I hear stories from time to time about kids that are good at their sports or activity, the parents put them in the top level of participation and then find out after a couple of years that the kids don't really like dedicating all of their time to it. They want a more normal life.

Not saying that happens a lot, but we have some good friends who went through that with their daughter and volleyball. The daughter kept playing because she thought that's what her parents wanted her to do when she really didn't enjoy being totally immersed in the sport. They kept pushing her because they thought that's what she wanted. The daughter finally told them that she wanted to play more just for fun, not year around.