In this issue: Our anniversary. What really happened with Lincoln's tryout. The business he just launched. And the hard numbers on what youth sports actually costs your family.

First things first... it's Michelle and I's 14th wedding anniversary.

Fourteen years is a long time.

And here's a fun fact that makes this one hit a little different... 14 was Michelle's college number. So as far as we're concerned, this is our lucky year. The best one yet is coming.

I don't say this lightly. Fourteen years means you've been through some things together. The good and the easy stuff, sure. But also the hard stuff. Family deaths. Business decisions that kept us both staring at the ceiling at 2am. The grind of building something from nothing. A thousand youth sports weekends in a thousand cold gyms and windy fields.

You don't get through all of that with someone unless they're truly your partner.

And that's what she is. Not just my wife. The foundation everything else in my life is built on. The steady when I'm chaos. The calm when I'm fired up. The person who tells me the truth when I need to hear it and the one who picks me up when the weight of it all gets heavy.

I could not do life the way we do it without her. Not even close.

Happy Anniversary, babe. Here's to the lucky year.

Now. As promised. Let me tell you what actually happened with Lincoln's tryout. Because there's a real lesson in this one.

Linc went in wanting to make the Sporting RL team for 13U. Had his heart set on it.

If you've been through club tryouts, you already know the deal. Most of the time it's worthless. The clubs already have their "team" built in their heads before a single kid steps on the field. Everything else is a dog and pony show to make families feel like there was a real evaluation.

But this year we went in with an open mind anyway.

He had about 7 straight days of tryouts. Seven. That's a grind for a 11-year-old. He didn't have his best first day. Didn't have his best last day either. But in between those two? He competed. He did everything that was asked of him. He even held his own when they ran him with the RL group, which is exactly where he wanted to be.

Here's the part nobody tells you though.

On the last day of tryouts, you can always tell what your bid is going to be based on who they put you with in the final scrimmage. It's written all over the field if you know how to read it. And that's the moment we knew... he'd be no better than CDL for both clubs.

Then came bid day.

And honestly? What made me proud happened before we even knew the result.

Lincoln slept in. He didn't wake up anxious. He didn't pace around the house waiting on his phone. He just... let it come.

That's growth. That's maturity I genuinely did not see in him even a year ago. The kid is learning that his worth isn't decided by a bid.

He ended up with the top CDL team for Sporting and a CDL team for VSA Rush. He chose to stay with Sporting's top CDL team for 13U.

Was he bummed? Yeah. Of course he was. It stings to know the decision was basically made before he ever laced up. I'm not going to pretend that didn't hurt him a little.

But here's where I keep landing.

Over the last two years, this kid has climbed. He went from the 4th team... to the 5th team (which was a damn mistake on their part)... back up to the 3rd team, where he's held his spot. And here's the thing about Lincoln. Once he's ON a team, he's not a role player. He's the cornerstone center back. He gets the majority of the minutes. He anchors the back line.

I have zero doubt in my mind he reaches that RL level next year. None.

And then there's the thing that really got me this week.

Lincoln started his own business. Lincoln Lawn Care.

He's got 3 clients already and he completed his first job this past Sunday.

A neighbor actually walked over to our house just to tell us how much he appreciated seeing a young kid putting in real, honest work like kids used to do.

And here's what makes me proud. Lincoln made the logo himself. He's doing his own marketing. He decided he wanted to make his own money and then he went and actually did something about it instead of just talking about it.

Now... am I going to sit here and pretend he doesn't have an advantage? No. His dad's a business owner. He's grown up around this stuff. He's got a leg up and I'm not going to insult your intelligence by acting like he doesn't.

But the choice was his. The effort was his. The follow-through was his.

And in a world where that's getting rarer by the year... that means something to me.

I'm going way deeper on this whole thing in this week's Uncomfortable Truth on Substack, dropping Thursday. If you want the unfiltered version, that's where it lives. stoyhall.substack.com

Lincoln's story sits right at the intersection of two trends every parent in this country needs to understand. Let me put real numbers behind both of them.

Youth sports has become a serious financial commitment.

The average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child's primary sport in 2024. That's a 46% increase since 2019... more than double the rate of inflation over the same period.

Add a second sport and it climbs to nearly $1,500 for all of that child's sports.

Soccer specifically runs about $1,188 a year, making it one of the more expensive sports out there.

And that's just the average. For families in travel or club ball, some parents report annual costs as high as $25,000.

Zoom all the way out and American families spend around $40 billion a year on youth sports. That number is projected to top $75 billion by 2026.

Here's the part that should bother all of us.

The participation gap between low-income and high-income families widened from 13.6 points in 2012 to 20.2 points in 2024. Kids from the wealthiest families are now nearly twice as likely to play organized sports as kids from the poorest.

We are pricing children out of the game.

At the same time... fewer kids than ever are learning to work.

This is the one that really gets me.

The share of 16 to 19-year-olds working or looking for work fell to 35.4% in May 2025, the lowest level since the pandemic. Back in 1979, that number was 55%.

Go back to July 1989 and youth labor force participation was 77.5%. By July 2024, it had fallen to 60.4%.

And researchers are seeing something deeper than just the employment numbers. Studies point to a real decline in conscientiousness among teens and young adults. Less tenacity. Fewer commitments. More trouble following through on the ones they do make. And the steepest declines hit right during the transition into early adulthood... precisely when character solidifies for life.

That first job, or that first business, teaches what no classroom and no club team ever can. Showing up on time. Respecting coworkers and customers. Staying on task even when it's boring. Putting the screen down and dealing with real people face to face.

So when a neighbor walks over just to say he's glad to see a kid doing real work... he's reacting to something that's genuinely becoming rare.

That's a problem you can actually solve in your own house.

📌 Receipts:

This week's move is for the parents. Two parts.

1. Build a real youth sports line item. Know your actual number.

Not a guess. The real one.

Registration. Gear. Travel. Tournaments. Private training. Hotels. Gas. Food on the road.

Add it all up for the year.

Most families have never actually totaled it... and they are genuinely shocked when they do.

You cannot decide how many teams, how many sports, or how many travel weekends your family can take on until you see the full number sitting in front of you. Sports are absolutely worth investing in. But it should be an intentional line in your budget... not a slow leak you discover in December.

2. Find one way to let your kid earn and own something.

It does not have to be a business.

Chores tied to real money. A small job. Helping out a neighbor. Anything that connects effort to reward.

The data is screaming that this generation is losing the muscle of work at the exact age it's supposed to build. You can fix that under your own roof.

Let them earn it. Let them buy their own cleats with their own money. That lesson outlasts any trophy they'll ever win.

If you want help building a family plan that accounts for the real cost of raising active kids while still building long-term wealth... that's exactly what we do.

See What's Actually Possible for Your Family 60-minute 1:1 session. Your questions answered. Walk away with a plan.

Lincoln didn't get the team he wanted.

He could have pouted. Quit. Decided the whole system was rigged and checked out.

Instead he took the bid, committed to getting better, and went and started a business because he wanted to make his own money.

That's the whole thing right there.

You don't always get the outcome you wanted. Sometimes the decision's made before you even step on the field. The cost of everything keeps climbing.

You work anyway. You build anyway. And you teach your kids to do the same.

That's how you raise people who don't break when life doesn't go their way.

Happy anniversary to my partner in all of it. Fourteen years... her lucky number... and I've got a feeling the best one is still ahead of us.

See you next week.

Inside the Modern Family Office — Black-led. Built to Stay In the Black.

Not financial advice. Do your own research. Talk to a professional.