance of the hills (most people don't!) and after you have bought all the clothes / boots etc you need.

If you live in an urban area, hiking costs a lot in fuel.