Northern Virginia Basketball...What's Missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS Middle Schools should have basketball teams. The demand is there at most MS.
NOVA has a shortage of basketball opportunities in general. There is a huge demand and not enough teams. It's unfortunate for so many teenagers that it's too competitive to play year round.

Do you mean from a recreational standpoint? What do you mean it's too competitive to play year round?

DP. I’m not certain if this is what that poster meant, but in Vienna, the house leagues are so filled with travel kids during winter, which is the only time they have them, that kids who just enjoy the game, but aren’t great or even good don’t really have a positive experience and get very little play and usually end up quitting. I can think of five boys in my neighborhood alone who quit by age 10, because the travel team kids on the winter league are so amazing (and they really are! Super impressive to watch) the average or still learning kids never got the chance to play or learn.

As far as rec leagues go, this is definitely an issue that they try to mitigate by doing skill level drafts. But most of the good travel kids always end up on the same team. And that's frustrating, because if they love the game, they have so much time to develop after age ten. They should get every chance to keep improving without it killing their spirit.

[Anonymous]

As a Fairfax County parent, it seems like there is a huge lack of good gym space even though it does not feel like there is a lack of gym space? My DS plays FCYBL and AAU, there are constantly practice schedule changes, gym closures, and cancellations. It seems like more and more public courts are occupied for pickleball, volleyball, and everything else, that devoted basketball players miss out on good gym space. Anyone else get that?

[Anonymous]

Rec leagues have drafts and minimum-maximum play time rules. How are the travel kids taking over? I dont get it

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

[Anonymous]

Northern VA BB teams INCLUDING AAU are parent run. That is the problem. Your DD and her BFFs make up the team and they are terrible.
Looking at you Hurricanes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Fairfax County parent, it seems like there is a huge lack of good gym space even though it does not feel like there is a lack of gym space? My DS plays FCYBL and AAU, there are constantly practice schedule changes, gym closures, and cancellations. It seems like more and more public courts are occupied for pickleball, volleyball, and everything else, that devoted basketball players miss out on good gym space. Anyone else get that?

Yes. They close off basketball gyms for pickleball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

IKR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

This LOL, and the fact that many are parent coached. When my dd played it was this way, and it affected the roster and who played

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

This LOL, and the fact that many are parent coached. When my dd played it was this way, and it affected the roster and who played

I don't think anyone here has said anything specifically about talent...It seems like they were talking about the infrastructure, the team breakdowns, etc...Not everything has to be racial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

I'll have to say that from what I know NOVA's basketball seems a lot more competitive and there's more available. With their rec level leagues having a draft style of system to make rosters and tryouts.

It may either be that I'm not fully familiar with the basketball scene in MD or there's just more NOVA posters.

But from what I've seen of rec leagues around here, you just get put where ever you get placed. Good luck if you're not on a preformed team because it pretty much means that you're on an overflow team. And the mix of players might vary on there.

If you look at the teams/leagues mentioned for Maryland (Montgomery County), it's mostly PPA, tru2form, KOA, etc. Not exactly rec leagues and more limited area too. There are some more aau options. But nothing really for like competitive rec or anything in between.

So personally think that it sounds like NOVA has it pretty good.

[Anonymous]

Middle school basketball will not make a difference. Yes, Arlington has it but there’s one team for 3 grades and the season is a month long. It’s just for fun not for development.

[Anonymous]

Training opportunities are $$$$ in NOVA. I'd be interested in seeing training for kids for less than $60/hr. It's a pay to play system.

My guess is training in PG county is more afordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fairfax County parent, it seems like there is a huge lack of good gym space even though it does not feel like there is a lack of gym space? My DS plays FCYBL and AAU, there are constantly practice schedule changes, gym closures, and cancellations. It seems like more and more public courts are occupied for pickleball, volleyball, and everything else, that devoted basketball players miss out on good gym space. Anyone else get that?

Yes. They close off basketball gyms for pickleball.

Our softball league runs winter clinics in FCPS gyms. We have to take either the 5 pm slot or the 8 pm slot to get space at all in the tiny ES gyms (not the good gyms, don't worry).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is extremely weird. What do DC and MD have that NOVA doesn't when it comes to basketball talent? This is super obvious.

Racist PP doesn’t know basketball and entirely misses the point. This kind of thinking is a cop out. It’s not about “talent” and it’s certainly not about race.

In DC and PG county, super hard, physical, full contact training is the norm — getting hit hard on layups, diving on the floor, playing “no fouls” drills in the paint.

From what I’ve seen in NOVA and MoCo, not so much. My kid never heard kids called “soft” by another kid or a coach before starting to play in PG county. In DC and PG county, you hear that a lot, and it’s the last thing kids want to be.

Again, it’s not race, it’s culture. Expectations are different and much higher. The knowledge base of parents is higher.

Athleticism is expected — coaches never yelled at my tall white kid in NOVA for being slow. In PG county, it took him a week to go from being the slowest kid in drills to being one of the fastest because coaches refused to accept slowness from him and kicked him out of his first practice when he obviously dogged it in a sprint drill. They demanded that he dunk as a freshman in layup drills. The expectations are just different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Fairfax County parent, it seems like there is a huge lack of good gym space even though it does not feel like there is a lack of gym space? My DS plays FCYBL and AAU, there are constantly practice schedule changes, gym closures, and cancellations. It seems like more and more public courts are occupied for pickleball, volleyball, and everything else, that devoted basketball players miss out on good gym space. Anyone else get that?

Yes. They close off basketball gyms for pickleball.

Our softball league runs winter clinics in FCPS gyms. We have to take either the 5 pm slot or the 8 pm slot to get space at all in the tiny ES gyms (not the good gyms, don't worry).

Our permits don't start until 6 because of SACC, i wish we could start at 5!

How do you practice softball in an ES gym?