Anonymous wrote:The numbers are down across the board. Less kids are coming out for tryouts and higher drop rate for existing players. Big clubs should be fine, smaller one maybe not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone else getting a lot of ads for club tryouts this year? I don’t remember ever seeing this many. I see them all the time on Facebook for clubs from all over NoVA. Big clubs, small clubs, new, old.

Are clubs seeing less interest this year so they need to advertise? More competition among clubs? COVID effects? What is going on?

I’ve noticed this too. But the poster who mentions FB and Google sniffers is right. The algorithm follows everything we search.
The director of my ds’ team said a lot of kids have signed up to tryout, and that some kids need to battle hard during tryouts to keep their top team spot. I’ll find out Monday, but I think it’s bs in hopes of motivating the kids to play hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone else getting a lot of ads for club tryouts this year? I don’t remember ever seeing this many. I see them all the time on Facebook for clubs from all over NoVA. Big clubs, small clubs, new, old.

Are clubs seeing less interest this year so they need to advertise? More competition among clubs? COVID effects? What is going on?

I’ve noticed this too. But the poster who mentions FB and Google sniffers is right. The algorithm follows everything we search.

The director of my ds’ team said a lot of kids have signed up to tryout, and that some kids need to battle hard during tryouts to keep their top team spot. I’ll find out Monday, but I think it’s bs in hopes of motivating the kids to play hard.

Anonymous wrote:Is anyone else getting a lot of ads for club tryouts this year? I don’t remember ever seeing this many. I see them all the time on Facebook for clubs from all over NoVA. Big clubs, small clubs, new, old.

Are clubs seeing less interest this year so they need to advertise? More competition among clubs? COVID effects? What is going on?

Anonymous wrote:I feel like there is more movement this year. Maybe I have forgotten because covid kept a lot of kids in their team last year, but it seems like kids are swapping clubs this year. That being said, I also feel like there isn't a ton trying out. We have been to two local highly regarded club tryouts so far and less than 5 kids have shown up for my son's age group. I know both teams will be having more movement than that so I don't know what is going on.

On the first day of boys basketball tryouts this winter at Central High School in Newark, Shawn McCray, the team’s coach, stood at center court, waiting for the locker room to empty. A dozen or so boys filed out and straggled onto the hardwood, stretching and chatting. McCray checked his watch and eyed the gym doors for the rest of the players.

He waited. And waited.

But no more boys appeared.

The previous season, just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, McCray had about 40 players across all three levels of play — freshman, junior varsity and varsity. But when the balls rolled out this winter, only 15 players stood before him.
The other 25? McCray had no idea what happened to them. He asked around and was given several answers: They put on weight. They found other things to do. They just didn’t want to play basketball anymore.

“I just think a lot of kids gave up,” McCray said.

The poor turnout led to a seemingly unthinkable decision: Central would not be able to field a freshman team for the first time in McCray’s 17 years at the school.

Similar stories have played out this year across New Jersey, where high schools of all shapes and sizes are enduring the COVID-19 pandemic’s sneaky yet devastating assault on sports. Some athletic officials estimate a 15 to 20% reduction in the number of players competing in athletics across the board this school year. Scores of others have reported being unable to field sub-varsity and, in some cases, even varsity teams due to dwindling turnout.