The end of Your Kid’s Not Going Pro — or is it?

If you read anything else on True/Slant, you’ve gotten the message that the site as we know it is officially closing up shop following its acquisition by Forbes. So that does mean the death of Your Kid’s Not Going Pro?

Not bloody likely.

Since starting this blog on Dec. 31, 2008, I’ve been able to connect with an audience passionate about the issues surrounding youth sports, a multibillion-dollar industry built on the backs of child labor, with none of the guilt or legal hassles of sending them into coal mines or shoe factories. I’ve written about people good, bad and ugly, and speaking for myself, learned more about youth sports parenting and coaching than being an actual youth sports parent and coach by itself would have taught me. (Warning: my fourth and youngest child, my daughter who turns 5 in August, is becoming the last of my brood to enter the youth sports world, as a soccer player next month. And showing I haven’t learned that much, I’ve agreed to coach her team.)

I caught a break in June 2009 when True/Slant agreed to bring me aboard, and the people here have been nothing but great to me. And thanks to them, and to you readers, I’ve been able to discover what I thought was true in December 2008 — that there was an audience for youth sports stories that were about the youth sports machine itself, and what it does to all of us, and what we can do to it. I thank Kashmir Hill, Michael Roston and Coates Bateman for bringing me on board and supporting this here blog, Andrea Spiegel for her support and tech wizardry, and Lewis Dvorkin for starting the whole shebang. Mostly, though, I want to thank all the great writers on True/Slant who inspired me, commented on my work, chatted to me about whatever just for the hell of it, and, if I may be craven, attracted readers that would have never discovered Your Kid’s Not Going Pro.

Many of these writers have typed their goodbye messages, what with Forbes electing not to have them continue under the new regime. Let me be among the many to say: That stinks.

However, my message is more of a “see you later.” It appears Your Kid’s Not Going Pro might live on under the new stewardship, though details are still being worked out. I presume one condition is that I stop using profanity. Fuck.

Whatever happens, I plan for Your Kid’s Not Going Pro to continue. Everything you’ve seen (or haven’t seen) on True/Slant also has a residence on the original WordPress site: yourkidsnotgoingpro.wordpress.com.

See you later.