OT - HBO Real Sports - Segment on Youth/Travel Sports

[ruhudsonfan]

One pitfall with REC is its luck of the draw. It every kid is lucky enough to have an NBA level coach like yourself at the REC level. I applaud anyone who volunteers but some of these guys know squat about sports

Thanks for the compliment--but the same "luck of the draw" exists in travel. They are town fathers. I will absolutely grant you the difference at the Academy/AAU level. Those are, ehem, "professional" coaches. lol

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

I hear what you are saying. I do get that not every parent who has their kids in year round travel sports aren't there hoping for their kid to play of Notre Dame, and truly believe its a great experience for the kid - which is can be.

There are a lot of forces at play here - its not always about the scholarship. There is no question sports helps you get into school. If you are marginal in the classroom, but a stud on the field, a coach at Middlebury/Williams and the like will help you get in.

But I will tell you, playing a sport in college isn't fun. It basically s*cks. Its worse than job. Hence why you walk in with your freshman class and maybe 25% remain on the team as seniors.

You're exactly right about sports getting you into top schools, Moz and funny you should mention those two schools. My daughter had a lot of D1s interested in her but she wanted a small liberal arts school and those were two of the final three that she narrowed it down to. She was an excellent student but might not have been good enough for those schools without support from the coach.

And you're also right about the time commitment - even in DIII in her case - they are a top program - ranked as high as #2 last year - virtually all of the girls had D1 offers - and they take it seriously and train that way - fitness every morning and then multi-hour practice every afternoon. Plus time with the trainer - and they have both a fall and spring season so little time to rest and catch up on school work.. As I recall you did DII football? A lot of work I'm sure.

 

[e5fdny]

If the kid is having fun along with the parents and family, who am I to complain.

Not yours but i know several 8, 10 yr olds that suck in school but are out 2 nights a week till 10 on traveland these kids aren't making d1

I just meant in the general sense it's none of our business about what other families do with regard to travel sports and "academic travel" pursuits.

My boys came to hockey late so my wife and I told them both you guys can be hockey players but we aren't going to be a hockey family....house league and their HS team is enough.

Lacrosse was a little different because the program was good enough where there was a little travel thrown in with playing other programs and tournaments that resulted in that type of experience.

 

[RutHut]

Sometimes when I try to understand a person’s motives, I play a little game. I assume the worst. What’s the worst reason they could possibly have for saying what they say and doing what they do? Then I ask myself: how well does that reason explain what they say and what they do?

LF is (was) very wise.

 

[ho26rus]

Not all travel teams are the same. My town's soccer travel teams in Long Islands don't leave Suffolk/Nassau county until they are in U13. Our U10 team specifically only participates in 3 tournaments each year, all of them within a half hour drive. The season runs for a little over 3 months in the fall and spring and we only play 11-12 games per season (league) and practice for 90 minutes twice a week. A handful of the kids play lacrosse, others play basketball as well as baseball. We budgeted for $2000 per player for the season (annual), but ended up spending only $1400. BTW, all practices and games were run by lisenced trainers, not parents.

On the other hand our nephew (also in Long Island) plays travel baseball. During the summer his team played 72 games (not a typo).....did I mention, he's 9 years old.

That doesnt mean, however, you dont play serious tournaments at u8-u14. Just sometimes the tournament comes to you.
When i with the Americans a decade ago we had obligatory appearances on Long Island. Each age group , and sex, was represented as well as the 3 best long island teams that wished to participate.

Our teams were really good and you put out teams, against us, that were obviously well trained and ready for war even at 9-10 .
There are rules but i am not sure everyone adheres.
I have to reread this later if . you are talking team club rather than club travel/academy

Anyway like VKG i was /am realistic to scholarships. But the alternate reality is that soccer may get your kid into a better school than you might ordinarily get to without it. We understand we wil have to pay. But, if you have not been there, you might be surprised what conversations occur when the door is scosed and you say " yes we will commit here "''

 

[soundcrib]

Do any parents on this board have kids that suck at sports?

 

[RUBubba]

Do any parents on this board have kids that suck at sports?

Ha! My son is 10 and he is a sports nut. Loves baseball, basketball, football (does not like soccer). I was a D1 baseball player and have a very realistic view of his abilities. He is a decent player, but not a "travel" level player... nor do I want him to play travel at 10 years old! He loves the games and I don't ever want him to not enjoy it. Our summer weekends are filled with tons of other things, the beach, the pool, barbeques, etc. I am amazed at how some of my friends are constantly at the batting cages, weight training, etc. (By the way dance & cheer parents are just as bad!!)
There is definitely a cult about the travel baseball. In a group of 12 people, if 2 are travel parents, the conversation will be dominated by game recaps, performances, etc. Kids at this age too will get the mentality that they are better than others. I've witnessed it many times... "Travel kids vs. all others!" Tough to swallow at times, but we've talked to our son about it, and he really does seem to understand (I hope!)

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

I know where you live and you are way off on soccer. Some of the best youth soccer teams in the country are right around the corner.

Maybe but they all play in local leagues and very few imho....

To me, travel is like whatvwe had in haseball where the best in large areas were plucked or how cali does at at A level. these ages and levels around here are for money

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Do any parents on this board have kids that suck at sports?

My older son runs like hes on skates where my younger is always fastest on field. both are good in their respective sports but i dont push

 

[CERU00]

I was one of those "never do travel sports" parents up until this past season. My eldest is all about sports..soccer mostly since he was 7. At 11 he had stopped progressing in rec soccer...scoring 3 goals a game but not learning in depth. Rec soccer was great when he had a travel level coach. He was fortunate to get on that travel quality rec team for 5 seasons... then the next two coaches were ehhh. So i agreed to try out for the DE Rush team. He made the A team. So far I'm not overly impressed with the amount of 1 on 1 coaching. If at the end if the year we're not getting our moneys worth we'll just stick with the school team and rec. Anyway there is lots of judging going on in this thread. Most of the parents are doing it because the kids are really dedicated to a single sport.. and the time commitment is similar to rec plus 1 tourney weekend a month.

 

[T2Kplus10]

I was one of those "never do travel sports" parents up until this past season. My eldest is all about sports..soccer mostly since he was 7. At 11 he had stopped progressing in rec soccer...scoring 3 goals a game but not learning in depth. Rec soccer was great when he had a travel level coach. He was fortunate to get on that travel quality rec team for 5 seasons... then the next two coaches were ehhh. So i agreed to try out for the DE Rush team. He made the A team. So far I'm not overly impressed with the amount of 1 on 1 coaching. If at the end if the year we're not getting our moneys worth we'll just stick with the school team and rec. Anyway there is lots of judging going on in this thread. Most of the parents are doing it because the kids are really dedicated to a single sport.. and the time commitment is similar to rec plus 1 tourney weekend a month.

Question, not just to you but others on the board. When do sports begin for your school? Looks like most start in middle school, 6th or 7th grade.

 

[CERU00]

Question, not just to you but others on the board. When do sports begin for your school? Looks like most start in middle school, 6th or 7th grade.

We're in a charter school in Delaware and sports start in 6th.

 

[RutHut]

Do any parents on this board have kids that suck at sports?

Yes. You learn to live with it and try to find less popular sports where parents are not so crazy, like volleyball or fencing.