For decades, sports have been the natural enemy of music lessons.
It's nothing against sports themselves. Sports teach a lot of great things. Teamwork, physical fitness, training, and dealing with losing, among other things.
The problem is, school-age students are often required to put in weekly practice hours that are the equivalent of a part-time job.
So, if a student is on one team that meets every day after school, then has two hours of homework to complete at home, that leaves little room for anything else without sacrificing sleep.
This season is always tough for music teachers, because sports schedules come out later and later every year.
And because sports are a large group activity, music lessons are scheduled last.
But what happens, then, when sports are scheduled so late, there are no more slots in the music teacher's studio?
It's something private music teachers grapple with all over the country. And there's no question that sports schedules are the cause of many thousands of students quitting music every year.
In the end, it all comes down to an important question.
Which activity will our kids still be doing in 20 years?