Competitive teams and still no show?

[Anonymous]

This is a problem with all the mid-level travel teams. The low level (entry level) travel teams are a bit better then rec, but no the families don't do extra training and the coach does the bare minimum practices. These families made the jump from rec, because the travel programs conned all the families to join travel because it is better then rec.

Now, the mid-tier travel program has issues because of what you described, which starts to happen around U11. Families start ditching your teams practices because they brown nose the higher level coach to guest play at a higher level program. -Or, they straight up join onto some "elite" training program or also trying to get onto the highest level team they can find.

These families believe they have to get their kids into the highest program possible before U13 and they believe your mid-level travel team has a dead-end program.

This is the pain of being on a 2nd level team in any program or sport. The only way to not deal with this is to often be on the highest level team or program where all families are committed equally.

We are in a 2nd tier program now at U12 and we have the same issues. Un equal commitment. 1/3 of the team is training with other higher level teams or practices, 1/3 is always there and the bottom 1/3 also does other sports/ events. We can't get fundraising right, we can't get team dinners right, we can't do the extra stuff that really builds the team. The 2nd level team is a hard place to be.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure what the question is ….

Question is how is travel better than rec? If the kids don’t show up for practice and games? Yes they can play better than rec kids but how can you have a team feeling when half the kids don’t show up and practice together?

Our kids’ travel/competitive teams have all had very committed players and these are mid-level competitive teams. There are many out there. You got a dud. Try another team.

What teams would you suggest in Bethesda/rockville area?

The specific basketball team I was referencing is PPA Premier. They practice half the time in NW DC and half in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

Playing different sports in different seasons, not multiple sports at the same time.

I don’t think they feel like they are letting people down. They got theirs and the heck with the other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

Playing different sports in different seasons, not multiple sports at the same time.

I don’t think they feel like they are letting people down. They got theirs and the heck with the other kids.

The seasons all overlap.

[Anonymous]

Better players skipping practice but showing up for games just to get playing time? What’s the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

Playing different sports in different seasons, not multiple sports at the same time.

I don’t think they feel like they are letting people down. They got theirs and the heck with the other kids.

The seasons all overlap.

This. We prioritize the sport that “should” be in season when there is a conflict.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

Playing different sports in different seasons, not multiple sports at the same time.

I don’t think they feel like they are letting people down. They got theirs and the heck with the other kids.

The seasons all overlap.

This. We prioritize the sport that “should” be in season when there is a conflict.

We do this as well. Annoys me to no end that all sports are year-round now. i.e. futsal will be skipped if at all possible!

[Anonymous]

don't join 'competitive' mid-level teams. Play rec. It is dramatically cheaper, and doesn't have all the downsides. Whenever someone encourages your child to play a sport, think about what (if any) their profit motive is. Your neighbor who coaches rec lacrosse and wants your DD on his team? no profit motive. The 'travel' coach who says your DD is good, and really she should 'level up' do more training, more intense team?? HUGE profit motive.
There are tons of studies that show that playing multiple sports is much better for kids. This doesn't mean playing multiple sports at the same time, it means switching and giving those muscle groups a break. Don't get sucked into the FOMO of travel. RESIST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:don't join 'competitive' mid-level teams. Play rec. It is dramatically cheaper, and doesn't have all the downsides. Whenever someone encourages your child to play a sport, think about what (if any) their profit motive is. Your neighbor who coaches rec lacrosse and wants your DD on his team? no profit motive. The 'travel' coach who says your DD is good, and really she should 'level up' do more training, more intense team?? HUGE profit motive.
There are tons of studies that show that playing multiple sports is much better for kids. This doesn't mean playing multiple sports at the same time, it means switching and giving those muscle groups a break. Don't get sucked into the FOMO of travel. RESIST.

But u cant really even chance to play for your schools middle or high school team if you don’t play travel/club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what age group this is, but IME as they get older, lots of kids play on multiple teams. Either guest playing, playing up an age level, or are also on a higher tier team etc. They prioritize one team and only show up for the other team when they feel like it.

Other times it is just a disorganized parent or a kid who is overcommitted to activities/other sports too.

On our team, it's the multisport kids. On one hand, there is a huge push from most governing bodies to avoid early specialization and play as much sport as you can while you are young, athlete first; on the other hand, playing multiple sports involves conflicts, and the kid and their family feel like they are always letting someone down.

Playing different sports in different seasons, not multiple sports at the same time.

I don’t think they feel like they are letting people down. They got theirs and the heck with the other kids.

The seasons all overlap.

This. We prioritize the sport that “should” be in season when there is a conflict.

We do this as well. Annoys me to no end that all sports are year-round now. i.e. futsal will be skipped if at all possible!

Absolutely need to skip futsal! This will be looked back upon as one of the big reasons why kids will burn out of soccer. Travel soccer has them playing August to November and February to May. Now, futsal comes along and says you need to play soccer on a hard court Dec-Feb and June to August. Really this is a the 1st year of truly 12 months per year soccer with futsal added in. Overuse injuries will really pile up now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:don't join 'competitive' mid-level teams. Play rec. It is dramatically cheaper, and doesn't have all the downsides. Whenever someone encourages your child to play a sport, think about what (if any) their profit motive is. Your neighbor who coaches rec lacrosse and wants your DD on his team? no profit motive. The 'travel' coach who says your DD is good, and really she should 'level up' do more training, more intense team?? HUGE profit motive.
There are tons of studies that show that playing multiple sports is much better for kids. This doesn't mean playing multiple sports at the same time, it means switching and giving those muscle groups a break. Don't get sucked into the FOMO of travel. RESIST.

But u cant really even chance to play for your schools middle or high school team if you don’t play travel/club.

This is definitely not true at our public local high school. I have seen ‘travel’ kids get cut and rec kids make it. ‘Travel’ has become pay to play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:don't join 'competitive' mid-level teams. Play rec. It is dramatically cheaper, and doesn't have all the downsides. Whenever someone encourages your child to play a sport, think about what (if any) their profit motive is. Your neighbor who coaches rec lacrosse and wants your DD on his team? no profit motive. The 'travel' coach who says your DD is good, and really she should 'level up' do more training, more intense team?? HUGE profit motive.
There are tons of studies that show that playing multiple sports is much better for kids. This doesn't mean playing multiple sports at the same time, it means switching and giving those muscle groups a break. Don't get sucked into the FOMO of travel. RESIST.

But u cant really even chance to play for your schools middle or high school team if you don’t play travel/club.

Really highly school dependent, even in this area.

I help run a local rec league. We have a few girls who are better than travel players - when playing against travel competition or for their high school team - but they are rare. They have a lot of internal drive, years of experience, a ton of natural talent. They don't do travel for good reasons - multisport athletes, family financial limitations, family bandwidth limitations, that sort of thing. And again - rare. And would they be even better if they did even mid level travel? Yes, though this is a sport where there aren't quite as many "levels" of teams as say soccer.