Youth Sports (i.e. the thing we all loved which parents have now ruined)

While I'm OK with the younger kids playing football, I agree with you on "rankings."

It's the dumbest shit ever.

 

Oh, you oughta see the nutbags on a FB group down here argue over who the best kids teams are, who does the best job preparing kids for HS football and who the best/worst coaches are. And not one of them can write a coherent sentence.

 

My kid's flag football coach is the only one in youth sports I've run into here that played NCAA football. Couple basketball coaches we've had played NAIA. Not that either are important, but you can tell how much he loves football. He really knows it too. And he's never talked about playing tackle once. It's all drilling and fundamentals for when that day comes or, you know, just to have fun doing what the kids are doing now.

I don't know if I care if my kid plays tackle, but his mom is pretty set against it, and from my own experience I know it isn't necessary before high school. Figure out those fundamentals and just know how to play sports and it will fall together. In high school I played with or against at least three future NFL players, two that won Super Bowls. You know, for the most part it wasn't surprising they were in the NFL. Can't exactly teach size and the rest. That said, I never felt out of place on the field with them and no one would mistake me for an NAIA player let alone anything beyond that.

Football I still feel, even though there is obviously a huge year round presence now, is a sport you don't have to play all the time to be good at it. It probably goes for all sports. I know this whole thread shows how nutty youth sports have become, but honestly, you are either blessed or you aren't. So go out and let your kids have fun and try to drown out the freaking noise.

 

Not a youth sports parent, but the statement about the need for year playing caught my attention.

Obviously there is no need for any of this, but sports are about repetition. The blessed are still a greater number of people than those who end up in D1 or the pros. Hitting a baseball, knowing how to shoot and understand angles in basketball, and hitting a golf ball or reading greens are skills only improved through repetition.

Michael Jordan is blessed physically, but his ability to control his body and know how basketballs spin and move come from playing a lot of basketball.

So while 30 years ago, the blessed could play 25 games of competitive basketball in high school, get a scholarship, and make it to the NBA, today they are competing with people who are doing incalculable amounts of repetitions. Same with baseball, hockey, or golf. The benefit of repetition may be different among sports but it is still there.

This is not an advocation of parents spending huge bucks on Jonny thinking he is going to be the next whomever. The elite will always be among the blessed, but they have will have put in a lot more time than the ones they beat out.

[Edit] Michael Jordan is a poor example in my argument. I cited him as someone who worked hard to become who he was. The stars today come through youth programs that have them playing a lot at a high level.

 

And that is to my point about the drilling and practicing in flag football. Also, playing other sports benefits growth and development and movement all sorts of other things. I'd rather go that route than have an 11-year-old focus just on football when you don't know if he is going to grow another inch. Also, if you wear them out and they get either hurt or burned out they aren't playing any more either.

The way things are today, is that needed or someone just decided it was so there you go? Almost no one is getting scholarships or to the NBA anyway. Same today as yesterday. So that's a lot of wasted time and money! Seriously. I even brought up that out of all my youth experience here we've had one coach with NCAA experience, and that was D-III.

Maybe it changes once you get to high school or so and you can really see the direction you are going, but for young kids keep it fun and let them grow and learn.

I will say sports like baseball and basketball that maybe have some really specialized skills more constant stuff is important eventually, I still don't think it is for football. Top college and NFL players are just beasts in size and speed. There is nothing you can do about that. You may have the fringe that just worked their tails off to get there and that happens, but still, you mostly have to be blessed.

 

I agree. I had insomnia and was bored, so crafting an argument was something to do

 

Senior night for DSD Jr. I can't believe it's here.

 

Here's kind of a twist to all of this. My sports kid is more or less competitive in three sports. Baseball, basketball and flag football. Basketball has been one of his most inconsistent in terms of teams.

This season he is part of a team that was formed in the rec league. The coach has coached all the players before and my son has played with half of them at one time or another. All of the players have at one time or another played legitimate competitive basketball and the coach has coached competitive basketball. This team basically formed because none of the families want to play competitively at this moment but want the group together with this coach not necessarily to win (I can actually say winning isn't a priority at all) but to get a good basketball experience without the greater commitment.

Well, first game was today and they won 47-2. There was no showboating or bad sportsmanship. Every kid played pretty much exactly the same amount. The other team was awesome and kept trying hard the whole time and I didn't see any bad attitudes from them. But ugh, I don't think I would be the sports parent I am and participant on this thread if I didn't think, did we do the right thing here? Again, I think our intentions are fine and I have seen teams form to bully rec leagues and I don't get it. Trust me this group and this coach does not want that. But this is definitely a competitive team in a rec league. I am sure there will be improved competition as we go, but I still don't know how I felt about that. I don't really know what our options were other than instead of playing together, mixing in elsewhere in the league. Then, that could lead to bad experiences or bad coaching or whatever.

I think as long as the sportsmanship stays strong that will be the best thing and you could tell they are really learning the game. So I'll try to focus on that and hopefully there are some closer games as we go!

 

I've got tons of complaints about my travel football experience this fall, but this might be the worst.

Travel football parents apparently are convinced that whatever trash you have just goes on the ground next to you. We had a late game Saturday at a high school football stadium and hot damn the place was a pig sty. Empty gatorade bottles, bags of chips ... every where. We had to police trash real quick in our little warm up area, and then again on the sidelines before we played.

Is this just travel football? Are other sports like this?

I've noticed it all season. I can't believe the local high schools tolerate it. Some poor janitors are working hours after games to pick up trash, I'm sure, because people can't be bothered to find a trash can.

 

Parents are the worst.

We conclude our football season this weekend with a trip to Gatlinburg.

Two of our better players aren’t going, but their parents are among my least favorite. So I’m happy to be less good on the field if it means the chances of one of our parents getting into a fight have significantly diminished.