What do average/below average girls do when they age out of rec leagues?

[Anonymous]

Our rec league does not have high school teams. My daughter is a good team player, but not a great player, and I don't think she would make a travel team given how competitive this area is. Is she just done with basketball forever at the end of the season?

[Anonymous]

Stop playing

[Anonymous]

There are surprisingly some low level aau teams in the area and I'm sure you'd be able to find a spot for your daughter if you/she really wanted one.

But it also becomes what's the point if you don't see a real future for her in it or it's not something that she wants to do.

She could free herself up to explore other interests or activities.

But I wouldn't necessarily assume that she wouldn't be able to make it onto an aau level team. If that team meets your standards might be another question...

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of rec leagues for HS girls, you might just have to drive a bit farther. WHere do you live?

[Anonymous]

I saw some rec level high school teams playing during the winter (i.e. during HS season) at the Soccerplex in Germantown when my kid played there. Might be worth checking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are surprisingly some low level aau teams in the area and I'm sure you'd be able to find a spot for your daughter if you/she really wanted one.

But it also becomes what's the point if you don't see a real future for her in it or it's not something that she wants to do.

She could free herself up to explore other interests or activities.

But I wouldn't necessarily assume that she wouldn't be able to make it onto an aau level team. If that team meets your standards might be another question...

I'm the OP and does it matter if she has a future in it if she enjoys it? She likes playing basketball, but even she admits that she's not going to get much taller and she's not as aggressive as a lot of the other kids. But again, she likes playing, and she's a decent player. I'm not trying to mean to my child, she's not great, but she has fun, which is why rec has been a great fit for her.

Where should we look for these lower level AAU teams? We live on the western edge of Oakton in Fairfax County if you have any recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of rec leagues for HS girls, you might just have to drive a bit farther. WHere do you live?

We live in western Fairfax County (Oakton)

[Anonymous]

CYA and Vienna bith have HS girls rec basketball. Reston maybe too.

[Anonymous]

High School !

[Anonymous]

Depending on your high school and whether they have a freshman team, she may be welcomed/needed or laughed out of the gym! Find out how competitive they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are surprisingly some low level aau teams in the area and I'm sure you'd be able to find a spot for your daughter if you/she really wanted one.

But it also becomes what's the point if you don't see a real future for her in it or it's not something that she wants to do.

She could free herself up to explore other interests or activities.

But I wouldn't necessarily assume that she wouldn't be able to make it onto an aau level team. If that team meets your standards might be another question...

I'm the OP and does it matter if she has a future in it if she enjoys it? She likes playing basketball, but even she admits that she's not going to get much taller and she's not as aggressive as a lot of the other kids. But again, she likes playing, and she's a decent player. I'm not trying to mean to my child, she's not great, but she has fun, which is why rec has been a great fit for her.

Where should we look for these lower level AAU teams? We live on the western edge of Oakton in Fairfax County if you have any recommendations.

I unfortunately don't have girls and don't live in your area.

The way I see it, it eventually becomes a lot of work and not as fun.

For me it's hard to understand why anyone would want to live that life if it's just for fun, multiple team practices per week, tournaments that take the whole weekend and you don't get the game schedule for the first round until two or three days before and holding your weekend plans hostage, not to mention the spectator fees for the tournaments, and need to practice individually the other days. Like if someone really enjoys basketball and wants to play for fun, I kind of get it and MAYBE willing to let my kids do it if they get to that point. But I'd probably prefer them finding something else.

As mentioned you can probably find some lower key/level teams. But you can see the attitude and differences between the players and teams compared to more higher level ones. If your daughter is looking to just play for fun, these types of teams might be what your family is looking for. But another issue is that while ideally the team directors should try to put the team in tournaments and leagues on the team's level, they may end up playing againt these high level teams and be winless and/or blown out.

They may not be exactly close to your area but I think these are two teams from Virginia that we've seen play in tournaments:
https://www.d1sa.org/
https://www.virginiahurricanes.net/basketball

What you can try to do is follow the teams on instagram, see what tournaments they play in, see the other teams in the tournament and see if any are in your area.

Also there are tournaments at these two places:
https://tsjbasketball.leagueapps.com/tournaments

https://www.ksportsva.com/

I don't think they're actually run by those places and some tournament groups rent them out. And like above, you can try to see which teams play in the tournaments and see if any of the teams might be a good fit for your family.

Also don't take offense to this but we've noticed that the bar for girls is kind of lower. Where a lot of girls are able to make teams and get decent playing time just by being athletic and aggressive. So your daughter shouldn't be counted out yet until you all get a chance to see how she measures up with other players at that level.

And again, I don't know much about the basketball scene, especially for your area, and everyone's point of view/experiences vary. So maybe there are more rec-like options in your area that matches what you're looking for. So don't base things just off of my point of view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are surprisingly some low level aau teams in the area and I'm sure you'd be able to find a spot for your daughter if you/she really wanted one.

But it also becomes what's the point if you don't see a real future for her in it or it's not something that she wants to do.

She could free herself up to explore other interests or activities.

But I wouldn't necessarily assume that she wouldn't be able to make it onto an aau level team. If that team meets your standards might be another question...

I'm the OP and does it matter if she has a future in it if she enjoys it? She likes playing basketball, but even she admits that she's not going to get much taller and she's not as aggressive as a lot of the other kids. But again, she likes playing, and she's a decent player. I'm not trying to mean to my child, she's not great, but she has fun, which is why rec has been a great fit for her.

Where should we look for these lower level AAU teams? We live on the western edge of Oakton in Fairfax County if you have any recommendations.

I unfortunately don't have girls and don't live in your area.

The way I see it, it eventually becomes a lot of work and not as fun.

For me it's hard to understand why anyone would want to live that life if it's just for fun, multiple team practices per week, tournaments that take the whole weekend and you don't get the game schedule for the first round until two or three days before and holding your weekend plans hostage, not to mention the spectator fees for the tournaments, and need to practice individually the other days. Like if someone really enjoys basketball and wants to play for fun, I kind of get it and MAYBE willing to let my kids do it if they get to that point. But I'd probably prefer them finding something else.

As mentioned you can probably find some lower key/level teams. But you can see the attitude and differences between the players and teams compared to more higher level ones. If your daughter is looking to just play for fun, these types of teams might be what your family is looking for. But another issue is that while ideally the team directors should try to put the team in tournaments and leagues on the team's level, they may end up playing againt these high level teams and be winless and/or blown out.

They may not be exactly close to your area but I think these are two teams from Virginia that we've seen play in tournaments:
https://www.d1sa.org/
https://www.virginiahurricanes.net/basketball

What you can try to do is follow the teams on instagram, see what tournaments they play in, see the other teams in the tournament and see if any are in your area.

Also there are tournaments at these two places:
https://tsjbasketball.leagueapps.com/tournaments

https://www.ksportsva.com/

I don't think they're actually run by those places and some tournament groups rent them out. And like above, you can try to see which teams play in the tournaments and see if any of the teams might be a good fit for your family.

Also don't take offense to this but we've noticed that the bar for girls is kind of lower. Where a lot of girls are able to make teams and get decent playing time just by being athletic and aggressive. So your daughter shouldn't be counted out yet until you all get a chance to see how she measures up with other players at that level.

And again, I don't know much about the basketball scene, especially for your area, and everyone's point of view/experiences vary. So maybe there are more rec-like options in your area that matches what you're looking for. So don't base things just off of my point of view.

Also don't get me wrong. There are some very good girls and girls teams. Some that compete with the boys.

But I've also seen some players on both school and aau teams that aren't that great. Less so with boys being able to make it onto their school teams but have seen some pretty low level aau teams. But know some girls that made their school teams while having some issues with their game but they probably make up for it with their aggressiveness.