Compelling sports stories are all around us. From the glory of Pittsford native Abby Wambach's thrilling goals during the 2011 World Cup soccer tournament – which created a buzz around women's soccer both in Rochester and across the nation – to Derek Jeter's successful pursuit of his 3,000th career hit in baseball, sports are dominating the headlines this summer.

Not all of the press is positive: recent labor disputes in the National Football League and the National Basketball Association threaten to turn off generations of future fans, and as the economy continues to slump along, more and more people are operating under tighter and tighter budgets, especially when it comes to leisure time and recreational activities.

As children become more and more fascinated with sports, it's only logical for them to take the next step and head out onto the playing field to impersonate their favorite sports stars. When it comes time for area parents to discuss potential sports options for their children, the possibilities vary greatly from team sports such as basketball, football and ice hockey to individual sports like swimming and diving, golf and gymnastics. But when considering signing up a child for a sport, there are many factors to consider, according to Brooke de Lench, a national youth sports expert, author and editor-in-chief of the Website momsteam. Com.

In these increasingly frugal times, parents need to calculate all costs associated with participation in a sport to ensure the family can afford to pay for the season. This includes registration and tournament fees, equipment and travel costs such as gasoline and hotel accommodations (for out of- town tournaments).

Additionally, parents should "work with their children to match them up with a sport that will hold their interest, while providing them with good exercise as they build new friendships," says de Lench, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who is a mother of three and a past coach of her three sons. "If a kid is asking to play a sport like soccer, football or lacrosse, that's a good indication that they really truly do want to play the sport, and they'll have that much more fun and success with the sport."

A growing number of children are playing youth sports across all levels, and in greater numbers than ever before. De Lench says there are approximately 58 million children ages 4 to 18 who play at least one sport across all levels, from town recreation programs to high school varsity squads.

While sports such as baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse rule the summertime, there are plenty of youth sports options available to parents and children as the calendar turns from July into August.

Youth football will take center stage later this month, as more than two thousand area children will don helmets and shoulder pads on competitive travel teams in the Pop Warner, American Youth Football and Cheer leading and Finger Lakes Youth Football and Cheer leading Associations. The football sea-Son typically runs through the end of October, with some leagues holding playoffs in early November.

Hockey has a strong presence in town, too. The five youth hockey organizations in Rochester – Rochester Youth Hockey, Monroe County Youth Hockey, Perinton Youth Hockey, Webster Youth Hockey and Tri-County Youth Hockey – combine to give roughly 4,000 children the chance to lace up their skates. In New York State, there were 35,211 players ages 6-18 in the 2010-11 season, including 4,390 girls in that age range, and both figures represented an increase from the past season.

The Weisbecks of Pittsford are among the multitudes of area families with several children currently playing youth hockey. Steve and his wife, Kim, have four children between the ages of 3 and 12: Jack, 12, plays hockey and baseball; Lucy, 9, plays soccer and rides horses; Harper, 5, plays soccer, baseball and hockey while Drew, 3, plays hockey.

Various opportunities are available, from learn to skate sessions and beginner programs, to house leagues and competitive travel teams that traverse the country seeking out the best competition. Jeff Kolcon, president of Rochester Youth Hockey, estimates that parents can spend between $500 and $1,000 for one of RYH's competitive house programs, and between $2,500 and $8,000 for the higher-level travel teams, the most elite of which offers athletes the chance to play in prestigious national competitions and, maybe, catch the eye of a college coach or a professional scout.

While the costs of high-level hockey appear rather pricey, Kolcon says most teams undertake aggressive fundraising efforts to reduce costs. There are other options too, such as buying used versus new gear. Regardless of the associated costs, Weisbeck says he and Kim gladly chose to spend their family's money on youth sports over buying a new vehicle or dining out at fancy restaurants.

"We were looking to get our children some good exercise while having positive interactions with their peers. Of course, we wanted them to have fun, too," says Steve Weisbeck, who adds that once Jack got involved six years ago, his other children soon followed suit and took up hockey. "You have to expose kids to all the different sports before they can understand which ones they like. We encourage our kids to try new sports, especially at a young age. … Hockey is great, it's a sport that's geared towards developing life-long friendships."

Kolcon adds that RYH's beginner programs are offered year-round and give children the chance to learn the game's basics while playing with loaned out equipment, saving parents from plunking down hundreds of dollars on a sport their child might not even enjoy.

For parents seeking balance for their children, the YMCA offers multi-sport camps as well as specialized instruction and structured league play for more than 20 assorted sports, from soccer and floor hockey to karate and track and field.

While the YMCA does offer competitive leagues, good sportsmanship and character development are ultimately the goal Of any YMCA sports program, says Steve Henshaw, senior program director with the Southeast (Pittsford) YMCA, a facility that serves the sports needs of between 1,000 and 1,500 school-aged children each year.

Rather than focusing on wins, losses and season-long statistics, for most of the beginner and intermediate-skill programs, coaches will hand out questions for parents to ask their children following the conclusion of a game or practice. Questions like “Did you have fun?”, “What did you learn?”, and "How did you demonstrate good sportsmanship?" Are among the beneficial ways YMCA coaches get parents and athletes to think about individual character development.

"It's important to give children a variety of choices and not pigeon-hole a kid into one sport," Henshaw says. "Check out several different sports and see which options the children have a passion for," he suggests. "There's a time and a place for specialized sports instruction, like when kids reach ages 10 to 12. But early on, they should be learning respect, good sportsmanship and healthy lifestyle habits."

Besides team sports, parents also have the choice to sign their children up for individual-oriented sports such as gymnastics, swimming and fencing. The Gymnastics Training Center, located in Penfield, is a 22,000-square foot gym, the largest such gymnastics facility on the east coast, according to Sarah Jane Clifford, the center's owner and one of 30 coaches who work with the more than 2,000 boys and girls who call the center home.

"Success in gymnastics is measured by each child's individual progress, while most team sports are measured on how the team does. This increases strength and coordination, gives better flexibility and builds up a child's self-confidence more than any other sport," Clifford says of her facility, which in addition to competitive travel programs also offers beginner and school-year programs that cost from $35 to $60, depending on the child's grade in school.

After giving recreation-level youth soccer a try, Fairport's Kristen Murphy allowed her oldest daughter, Kathryn, the chance to take gymnastics classes six years ago. Soon after Kathryn's maiden voyage into the high-flying, acrobatic sport, Mark Murphy followed in his sister's footsteps. Now all three Murphy children, including Lauren, 4, gladly spend several nights a week practicing gymnastics.

"Gymnastics is great because it is a team sport, but you have to compete individually and learn how to take everything in stride, the great meets and the not-so-great meets," Kristen Murphy says. "When you're the only person performing on an apparatus, and all the parents are watching, it's comforting for a child to know they can perform well and execute their routine. Like in gymnastics and in life, it's important to know how to walk onto the next challenge, and this sport makes you learn to bounce back from setbacks."

While most children experience playing the classic ball sports – basketball, soccer, and baseball/softball – during their Physical education classes, Marci Callan feels strongly that all children should experience swimming, and not just because she wants more youths to get into the sport she loves. Knowing how to swim is a vital life skill, and it's also an essential safety skill, says Callan, the head coach and general manager of Fairport Area Swim Team (FAST), which gets more than 300 children ages 2-and-older into the pool.

Among the topics Callan and her fellow coaches address with beginning swimmers during their 1-on-1 instruction: learning the basic arm and leg movements as well as how to use equipment such as kickboards, goggles, snorkels, and flippers.

"Swimming isn't just a sport, it's an activity that improves your long-term health and fitness while getting you into a sport you can enjoy your whole life," Callan says of FAST, which offers an introductory swim school and a 29-week swim lesson program among its class offerings. "Between all the great physical, mental and psychological effects it has on an athlete, it's probably the best sport you can do for yourself, and it's also a safety skill. It works different muscle groups, and the buoyancy of the water makes everyone equal (at the beginning)."

While most of the sports already mentioned have large followings both locally and nationally, what happens if a child expresses interest in a sport that neither parent has ever played before? The Rochester Fencing Club, located on Culver Road in Rochester, often receives phone calls from parents of children interested in learning this global sport.

Iris Zimmermann, a Rochester native who is co-owner of the club along with her sister, Felicia, became the first U.S. fencer to win a world championship medal, and she also competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics. She said that in fencing, more so than in other sports, athletes learn to be responsible for both their successes and, just as important, their failures.

Beginner classes are limited to 10-12 children per class, which allows children to receive plenty of repetitions with the weapon while mastering their footwork, a skill Zimmermann says is essential to a child's development in this ancient sport.

"One of the coolest parts about fencing is everyone starts off at square one. It's a learned skill, and youths can use both their brains and their bodies to push their limits," Zimmermann says of the club, which currently has 115 youth members. "We get a lot of kids who tried and just didn't like team sports, and they never considered themselves an athlete, but after taking beginner fencing lessons, they discover they have a talent for the sport. Kids learn about focus, because if you lose your focus, you will get hit, so children quickly learn how to stay focused and recover from setbacks."

Whether it's on the playing field, in the classroom or in life, that's one of the most important lessons a child can learn.

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