Feel bad for the kids who get cut in high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of the problem here is the pay to play travel sports industrial complex. Kid plays ‘travel’ soccer. Kid is really not that good but parent and kid have spent huge amounts of time driving to out of town tournaments etc. kid tries out in high school, doesn’t make team and doesn’t know how to deal. Kid assumes he is vastly better than rec. probably he’s not but rec teams are somewhat decimated by the move to travel. If travel sports were actually limited to the absolute top players, and more kids stuck with rec, not making the hs team would be less of a shock and there would be more rec options.

In the rest of the world by 13-14 only the top 5% are playing. By 16 they have cut down to the top 2%. In the states because of pay to play and college system in the US this number is 30-45%.

I do believe these cuts are hard on kids. Travel sports like soccer consume all their free time from u9 to whenever it stops. When they get cut they feel they have nothing left and are embarrassed and humiliated in front of their peers.

Also I think many parents talk about the kid’s friends, playing with teammates, etc. The truth is if your kid is getting cut they most likely are not enjoying the experience. The “friends” on the team will move on without your kid- ie they really are not friends. They were just on the same team and forced to socialize.

Does the state sponsor the top 2% and that means the others play recreationally? What a shame that 13 year olds can’t play basketball whether they suck at it or are not. Just for fun.

My niece played local basketball organizations starting in 5th grade once in a while. they didn’t travel far at all, no club. She didn’t love basketball but her mother wanted her to do some activity. she ended up playing varsity all four years because she was 5’10” and had familiarity with the game.. The high school is in a medium sized wealthy town and it was competitive. She’s in college now and has no interest in sports.

It’s too bad parents don’t just wait until middle school to drive all over the place. Keep it recreational until they’re about 11 or 12. Go swimming, ice skating, batting cages, hiking, summer camps. These early years are the best times for families to hang out and be active. By middle school kids might have a preference and then they can focus on it. It might help so many kids from burning out way too young.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:
You don’t need to only use the formal basketball court.

For PE we used hoops on wheels on the all purpose playgrounds and fields.

We are talking about casual rec level playing. kids play pick up games in parking lots all over the word. Use your imagination and creativity, it’s not rocket science.

Are you familiar with winter? JFC.

We had to run cross country during the winter. There this great invention called a tracksuit that keeps you warm in cold weather and exercise warms you up.

We’re talking about basketball right now, genius.

You have never played pick up in the winter in DC? You are missing out.

The mental gymnastics you are engaging in just to avoid having to admit you were simply wrong is truly amazing to behold.

Sorry, I’m a different poster. But equally puzzled why you think a teenager can’t play basketball outside in DC in the winter. It’s simply not that cold.

It’s not about the cold, dummy. It’s the snow and the ice and the dark that is a problem. (But also, have you experimented with how a nearly freezing basketball bounces? I’m guessing not.)

It’s also not about random teens playing random pickup games. The genius upthread seems to think high school basketball is a perfectly valid outdoor winter sport for the plethora of organized teams and tournaments she is envisioning.

Spoiler alert: it’s not. But please push this dumbass plan to have a bunch of kids break, tear, sprain, and twist various parts of their bodies because you’re too dumb (and too stubborn, and too entitled) to understand how dangerous this would be…

Toronto and capitalism didn’t receive your memo.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/01/25/2595552/0/en/KFC-Canada-Proves-Any-Season-is-Bucket-Season-With-World-s-First-Winterized-Outdoor-Basketball-Court.html

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/kfc-winter-basketball-court-sports-marketing/641289/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You don’t need to only use the formal basketball court.

For PE we used hoops on wheels on the all purpose playgrounds and fields.

We are talking about casual rec level playing. kids play pick up games in parking lots all over the word. Use your imagination and creativity, it’s not rocket science.

Are you familiar with winter? JFC.

We had to run cross country during the winter. There this great invention called a tracksuit that keeps you warm in cold weather and exercise warms you up.

We’re talking about basketball right now, genius.

You have never played pick up in the winter in DC? You are missing out.

The mental gymnastics you are engaging in just to avoid having to admit you were simply wrong is truly amazing to behold.

Sorry, I’m a different poster. But equally puzzled why you think a teenager can’t play basketball outside in DC in the winter. It’s simply not that cold.

It’s not about the cold, dummy. It’s the snow and the ice and the dark that is a problem. (But also, have you experimented with how a nearly freezing basketball bounces? I’m guessing not.)

It’s also not about random teens playing random pickup games. The genius upthread seems to think high school basketball is a perfectly valid outdoor winter sport for the plethora of organized teams and tournaments she is envisioning.

Spoiler alert: it’s not. But please push this dumbass plan to have a bunch of kids break, tear, sprain, and twist various parts of their bodies because you’re too dumb (and too stubborn, and too entitled) to understand how dangerous this would be…

Toronto and capitalism didn’t receive your memo.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/01/25/2595552/0/en/KFC-Canada-Proves-Any-Season-is-Bucket-Season-With-World-s-First-Winterized-Outdoor-Basketball-Court.html

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/kfc-winter-basketball-court-sports-marketing/641289/

Yes. They built a special winterized basketball court and provide pre-warmed balls to the players…. This obviously proves your point that local high school varsity basketball teams can easily just play outside all winter

Are you always this obtuse? Or (like I said earlier) you are just incapable of admitting that you’re wrong.

(I do feel sorry for your husband, yikes!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You don’t need to only use the formal basketball court.

For PE we used hoops on wheels on the all purpose playgrounds and fields.

We are talking about casual rec level playing. kids play pick up games in parking lots all over the word. Use your imagination and creativity, it’s not rocket science.

Are you familiar with winter? JFC.

We had to run cross country during the winter. There this great invention called a tracksuit that keeps you warm in cold weather and exercise warms you up.

We’re talking about basketball right now, genius.

You have never played pick up in the winter in DC? You are missing out.

The mental gymnastics you are engaging in just to avoid having to admit you were simply wrong is truly amazing to behold.

Sorry, I’m a different poster. But equally puzzled why you think a teenager can’t play basketball outside in DC in the winter. It’s simply not that cold.

It’s not about the cold, dummy. It’s the snow and the ice and the dark that is a problem. (But also, have you experimented with how a nearly freezing basketball bounces? I’m guessing not.)

It’s also not about random teens playing random pickup games. The genius upthread seems to think high school basketball is a perfectly valid outdoor winter sport for the plethora of organized teams and tournaments she is envisioning.

Spoiler alert: it’s not. But please push this dumbass plan to have a bunch of kids break, tear, sprain, and twist various parts of their bodies because you’re too dumb (and too stubborn, and too entitled) to understand how dangerous this would be…

Toronto and capitalism didn’t receive your memo.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/01/25/2595552/0/en/KFC-Canada-Proves-Any-Season-is-Bucket-Season-With-World-s-First-Winterized-Outdoor-Basketball-Court.html

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/kfc-winter-basketball-court-sports-marketing/641289/

Yes. They built a special winterized basketball court and provide pre-warmed balls to the players…. This obviously proves your point that local high school varsity basketball teams can easily just play outside all winter

Are you always this obtuse? Or (like I said earlier) you are just incapable of admitting that you’re wrong.

(I do feel sorry for your husband, yikes!)

Toronto has real winters. DC has occasional cold spells but usually daytime temps are in the 40s. People shoot hoops throughout the winter at the basketball courts in our local park.

[Anonymous]

If a school wants to play winter basketball then they can. Obviously money is required to build the infrastructure like a winterized court but that’s probably less expensive than building a new indoor one.

But my point is that where there is a will there is a way. If fridgid Toronto can do it so can DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP is bad at math. I wonder if she minds that not EVERY kid gets to take all the advanced classes offered at their SCHOOL. Resources are limited all around, but it’s only a problem for DCUM when little Timmy gets cut from the team.

My high school actually had several subjects where non-advanced classes weren’t offered because there simply wasn’t the demand for that

Senior year all English classes were AP, for example

[Anonymous]

But why does the metric for participation have to be skill - something that is seriously subjective. Why not have a lottery if the resources are limited. The schools are there to serve every kid but the amount of resources and energy spent on sports is disproportionate to the kids who actually benefit from it.

[Anonymous]

Cutting willing athletes from a sports team is not an equitable practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If a school wants to play winter basketball then they can. Obviously money is required to build the infrastructure like a winterized court but that’s probably less expensive than building a new indoor one.

But my point is that where there is a will there is a way. If fridgid Toronto can do it so can DC.

Basketball is a winter sport in US high schools - just not outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the problem here is the pay to play travel sports industrial complex. Kid plays ‘travel’ soccer. Kid is really not that good but parent and kid have spent huge amounts of time driving to out of town tournaments etc. kid tries out in high school, doesn’t make team and doesn’t know how to deal. Kid assumes he is vastly better than rec. probably he’s not but rec teams are somewhat decimated by the move to travel. If travel sports were actually limited to the absolute top players, and more kids stuck with rec, not making the hs team would be less of a shock and there would be more rec options.

You are totally correct. We should have town/city-based leagues with one all-star/travel team per town. Those all-star/ travel teams can play each other. We will have Rockville vs Bethesda and Kensington vs. Potomac, etc, etc. This could work with basketball, baseball & softball, soccer, volleyball. It would be a vast improvement if most of us could step away from the sports industrial complex. I love my kid beyond measure but I have no desire to spend my weekends staying at shitty hotels while they compete in a sports tournament. We held off as long as we could but even by starting in 8th grade, between club fees, clinics, camps, and travel, we will have spent at least 40K by the time the kid graduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have kids in elementary and high school. I am watching kids get cut in sports and activities they love and have played all their lives. Hate how competitive this world is.

I just saw my child’s friends get cut from a sport they have played together since elementary school. I feel like kids should all be able to play. Let there be two freshmen teams or have a practice squad or club team that doesn’t go against other schools.

What happens to the below average kids?

I feel you, OP. It’s sad how competitive everything and everyone has become. It’s not how childhood used to be. Too many people. Only one solution - move and live in a smaller, less populated area. Of course that doesn’t help with current friends or if you have older kids, but it’s really the only thing that would prevent this type of experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If a school wants to play winter basketball then they can. Obviously money is required to build the infrastructure like a winterized court but that’s probably less expensive than building a new indoor one.

But my point is that where there is a will there is a way. If fridgid Toronto can do it so can DC.

Translation:

“My point is I’m wrong but I’m an insufferable twatwaffle so I will continue grasping at straws. I’m not embarrassed because I have no capacity to feel shame.”

Your husband is definitely cheating on you, and who could blame him?

[Anonymous]

DP

Someone is so triggered by the thought of winter basketball that they have progressed from name calling to speculating about a stranger’s spouse’s morals.

Very odd.

[Anonymous]

For the posters saying it’s no big deal and we should get rid of varsity sports—we get it: you don’t like sports or don’t have kids that care about sports.

For the posters who have elaborate plans for how to fold space-time-personal-and budgets, you have never waded into the county permitting process or have much experience with the way rec/club/school sports are run. We live in a high density area with a lot of families who want their kids to play sports and it’s simply not possible.

Yes, it absolutely stinks when a kid plays X sport for years and that is their favorite thing to do, but then gets cut in HS. But that is life when you try out for a team with max 22 for V and 22 for JV and the school has 3000 kids. Rec option in MoCo are problematic and not the solution they could or should be for kids who don’t make the cut in HS.

We opted out of MCPS years ago and the small private where we landed (because of the academic fit) allows for greater athletic and EC opportunities for DCs. We feel there’s a real value in playing for your HS—even when their school team isn’t likely to win championships and the kids aren’t likely to get recruited for college.

[Anonymous]

*personnel not personal