Anonymous wrote:
They also find fun and camaraderie in basketball during the winter. What I think a lot of people don't realize sometimes is that there are WAY more kids playing house or recreation sports than year-round competitive sports. Most discussions you hear (or find on chat boards) are by the alpha-type parents (myself included at times) who think that the year round, competitive environment is what is the norm. It's really not, again, the bigger number of participants are in the house and recreation programs.

I would encourage you to do what is best for your family and let your kids choose what they want to do, and what works best for your family dynamic. Playing sports seasonally is great and should be encouraged. It is still possible to dip into sport for fun and camaraderie.

Playing in house rec sports also gives your child another outlet if they decide the sport they're passionate about isn't their thing anymore. When my daughter went through puberty, she became extremely self conscious and found swim stressful. She went from swimming competitively year round to just wanting to swim in the summer. Basketball, which she had been playing in house for years, stepped in and now she plays on a travel team.

The trend is to let kids specialize early. They have opportunities that let them specialize, and sometimes the schedules force them into a choice. There are lots of kids who don't. They either change sports out regularly, or still follow the traditional sports schedule. My children generally have one sport they're focused on and do year round, but we deliberately pick club and travel teams that accommodation casual participation in other sports. That means my children are unlikely to be top contenders in their favorite sports, but we are not aiming for college scholarships or anything. We want the kids to play and have fun. It works for us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if it's not a good fit, let it be her choice. There will be plenty of other competitive sporting opportunities through the years. Something NOT to do is keep her on the team because you like being a swim team parent for you own socializing. Op, you did not allude to this, it's just I've seen it so often.

Hah, I don't socialize with anyone, I just see it a good chance to keep her active in sweltering summer. I can't get her to swim laps when it's just us, but she is learning strokes, taking on her fears of competing, and getting good exercise when it's hard to in the heat. I will just have to help her accept she may be one of the slower swimmers b/c it is not 'her' sport.

Are there really no sport seasons anymore, kids have to pick their sport and train all year? We are not athletic, and I like the idea of soccer and tennis in fall spring, ice skating and skiing in winter, and swimming in summer. But folks are doing indoor soccer training and soccer camp academies, swimming in year round programs, it feels hard to just dip into sport for fun and comradarie.

There are absolutely still "sport seasons". And kids can "dip into the sport for fun and camaraderie". These are generally recreation or house teams. We have two daughters. One is a year round swimmer., who is 11. It is her passion. For fun, she plays house basketball in the winter. We have an older daughter (13) who plays travel soccer. It is her passion. For fun, she also plays house basketball in the winter. Yes, for their primary sports they pretty much train year round - but that is their choice. At early ages we exposed them to many sports and activities (even piano and singing) and let them decide what they enjoyed. They made their choices - not because we said pick one but because they loved specific sports and wanted to focus on them. They understand the commitment and as it is their passion, it is still fun for them. They look forward to going to practice. They find fun and camaraderie in these sports.

They also find fun and camaraderie in basketball during the winter. What I think a lot of people don't realize sometimes is that there are WAY more kids playing house or recreation sports than year-round competitive sports. Most discussions you hear (or find on chat boards) are by the alpha-type parents (myself included at times) who think that the year round, competitive environment is what is the norm. It's really not, again, the bigger number of participants are in the house and recreation programs.

I would encourage you to do what is best for your family and let your kids choose what they want to do, and what works best for your family dynamic. Playing sports seasonally is great and should be encouraged. It is still possible to dip into sport for fun and camaraderie.

Anonymous wrote:Op, if it's not a good fit, let it be her choice. There will be plenty of other competitive sporting opportunities through the years. Something NOT to do is keep her on the team because you like being a swim team parent for you own socializing. Op, you did not allude to this, it's just I've seen it so often.

Hah, I don't socialize with anyone, I just see it a good chance to keep her active in sweltering summer. I can't get her to swim laps when it's just us, but she is learning strokes, taking on her fears of competing, and getting good exercise when it's hard to in the heat. I will just have to help her accept she may be one of the slower swimmers b/c it is not 'her' sport.

Are there really no sport seasons anymore, kids have to pick their sport and train all year? We are not athletic, and I like the idea of soccer and tennis in fall spring, ice skating and skiing in winter, and swimming in summer. But folks are doing indoor soccer training and soccer camp academies, swimming in year round programs, it feels hard to just dip into sport for fun and comradarie.

To find individual reults you click on the team score.

Op, if it's not a good fit, let it be her choice. There will be plenty of other competitive sporting opportunities through the years. Something NOT to do is keep her on the team because you like being a swim team parent for you own socializing. Op, you did not allude to this, it's just I've seen it so often.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all star times poster is completely wrong if she is talking about MCSL. Just looked at the results from divisionals today.

Which proved what?

There are very few kids in each event with all star times. Certainly not three from one team in a given event.

For what division?

Every division.

I can't find individual results on MCSL's website, I only see team results. I've lost track of what you're trying to prove however so I won't worry about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all star times poster is completely wrong if she is talking about MCSL. Just looked at the results from divisionals today.

Which proved what?

There are very few kids in each event with all star times. Certainly not three from one team in a given event.

For what division?

Every division.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all star times poster is completely wrong if she is talking about MCSL. Just looked at the results from divisionals today.

Which proved what?

There are very few kids in each event with all star times. Certainly not three from one team in a given event.

For what division?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all star times poster is completely wrong if she is talking about MCSL. Just looked at the results from divisionals today.

Which proved what?

There are very few kids in each event with all star times. Certainly not three from one team in a given event.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at a D1 pool in NVSL. Almost all our Saturday swimmers swim year round. Our team does not win based upon what happens in the summer, it's all about the year-round training. At our pool, it is strongly encouraged to sign up for a program for the rest of the year. Only 6-9 swimmers per age group get to swim on Saturdays and you don't have much hope unless you swim year-round.

This is well-known, though, so most swimmers go in expecting to only swim in B mets. It can be challenging if your kid only makes 1 Saturday meet because then they realize how much more exciting it is to be an A meet swimmer. Sometimes that motivates them to work harder and sometimes that makes them want to quit because it is hard to go back to B meets.

Omg, so pretentious. If this was my kids team I'd find another one.
In my kids' league the B meets are super fun and even kids who only swim 'A' meets come to them - volunteer, cheer and hang out.

I am not the D1 poster, but I totally get her point. My child moved up to A meets this summer and I have to admit, the A meets are way more fun than B meets. They move faster, only I heat of every age group stroke, and every race matters. The Relays are especially fun to watch. My child still swims in B meets (at our pool you are only allowed to swim stokes at the B meet that you didn't swim at the A meet) and the meets are still fun, but no where near the same. now, my child is young enough that he doesn't yet "feel that it is hard to go to B meets after having been to an A meet." At this point he just loves swimming and competing no matter the type of meet.

now back to OP's question.. if you child enjoys swimming and wants to get faster she needs to swim year round and work on her form. Now this all varies by pools, there are pools in lower divisions that consist of only summer swimmers, but for the most part the top swimmers swim year round and take additional lessons outside of summer swim. Summer swim is only 7-8 weeks long, hard to see big gains year to year when that is the only time you are swimming.

How do CCSDA times compare to NVSL and MCSL?

Anonymous wrote:Wait, can we have an MCSL v NVSL meet to see which really has the top swimmers?

1. Why does that matter? The top swimmers are doing club swim and that isn't necessarily where they live.
2. Both leagues post their times, so you can look that up if you really care.

Anonymous wrote:Wait, can we have an MCSL v NVSL meet to see which really has the top swimmers?

That would be great. MCSL would take it.