By Kyle Merber
August 19, 2026
Dear Bill Simmons,
You had my vote to become Sports Czar, Podcast Mogul Category, before I heard your list of the “20 Best and Worst Youth Sports for Parents.” Unfortunately, I can no longer support you in such an important role given your egregious under-ranking of cross-country at #15.
From a parent’s perspective, cross-country is unquestionably a top-three sport. Let’s go through every point on your own rubric so we can highlight the overlooked benefits of your child deciding they’re going to spend an inordinate amount of time just running around.
How does the sport upend your life?
It basically doesn’t. This may be the strongest argument in favor of cross-country, because it is frictionless from a parenting perspective. There are only a handful of meets to attend throughout the entire fall season. Most teams compete fewer than 10 times, with the large majority of meets taking place at a local park or high school’s campus.
In terms of off-season workouts… that’s typically left up to the athlete. Imagine your teenager out of the house for an hour or so at a time, jogging. Not playing video games. Not being radicalized on the Internet. Not in possession of your credit card en route to rack up a devastating tab at Chipotle. Just jogging! Peace and quiet for you and a microdose of military school-worthy self discipline for them.
But the biggest selling point would be that there are no private teams—kids pretty much only run for their school. Competition-schedule-wise, what you see is what you get. You can write down the dates and locations of every planned meet on your calendar in pen, then, if you’re dramatic, throw that pen in the garbage.
What’s the parent culture?
There is no culture beyond telling runners from your child’s team “good job,” and nodding along in agreement when you’re within earshot of another parent saying “they’re such good kids.”
It’s just a bunch of parents who are happy their kids are doing something generally healthy after school with friends. With no prospect of a major league contract, parents’ investment tends to remain firmly in the “for the love of the game” camp, and unlike baseball, there is no arguing with umpires over balls and strikes.
Maybe shuffle jogging from point to point along a cross-country course with a bunch of other out-of-breath parents isn’t your idea of a perfect Saturday, but would you really rather spend your entire weekend driving to and from an all-day tournament in some middle-of-nowhere town that’s built its entire economy on the youth sports industrial complex?
How expensive is the sport?
How much do shoes cost? Multiply that maybe by two and that’s the maximum out of pocket cost for a season. It’s not nothin’, but it can be measured in three digits, which by most sports’ standards is an unbeatable bargain. Again, there are no travel teams and basically no private coaches. At some point your child may want a slightly fancier GPS watch that could be found on Facebook Marketplace for $50.
What’s the toll on physical and mental health?
The physical benefits of being able to run for a long time should be obvious. But studies have shown that running reduces depression risk by about 30%, and over 89% of club runners report an improvement in their happiness. Like any other sport, it is important to find (and help maintain!) a coach and a team with a healthy culture, particularly when it comes to nutrition and fueling. Plus, it’s a guaranteed hour that your kids won’t be on their phone, which has to count for something.
Is there scholarship potential?
Due to the low costs of operating a cross-country team, it’s the sport with the second-most participating NCAA programs behind only basketball. And when you consider that most kids would rather be playing basketball, soccer, football, lacrosse, golf, or literally anything else, then it is not nearly as competitive!
How much parent entertainment value is there?
Honestly, pretty minimal. To your point, watching most races requires standing around in a field and doing a light jog yourself to the next place that you could actually see the kids. But cross-country meets have set start times, and at the high school level each race maxes out at around 30 minutes.
Is it easy to understand?
It is hard to think of a sport with fewer rules than “who can run around this field the quickest?” The team scoring takes a little bit of effort to figure out, but gone are the days of popsicle sticks and back of the napkin math to figure out who won—we have computers now! And it’s easy to see how your child competed and placed in the field.
Bonus: Are adults happy they did it, and can you keep doing it as they grow up?
If you have never worked in a corporate office with a bunch of 30-year-olds who are tired of going out to the bars, then you may not understand the potential social capital here. The majority of water cooler talk these days is young professionals debating the merits of running New York or Boston this year. If you have a marathon time that starts with the number 3, let alone a 2, then executives will be swarming your desk asking for training advice.
I know cross-country isn’t the coolest sport to brag about your kid being good at. Most adults—present company very much included—never fully move past high school, so there’s objectively more clout to say your son is the starting quarterback. But by all metrics, and especially considering the categories you value most, there is no sport that is better for a kid’s short- and long-term health, while simultaneously enabling you to partake in the absolute bottom of the barrel, low-effort parenting.
Sincerely,
New York State’s 2007 Class A High School Champion (and Father to Two Eventual New York State Class B Participants)
Kyle Merber
Kyle Merber is a former professional miler turned media multi-hyphenate. While he’s not above dropping a quick “back in my day,” he’s far more focused on the present. Since 2021, he has brought his signature analysis and commentary to track fans across the CITIUS MAG network. When he’s not writing The Lap Count or hopping on podcasts, Kyle manages partnerships and pitches a relentless stream of ideas for Chris to consider. He might not be running a 3:52 mile anymore, but he keeps himself in just good enough shape to ensure the athletes still respect him.
