Lupica on Today show

Problem with that, Ragu, is that some kids are demonstrably better--even at 9 and 10--and want to compete at a higher level. Others are happy just picking their nose in centre field.

Example.

I have three sons and all started playing hockey when they were around 8 and started at the local house league at the rink around the corner.

It's great. Everyone gets the same amount of ice time, it's affordable and they all get participation medals at the end. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Problem is, my eldest wanted more. He was a goalie and wanted someone who could actually shoot the puck and make him work.

Next year he jumped from house league to AAA (He eventually settled in AA hockey). If he wasn't the best goalie in his level, he was sure as hell the most hard working. He strived (and still does) to be better at every level he played and at every sport.

One of the twins was probably the best player on his house league team but was happy playing there. He liked being the big fish in the small pond. The other twin showed up for the post game soft drinks.

Telling my eldest that he shit the bed on that second goal wasn't a big deal--he knew it as well--but telling the one twin that he should take power skating lessons would have just drawn a guffaw. He played hockey to hang out with his buddies. No other reason. (Oh, and to make the biggest tapeball in the history of Mimico).

Point is, travel/elite teams have their usefullness. It's just that too many parents fuck things up.

 

Given the fact that a) we are becoming a nation of sheep, b) that we're willing to accept any depredation that comes from The Company, c) that a lot of coaches and bosses really are idiots, it isn't that bad to teach the next generation a little bit about not respecting arbitrary authority.

 

Agreed, a sad and painful event for a kid (and apparently worse for the parent).

lol. underratedly funny.

 

It's hard for kids to have fun when parents have dollar signs in their eyes.

 

Ragu, I don't disagree with you too much. However, when I was coaching 9-year olds, I could tell which kids were the "elite." Hell when I was 9 and playing in both the rec and travel soccer league, I knew I was better.

Maybe it is just the sport (I never played travel baseball, only rec). I'm sure there are ways to tell that you have better players in baseball though.

 

Yeah, they're the ones that can catch, throw and hit.

 

Agree with you - the travel team culture is disgusting on many levels. parents have way more power than they should.

Disagree with you - kids might "suffer from adult pettiness" but at the same time, they're learning about how the real world truly works. those are life lessons that will come in handy one day if the kid has a good support structure.

I played on a travel volleyball team for 5 years. I was good - all-conference, all-region, etc. One year, this uppity mom decided her daughter was a better setter than me (we ran a 5-1 offense) and she set out on a personal crusade to get her brat my starting position. Midway through the season, coach pulls me aside and tells me that he wants me to hone my skills in a different position while he gets the silver spoon girl in the starting rotation.
HELLO!?! My parents are paying $1,000 a season just like this girl's parents. HELLO?!? That girl hadn't earned anything in the way of accolades for her supposed excellent skills.
So, for half the season, I rode the bench while this girl started. Did we win? No. Were my feelings hurt? Yes. Were my parents mad? Yes. Did they step in to try to alter the situation? No.
That season taught me a lot about how life just isn't fair. Looking back on the unjust things that happened, it simulates my work culture to a T, where maybe the best reporter didn't get on 1A but the reporter who schmooozed with the editors got his story on 1A instead. Eh, that's life.

 

This is my big problem with teams like this. The more vested some parents are (spending $1,000 bucks), the more determined they are for their kids to get a scholarship or be viewed as the best, the more meddling they are.

Rec league is much more fun because when the players who aren't stars get a big hit or make a play it's something they will remember forever.

 

finishthehat,

Not going Lombardi on anyone.

My point is many parents are all too eager to tell a kid he did great (18 strikeouts) or the umpire was just bad or the coach was just mean or the judge of that band competition just didn't know how fantastic of a flute player you really are.

Parents say "Nice try" to the kid who bats ninth in the lineup and hasn't put a bat on a ball all season. He can't hit in practice, either, and swings like a ballet dancer.

At some point, someone should tell him he isn't cut out for baseball and maybe he should try soccer or something else. Or the parent should work with the kid if he really wants to do it.

Reinforcing mediocre (or poor) performances isn't healthy, though. Giving a kid a trophy for his team finishing 2-14 is stupid.


BTW, a grand piano would be too large for Loopy. Probably could get by with a Spinet Piano.

 

I suppose there is a place for travel teams, but I don't know that nine and ten years old is that place. Maybe All-Star teams at 11 and 12 at the end of the season - no problem with that. As far as knowing which kids are better at 9 or 10 - yeah, you know but sometimes kids start playing more or get a coach or get a little bigger or more coordinated and they get better quickly. I also don't believe in playing five or six kids on a basketball team all of the time... how much better can your fifth kid be compared to your seventh kid?

When I was a substitute teacher years ago, I substituted in a gym class. The teacher knew he was going to be out, so he left detailed instructions for what to do figuring that he might get somebody who didn't know the first thing about sports.

Well, I was a sports writer so I knew about sports but I didn't know about age groups. He gave activities for kindergarten, and said no competition because they were too young to handle it. For first grade, he said relay races of different types... one going backward, one picking up a block, etc. For third grade, he had floor hockey. The guy knew what he wanted to do for each age group.

 

More like the Little King could borrow Schroder's piano from Peanuts.