APS capacity issues is affecting kids quality of life in other areas too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

The basketball rec. league in Arlington does fill up. My son did it last year in 1st grade. All the 1st grade boys' teams practiced at the same time in the gym at TJ. It was chaos and disorganized. Not sure if things get better in the older grades.

I can't think of any basketball practice or game for first graders that wouldn't be chaotic, but were the teams all practicing in an open gym at Jefferson? It's easier when the kids are young if there are no more than two teams practicing at the same time in a smaller gym.

No, they were all practicing at the same time. About 10-12 teams. That gym is huge, but still!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

Oh, good. One more thing for local parents to get super competitive about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What league is this? I thought the local youth sports leagues had "house" teams open to all the kids who want to play, and "travel" teams for the more skilled/hard-core players.

There were enough skilled players to create an extra travel league, but not enough facility and coaches to accommodate it. Kids will eventually give up when they've been playing in house league for years and not have the opportunity to play travel. Anyway, the answer that were given for turning away many kids at the tryouts who could otherwise develop better playing skills by competing with a variety of teams outside of APS at the travel level was that practicing facilities were limited.

I don't understand this statement at all.

Couldn't agree more, PP. I watched our local rec teams get so competitive in middle school that many disillusioned travel kids came back and played house. There's a big shifting in the middle, early high school level in basketball anyway. Being on a travel team matters little when you're in 4th grade, a lot more when you're in 8th.

I'd say lighten up, OP. I know your kid is disappointed, but let him play house if he's not good (or visible ) enough to make the travel cut at this point. Because that's what it is -- travel teams are for the best -- the fact that some in basketball and soccer, in particular, have expanded to include everyone who wants to be on a travel team, doesn't mean all those kids are good, just that their parents have paid for them to play. Send your kid to some good basketball camps, like Wootten. Have him work on his skills -- if he has passion for the sport and talent, his time will come when it matters. If he gives up... that tells you something too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

Rec Basketball is wait listing for 2nd grade boys. It was wait listing the first day of registration, so there isn't enough capacity even for Rec in Arlington

[Anonymous]

So when are these travel leagues going to build their own gyms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yet there are parents who are happy to build over playing fields because nothing matters more than their kids' schools.

It's sort of like the reclining your seatback debate: My need is greatest!

Hey don't blame Arlingtonians. We have a tone deaf County Board that operates under a different set of priorities. Everyone knows and recognizes this. So much so that they voted in an "independent" (Republican) to the Board. The County Board's administration has been well aware for some time about the growing population of Arlington County and instead of doing things to prepare for it, they made a political decision to spend resources on more popular projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

Rec Basketball is wait listing for 2nd grade boys. It was wait listing the first day of registration, so there isn't enough capacity even for Rec in Arlington

They keep them there and then ask for additional parent/coaches. They all get a spot. However, parents need to step up if they want their kid to play.

My DH works VERY long hours and still finds time to coach at least one sport a season for our kids. I have done it as well and also work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

Rec Basketball is wait listing for 2nd grade boys. It was wait listing the first day of registration, so there isn't enough capacity even for Rec in Arlington

They keep them there and then ask for additional parent/coaches. They all get a spot. However, parents need to step up if they want their kid to play.

My DH works VERY long hours and still finds time to coach at least one sport a season for our kids. I have done it as well and also work.

Some leagues also allow high school students to coach house teams. The players enjoy it, and the HS students can list it as an activity on college apps. Win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't rec basketball in Arlington? Our local rec league (in Fairfax) never turns kids away.

Yes--there is Rec. Signed my kids up no problem.

This person is talking about 'travel' basketball. Only so many kids can make it.

Travel soccer takes 45 kids out of about 120. There is a 'developmental league' after that which is also tryout...then there is Rec which anyone can compete in. Yes--it is super competitive. The plus side--if your child is a top player they are training and playing with top notch kids. This is not unique to Arlington--this is true in a major city area.

Rec Basketball is wait listing for 2nd grade boys. It was wait listing the first day of registration, so there isn't enough capacity even for Rec in Arlington

They keep them there and then ask for additional parent/coaches. They all get a spot. However, parents need to step up if they want their kid to play.

My DH works VERY long hours and still finds time to coach at least one sport a season for our kids. I have done it as well and also work.

Some leagues also allow high school students to coach house teams. The players enjoy it, and the HS students can list it as an activity on college apps. Win-win.

This is exactly one of the reasons some kids want to play travel and not rec. They don't want parent coaches and kids who are at different levels, some playing for fun, others who are more competitive.

[Anonymous]

So let me get this straight. Arlington travel basketball takes over 1/3 of it's pool of kids into travel, yet the remaining children are still upset that they might have to play with some kids who are worse than them? God, what an entitled generation of kids that are being raised. How do you think they'll cope as adults never believing they should have to interact with anyone whose beneath their level on any skill? How about instead of complaining, you encourage your child to rise to the top of house basketball so he or she can make travel another year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Arlington travel basketball takes over 1/3 of it's pool of kids into travel, yet the remaining children are still upset that they might have to play with some kids who are worse than them? God, what an entitled generation of kids that are being raised. How do you think they'll cope as adults never believing they should have to interact with anyone whose beneath their level on any skill? How about instead of complaining, you encourage your child to rise to the top of house basketball so he or she can make travel another year.

So true. When my now in HS kid was in elementary and middle school, the kids pretty much knew who was good enough to make travel and sort of got that. What the heck is going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Arlington travel basketball takes over 1/3 of it's pool of kids into travel, yet the remaining children are still upset that they might have to play with some kids who are worse than them? God, what an entitled generation of kids that are being raised. How do you think they'll cope as adults never believing they should have to interact with anyone whose beneath their level on any skill? How about instead of complaining, you encourage your child to rise to the top of house basketball so he or she can make travel another year.

So true. When my now in HS kid was in elementary and middle school, the kids pretty much knew who was good enough to make travel and sort of got that. What the heck is going on?

I've experienced the opposite the kids who don't have the skills being mean to those that do. One kid telling my daughter that they didn't want her on the team.

[Anonymous]

I know everyone has been talking about sports but another way the capacity issue affects quality of life is meal time. I learned at one school's open house last spring that some kids have to eat their lunch before 11am to squeeze in all the lunch sessions! That seems too early to me...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Arlington travel basketball takes over 1/3 of it's pool of kids into travel, yet the remaining children are still upset that they might have to play with some kids who are worse than them? God, what an entitled generation of kids that are being raised. How do you think they'll cope as adults never believing they should have to interact with anyone whose beneath their level on any skill? How about instead of complaining, you encourage your child to rise to the top of house basketball so he or she can make travel another year.

So true. When my now in HS kid was in elementary and middle school, the kids pretty much knew who was good enough to make travel and sort of got that. What the heck is going on?

I've experienced the opposite the kids who don't have the skills being mean to those that do. One kid telling my daughter that they didn't want her on the team.

Kids usually only say that if the player in question is a ball hog who thinks the team should revolve around her. Otherwise, they prefer to be on teams with good players.