Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think what the poster is getting at is does a white kid stand a chance--- not because of race, but maybe inferior athletic ability/less basketball focused culture?

I'm a little nervous for my own kid, who loves this sport. Out in the VA burbs (as mentioned above) he can compete but I have no idea how any of these kids would stack up against say, a city team. The kids look to be mostly AA and extremely athletic and tall.

Seriously if you are asking these question you already know the answer. It’s going to be very competitive. I am white, grew up around here and played. How old is your kid? The cut starts to happen somewhere between 6th and 8th grade. This is when the boys grow and develop. I never really worried about if I was playing against a black or white guy. It just did not matter. It just matters if you can play. In a large public high school there can be 2,000 to 4,000 kids. There are a lot of kids coming out for a few spots. You have to be good. Even if you stayed out in the Burbs, you have to be good to make the team. Now the private schools are a lot different, some recruit, others do not.

Well, the recruiting is the thing, isn’t it? If you’ve been playing basketball your whole life and are athletic, work hard, and a good player, you’re going to make the private school team. Unless they recruit players from elsewhere. Playing basketball was such an important part of my high school experience (several years ago), and I want my kids to have the same opportunity. But if all the private schools are recruiting from all over the metro, then they may not have that chance since they’ll also play other sports and their primary focus will be on their studies. As a result, I wonder if I should encourage more of a focus on a different sport. Unless the privates recruit all their athletes. Is any real team sport (soccer, basketball, etc) more immune from the recruiting problem?

Anonymous wrote:I think what the poster is getting at is does a white kid stand a chance--- not because of race, but maybe inferior athletic ability/less basketball focused culture?

I'm a little nervous for my own kid, who loves this sport. Out in the VA burbs (as mentioned above) he can compete but I have no idea how any of these kids would stack up against say, a city team. The kids look to be mostly AA and extremely athletic and tall.

Seriously if you are asking these question you already know the answer. It’s going to be very competitive. I am white, grew up around here and played. How old is your kid? The cut starts to happen somewhere between 6th and 8th grade. This is when the boys grow and develop. I never really worried about if I was playing against a black or white guy. It just did not matter. It just matters if you can play. In a large public high school there can be 2,000 to 4,000 kids. There are a lot of kids coming out for a few spots. You have to be good. Even if you stayed out in the Burbs, you have to be good to make the team. Now the private schools are a lot different, some recruit, others do not.

Anonymous wrote:I think what the poster is getting at is does a white kid stand a chance--- not because of race, but maybe inferior athletic ability/less basketball focused culture?

I'm a little nervous for my own kid, who loves this sport. Out in the VA burbs (as mentioned above) he can compete but I have no idea how any of these kids would stack up against say, a city team. The kids look to be mostly AA and extremely athletic and tall.

I don't understand how "culture" or race has any place in a discussion about competition. As a coach, all I care about is whether a kid can play the game better than the other kids on my roster. And if our team is not as good as another team it is not because of a different race or culture -- it is because my players are simply not as good as the another team's players.

I think what the poster is getting at is does a white kid stand a chance--- not because of race, but maybe inferior athletic ability/less basketball focused culture?

I'm a little nervous for my own kid, who loves this sport. Out in the VA burbs (as mentioned above) he can compete but I have no idea how any of these kids would stack up against say, a city team. The kids look to be mostly AA and extremely athletic and tall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t tell from the post what you’re looking for exactly. But Bishop O’Connell has diversity and competitive sports. Basketball included.

Trying to find out if kids are in the wrong sport for move to DC. If not, looking for youth basketball leagues in nw dc.

This idea of private schools recruiting athletes seems crazy. It must deprive kids who are mainly there for the academics of playing spots/time! Do the recruiter atheletes meet the same admissions stamdards or is it like college where athletes usually meet a lesser academic standard?

I know that some schools are more sports focused and I think that is reflected in their admissions. It's not an issue for the WCAC kids I know personally, because in addition to being incredibly talented players, the kids I know are excellent students. As an example, one WCAC player I know has a simple deal with his parents --- he can play basketball as long as he gets all As. Obviously this is not the case for all players, but I think WCAC athletes do have to earn the grades to play.

If you are looking down the road to your kids who are currently in elementary eventually playing for a WCAC school, that may be kind of a long shot. I know a kid who went to a private that's not even a basketball powerhouse. When that kid was in 8th grade, he told me that it was his last year playing for the school team because there was no way he could compete with the kids who would be recruited for high school. That was around the time that a former D1 college coach was hired to coach at the school.

OP, if you want your kids to have a shot playing at that level, they probably want to be playing travel ball with really solid professional coaching as early as possible. If your kids don't currently play travel, you should look at travel teams like MADE, KOA, or MBA. They have some good kids and coaches, but have multiple levels and are easier to get started with. To give you a sense of how crazy this area is -- the kids I know who play for top AAU teams (i.e. not the ones above) were recruited to the AAU programs as 5th or 6th graders by coaches who had heard about them and went to their rec or catholic league games specifically to see them play and recruit them.

If you are going to be in DC, there are some rec centers with really solid teams (e.g. Emery Rec I know, and I think some others also).

Anonymous wrote:It's not really about race.

Depending on where you're coming from, you may be unprepared for the level of competition at the top-tier basketball schools in the DMV (a handful of public schools, the Catholic schools and private schools like Rock Creek Christian). This is among the best areas in the country for basketball talent, so, for example, Wilson High School (a DC Public) was #15 in the USA Today NATIONAL high school pre-season rankings, yet #3 in the Washington Post LOCAL rankings. The privates all recruit kids, and I know of a kid whose family moved here from Sweden to play for a top local team.

Lots of teams have many AA players, but whoever can play can make the team.

Are all sports like this or is it mainly basketball?

Anonymous wrote:It's not really about race.

Depending on where you're coming from, you may be unprepared for the level of competition at the top-tier basketball schools in the DMV (a handful of public schools, the Catholic schools and private schools like Rock Creek Christian). This is among the best areas in the country for basketball talent, so, for example, Wilson High School (a DC Public) was #15 in the USA Today NATIONAL high school pre-season rankings, yet #3 in the Washington Post LOCAL rankings. The privates all recruit kids, and I know of a kid whose family moved here from Sweden to play for a top local team.

Lots of teams have many AA players, but whoever can play can make the team.

Are all sports like this or is it mainly basketball?

Anonymous wrote:I can’t tell from the post what you’re looking for exactly. But Bishop O’Connell has diversity and competitive sports. Basketball included.

Trying to find out if kids are in the wrong sport for move to DC. If not, looking for youth basketball leagues in nw dc.

This idea of private schools recruiting athletes seems crazy. It must deprive kids who are mainly there for the academics of playing spots/time! Do the recruiter atheletes meet the same admissions stamdards or is it like college where athletes usually meet a lesser academic standard?

I can’t tell from the post what you’re looking for exactly. But Bishop O’Connell has diversity and competitive sports. Basketball included.

Anonymous wrote:It's kind of crazy the way WCAC teams recruit nationally and even internationally. Dematha had a great shooter from Canada, and VJ King (currently of Louisville) moved to Fairfax from Ohio to play for Paul VI. The actual students at these high schools have a tough time making the team, but a few do in "glue guy" roles. The professionalization of high-school sports, I guess.

Yes, the recruiting is kind of crazy, but much of the talent is also homegrown. Most of DS's teammates on his AAU team are WCAC kids, and they are all local kids. What's amazing to me is that DCPS schools like Wilson and HD Woodson are so often able to compete with schools like Gonzaga, DeMatha, Paul VI and St. Johns.

It's kind of crazy the way WCAC teams recruit nationally and even internationally. Dematha had a great shooter from Canada, and VJ King (currently of Louisville) moved to Fairfax from Ohio to play for Paul VI. The actual students at these high schools have a tough time making the team, but a few do in "glue guy" roles. The professionalization of high-school sports, I guess.

It's not really about race.

Depending on where you're coming from, you may be unprepared for the level of competition at the top-tier basketball schools in the DMV (a handful of public schools, the Catholic schools and private schools like Rock Creek Christian). This is among the best areas in the country for basketball talent, so, for example, Wilson High School (a DC Public) was #15 in the USA Today NATIONAL high school pre-season rankings, yet #3 in the Washington Post LOCAL rankings. The privates all recruit kids, and I know of a kid whose family moved here from Sweden to play for a top local team.

Lots of teams have many AA players, but whoever can play can make the team.

If he can play then he can play.

Anonymous wrote:Can a white kid compete? We’re moving from an area without a lot of diversity. The basketball team photos - even at private schools - don’t seem to contain many white kids. Is basketball not a sport white kids play in dc?

What youth leagues are available in NW DC for upper elementary kids?

You need to move to either Mclean or Langley area so that your kids can attend Mclean or Langley HS and play on the Varsity basketball. I was watching the Mclean Varsity Basketball game last night and the team is terrible. There are only a couple of black players on the team. The same goes for Langley HS as well, probably 1 black player on the team.

Can a white kid compete? We’re moving from an area without a lot of diversity. The basketball team photos - even at private schools - don’t seem to contain many white kids. Is basketball not a sport white kids play in dc?

What youth leagues are available in NW DC for upper elementary kids?