Anonymous wrote:My DC wanted to try a new sport that his friend has been playing for 2 years. Apparently he can’t get on his friends rec team because he is new to the sport and the friend’s team is supposed to be really good. This was supposed to be a rec team… what is going on with rec sports? Is my DC the only one?

Our rec league does try outs for basketball that allow for balanced teams, but soccer allows you to request a coach and if you don't, then you just assigned to a random place. This means there are basically half really good teams and the other half are not that great and the games with the really good teams are not fun at all. It also really discourages beginners. My daughter was new last year and their first few games were against superstars that were also a-holes and it was really rough on her.

Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

I think most rec teams try to stay together because they get to know each other and like/want to stay together. In our rec soccer there are divisions, and you generally play against like-ability teams based on previous season's scoring history. My kid's team has been bumped up and bumped down divisions depending on how they played in previous season. They don't want a team winning every single game, nor do they want a team losing every single game. They attempt to make it reasonably even skill wise when teams play against each other.

Anonymous wrote:If there is space on the team, then it is usually first come first serve after the returning players fill the slots. Sometimes there are no slots because the team is full and everyone returns to play.

This. Teams have max number of players, and if everyone returns from previous season often there is no room.

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Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

Well there you go. This has nothing to do with being competitive - they are balancing the teams. And probably taking into account cliques, personalities (trying to avoid one team with a lot of strong personalities for example). Trust the process. You are joining for the sport, not the kid.

Some rec leagues balance teams, other allow kids to choose to play with each other. The former is good for balance, the latter lets friends stay together

OP here- the league manager/director has no issues with my DC being on the same team as his friends. But the coach and the other parents are the issue.

You are over thinking this. Either your kid plays on the team they are assigned or they don’t. It doesn’t sound like he was placed on a team of all new players he just wasn’t picked up by his friends team.

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Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

Well there you go. This has nothing to do with being competitive - they are balancing the teams. And probably taking into account cliques, personalities (trying to avoid one team with a lot of strong personalities for example). Trust the process. You are joining for the sport, not the kid.

Some rec leagues balance teams, other allow kids to choose to play with each other. The former is good for balance, the latter lets friends stay together

OP here- the league manager/director has no issues with my DC being on the same team as his friends. But the coach and the other parents are the issue.

the coach knows his team best. He likely has a core group of kids that he's had for years. He needs to ensure that they have balanced play time between them. My DS' team is like that. I'd be annoyed if our core team that's been playing together for years got bumped because a new kid wanted to try his hand. You can join a team in rec. It's open to all levels. You don't get to hand select the team that you want if there is no space

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Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

Well there you go. This has nothing to do with being competitive - they are balancing the teams. And probably taking into account cliques, personalities (trying to avoid one team with a lot of strong personalities for example). Trust the process. You are joining for the sport, not the kid.

Some rec leagues balance teams, other allow kids to choose to play with each other. The former is good for balance, the latter lets friends stay together

OP here- the league manager/director has no issues with my DC being on the same team as his friends. But the coach and the other parents are the issue.

OP - it is what it is. He can play on another team. Or not. Your son is entitled to play on A team, not THAT team.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

Well there you go. This has nothing to do with being competitive - they are balancing the teams. And probably taking into account cliques, personalities (trying to avoid one team with a lot of strong personalities for example). Trust the process. You are joining for the sport, not the kid.

Some rec leagues balance teams, other allow kids to choose to play with each other. The former is good for balance, the latter lets friends stay together

OP here- the league manager/director has no issues with my DC being on the same team as his friends. But the coach and the other parents are the issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

Well there you go. This has nothing to do with being competitive - they are balancing the teams. And probably taking into account cliques, personalities (trying to avoid one team with a lot of strong personalities for example). Trust the process. You are joining for the sport, not the kid.

Some rec leagues balance teams, other allow kids to choose to play with each other. The former is good for balance, the latter lets friends stay together

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Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Curious how that works. Does that A team play against the B team and just beat them every game? How is that fun or fair?

Have you never played sports in your life? Each team plays in a league. They play a number of different teams from different clubs. It makes zero sense for Team A to play Team B from the same club every week.
You understand that there are leagues, yes?

That isn’t how rec works in most cases. Rec is typically an “in house” program where you play other teams within your club. So your comment about an A and B team made no sense. What you are describing may be “rec” technically but it functions way more like travel.

NP here. I was surprised to read that too. In our basketball league, boys’ 5th-8th grade teams range from 11 to 15 teams per age group. Everyone plays the other in-house teams.

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Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Curious how that works. Does that A team play against the B team and just beat them every game? How is that fun or fair?

Have you never played sports in your life? Each team plays in a league. They play a number of different teams from different clubs. It makes zero sense for Team A to play Team B from the same club every week.
You understand that there are leagues, yes?

That isn’t how rec works in most cases. Rec is typically an “in house” program where you play other teams within your club. So your comment about an A and B team made no sense. What you are describing may be “rec” technically but it functions way more like travel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Curious how that works. Does that A team play against the B team and just beat them every game? How is that fun or fair?

Have you never played sports in your life? Each team plays in a league. They play a number of different teams from different clubs. It makes zero sense for Team A to play Team B from the same club every week.
You understand that there are leagues, yes?

Exactly. I don’t recall Team A playing Team B (although it may happen once or twice). So if the kids are not on the same team, they don’t play against each other, either (unlike some of the descriptions above).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Curious how that works. Does that A team play against the B team and just beat them every game? How is that fun or fair?

Have you never played sports in your life? Each team plays in a league. They play a number of different teams from different clubs. It makes zero sense for Team A to play Team B from the same club every week.
You understand that there are leagues, yes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Curious how that works. Does that A team play against the B team and just beat them every game? How is that fun or fair?

Anonymous wrote:At the rec level, they should be doing what they can to make sure the teams are roughly level in terms of skill, so that when the teams play each other, it is fun for all the teams.

What usually happens is that the stronger teams try to stay together. Some leagues are better at preventing this than others. Usually though, the coaches have some sort of "draft" and if the friend's coach doesn't think your DC is good, they won't draft them.

No, we have an A team and B team. Everyone gets a spot, but maybe not a spot on the team they wanted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So - they are saying he can’t play at all? Or just that he can’t play on THAT team? Those are two different things.

OP hasn’t answered this despite being asked at least twice.

Yes he can play on a team but not that specific team with his friends.

DS wanted to play soccer with his friends. They were in first grade together but they had different birth years, DS was a summer birthday and his friends a December birthday. They couldn’t play together because of the way teams are formed. Those were the rules.

DS is currently playing basketball. He is on a team with a couple of friends while his other friends are on different teams even though they wanted to play together. The league tries to honor kids wanting to be on the same team but it doesn’t always work out. Such is life.

Your child can play the rec sport, he will simply compete against his friends. That is what happens. I am not thrilled that there are leagues were the Coach can return 90% of the players from season to season but that happens a lot. It helps keeps the Coaches who are volunteering happy and the leagues need the Coaches.