Changing Teams- Youth Sports (1 Viewer)

[Chadstroma]

My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.

Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."

The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.

So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....

Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?

This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.

I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?

So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.

 

[ChiefD]

If he's on a successful team with his buddies and they are having fun......why change just for the sake of change?

If that catholic school has a path through grade school, middle school, and high school for their football program, and the high school program is good enough....then keep him on that path.

I will say: as he gets into high school and starts showing some real signs of possibly being able to play in college, get him into the college summer camps early. Like after freshman year. We are going through this now for my son who is going to be a senior and we were too late. He's only been a kicker for one season (going on two) and has some potential but we should have been doing this two years ago.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

My only frame of reference is baseball, but I think the principles will translate.

1. Having good size at 10 is definitely opening some doors for him (you can't coach a kid to be taller and/or faster), but it's what he does with that advantage and how he handles it that will mater most. Some of the biggest kids my son played against growing up continued to lean on their physical advantage but didn't have the work ethic and/or drive to get the most out of their abilities, and fizzled out. I think his focus should be appreciating his situation and working hard,

2. If the Catholic schools around you get the same cache as the ones around me, I think he'll still get good opportunities staying put in the Catholic 'system'.

3. As for being recruited to this other school, it sounds like a generous offer, therefore I would look more into it for some hidden 'out' for the school. For example, one of the local Catholic schools retained the right to review and possibly even rescind the scholarship on a yearly basis, meaning there could be a number of reasons outside of your or his control that could lead to him losing the scholarship.

4. I'm a true believer in the idea that the sense of brotherhood/community should not be overlooked. As long as he wants to be with/play with his friends, that should be the end of the decision-making process. Even when the grass IS greener, that doesn't mean the cow will enjoy grazing there more.

 

[Chadstroma]

If he's on a successful team with his buddies and they are having fun......why change just for the sake of change?

If that catholic school has a path through grade school, middle school, and high school for their football program, and the high school program is good enough....then keep him on that path.

I will say: as he gets into high school and starts showing some real signs of possibly being able to play in college, get him into the college summer camps early. Like after freshman year. We are going through this now for my son who is going to be a senior and we were too late. He's only been a kicker for one season (going on two) and has some potential but we should have been doing this two years ago.

I guess the only part that made me wonder was if he can get better coaching and play against better competition. For the coaching, this one coach is a very good coach. Not a knock on the school coaching and to be honest, I haven't looked hard at the higher level coaching from the school.... the teams are 3rd/4th, then 5th/6th and finally 7th/8th grade. They just started flag football for 1st/2nd this year. The two higher level teams are coached by coaches that aren't Dads and then some Dads help out. But the coach from this camp is a really good coach. It is probably the only reason I stopped and was like "if something like that was real... would I have to consider it?"

His current school goes through Jr High. For HS the options are our local HS which is not a football powerhouse school. Generally 'average' in football. And then we are in the middle of 4 Catholic HS's all of which are good football programs. They all are usually are state ranked in football, last year they ended 10th, 14th, 22nd and 24th in MaxPrep rankings for Illinois. In Illinois there are no athletic scholarships allowed... my kid isn't dumb but is also not a scholar either so I wouldn't bet on academic scholarships. Need based... it kind of depends.... we might make it need wise now but if I have a good year then nope. Maybe his grandfather would be willing to pay the bill- education is the one thing he doesn't have any issues paying for his kids and offered all the grandchildren to pay all their college if they become a Doctor (like him) so... maybe that. The Catholic HS's recruit heavily from the Catholic league his school is in. So, being at his school gets him exposure to potential options for HS in very good programs.

These college summer camps... are you talking about going to Northwestern or Notre Dame (example of greater Chicago area college programs) football summer camps or these multiple college summer camps that I have seen? I haven't really figured all that stuff out yet as it is a bit off from being something to really worry about.

 

[ChiefD]

These college summer camps... are you talking about going to Northwestern or Notre Dame (example of greater Chicago area college programs) football summer camps or these multiple college summer camps that I have seen? I haven't really figured all that stuff out yet as it is a bit off from being something to really worry about.

Well, not necessarily those schools - more of the multiple college camps.

There are basically two types of camps: prospect camps and then schools hold their own camps. The prospect camps usually have a bunch of schools there that evaluate all the kids. This is a good way to get exposure to anywhere from 10 - 30 colleges at the same time.

The school camps are just one college having a camp for kids who might be interested in going to that school. We have been to both kinds this summer. It's just a way for you to get your kid exposed to the process.

 

[Chadstroma]

My only frame of reference is baseball, but I think the principles will translate.

1. Having good size at 10 is definitely opening some doors for him (you can't coach a kid to be taller and/or faster), but it's what he does with that advantage and how he handles it that will mater most. Some of the biggest kids my son played against growing up continued to lean on their physical advantage but didn't have the work ethic and/or drive to get the most out of their abilities, and fizzled out. I think his focus should be appreciating his situation and working hard,

2. If the Catholic schools around you get the same cache as the ones around me, I think he'll still get good opportunities staying put in the Catholic 'system'.

3. As for being recruited to this other school, it sounds like a generous offer, therefore I would look more into it for some hidden 'out' for the school. For example, one of the local Catholic schools retained the right to review and possibly even rescind the scholarship on a yearly basis, meaning there could be a number of reasons outside of your or his control that could lead to him losing the scholarship.

4. I'm a true believer in the idea that the sense of brotherhood/community should not be overlooked. As long as he wants to be with/play with his friends, that should be the end of the decision-making process. Even when the grass IS greener, that doesn't mean the cow will enjoy grazing there more.

1. Yes. I have concern about this. He is 96% percentile right now. So he has the size... he also has the speed, just overall a lot of natural athleticism. So, in all his sports he does really well. He will also work hard but then also just takes off on practices. Whether football, basketball (I coach his school team) and even swim.... he will not infrequently just turn off and jog through things or not push through. I don't make my kids do any sports and I don't make them practice on their own but make myself available if they want to work on something on their own for whatever sport. It doesn't happen a lot. He is happy playing video games all day. Considering he is pretty much always involved in some sport and he is 9 (turns 10 next month), I don't push it. I just try to encourage that mental state as best as I can. Today, for example, when doing the 20 yard dashes with the coach, pulled him over and told him to give it all he has and run past the cones. I try to do a good balance of not forcing but also encouraging.

2. Yes, the elementary/Jr High schools (they all are K-8th grade) that are in the Catholic league our school is in all 'feed' into several of some of the best football programs in the state that are Catholic HS's. These HS actively recruit from the league the best players. When watching my nephew two years ago play as an 8th grader there were scout/recruiters at his game. So, staying put isn't like it would be a disadvantage. Actually, playing with a club team would be less visibility to those schools.

3. It isn't another school but a club team. Saying that this offer was 'real' it was about not paying team fees, etc. Which I never heard was a thing and again, If I was betting money, I would bet it was a way of him giving my son a huge compliment versus a real offer. But taking that scenario, he would stay at his school and then just play club football for that team. I just can't see that being a real option but again... this just got me thinking.

4. 100% agree.

 

[Dezbelief]

Learning proper technique is critical, the younger your son is when he learns the better.

Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

There's a thin line between enjoyment and work. Good luck!

 

[Dezbelief]

The most important thing is to love your son regardless if he switches teams or not.

 

[Galileo]

Keep him with his friends, IMO. The most important thing is that he is having fun and enjoying the sport. It sounds like he is. It is also important to get decent coaching to learn and develop within the sport. It sounds like he does. I don't see a need for the change.

 

[Cowboysfan8]

I'm a true believer in the idea that the sense of brotherhood/community should not be overlooked. As long as he wants to be with/play with his friends, that should be the end of the decision-making process

Father of a female athlete here

Coached her too

When you and your child get older and you look back, what Charlie posted is all that matters

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

I think in all youth sports, if your kid wants to go to college, or may want to, the important thing is to get them on a team that is good enough to compete with the best talent, but one that they are happy playing on. Our family just completed 14 years of competitive softball between my two daughters, and one is playing in college and the other will be this year. Nobody cares if you win 5 tournaments in a row, if you come out of the season ready to give up the sport because of the atmosphere of the team you are playing on. We learned to look for the best team that fit our kids socially and played at a high enough level to get them recruited.

 

[Manster]

We played tourney baseball for the first time this season.....my son is 10 as well. You pretty much have to do it if you want ur kid to be competitive in high school. Little League is dying, and ur kid won't get the development.

I was very selective of the team. It was a very positive experience......not a crazy amount of pressure......just what we wanted and needed.

What you need to decide is what's important.
Sounds like you are getting decent development now....... the pressure will go up on the club team......will he handle that? Would he rather do that then play with his buddies? At the end of the day, at this age your main goal should be for them to love playing or they won't want to play the next season.

 

[MAC_32]

Succinctly, In 4th/5th grade the priorities are fun and development. If the kids is that good come middle school then the opportunities will find you.

 

[Chadstroma]

The most important thing is to love your son regardless if he switches teams or not.

No. He gets love if he wins.

 

[Chadstroma]

Keep him with his friends, IMO. The most important thing is that he is having fun and enjoying the sport. It sounds like he is. It is also important to get decent coaching to learn and develop within the sport. It sounds like he does. I don't see a need for the change.

Yea, it is hard for me to see a pathway that I would be like "No, we are taking him out of the school football so he can get this better coaching" etc. Unless something crazy happened with the school team. Looking back at my time in sports at his age, I had my school then my basketball teammates and then my baseball teammates.... at certain times people I did Karate with and then did Cub Scouts with. None were of them were the same kids. He gets to have a cool experience that his friends at school are the friends on his football, basketball and soccer teams. And the same for me. I know most of the boys in his grade at his school now through watching him in football and soccer and then coaching basketball. He has a lot of fun and looks forward to each season.

The coaching has been good at school from what I can tell. The coaching progressively gets more established as well as the ages progress. Our first year of 3rd/4th grade the varsity OC of our local high school (he has kids at the school but not those grades) came in coached the offense as an example. At that level though most coaches are fathers. The coaching staffs of the 5/6th and 7/8th grade teams start to shift where they are the same coaches every year (with whatever turnover here and there of course) and then some fathers help out. I am starting to get him more football coaching outside of the team. Previous years it was more of the city rec camps but he has obviously grown out of that. He had a couple of high school football camps, a couple of these Bo Jackson football camps that he is in right now, and the private coach sessions which start this Sat. So, he should be good coaching wise.

I guess the only thing that stopped me was that I was so automatically dismissive at the thought of changing things that I felt like I had to stop and check myself. Like, if I didn't consider ANY possibility of a change for ANY reason.... is that potentially doing my son a disservice. If there is a point that it would make sense.... what would be that point and at what age would that make sense etc. Thus I started thinking and then wanted to get other thoughts on it. I am hearing the same thinking I pretty much had on all of this though so it makes me feel more confident that I am heading in the right direction.

 

[BassNBrew]

If he's on a successful team with his buddies and they are having fun......why change just for the sake of change?

If that catholic school has a path through grade school, middle school, and high school for their football program, and the high school program is good enough....then keep him on that path.

I will say: as he gets into high school and starts showing some real signs of possibly being able to play in college, get him into the college summer camps early. Like after freshman year. We are going through this now for my son who is going to be a senior and we were too late. He's only been a kicker for one season (going on two) and has some potential but we should have been doing this two years ago.

I guess the only part that made me wonder was if he can get better coaching and play against better competition. For the coaching, this one coach is a very good coach. Not a knock on the school coaching and to be honest, I haven't looked hard at the higher level coaching from the school.... the teams are 3rd/4th, then 5th/6th and finally 7th/8th grade. They just started flag football for 1st/2nd this year. The two higher level teams are coached by coaches that aren't Dads and then some Dads help out. But the coach from this camp is a really good coach. It is probably the only reason I stopped and was like "if something like that was real... would I have to consider it?"

His current school goes through Jr High. For HS the options are our local HS which is not a football powerhouse school. Generally 'average' in football. And then we are in the middle of 4 Catholic HS's all of which are good football programs. They all are usually are state ranked in football, last year they ended 10th, 14th, 22nd and 24th in MaxPrep rankings for Illinois. In Illinois there are no athletic scholarships allowed... my kid isn't dumb but is also not a scholar either so I wouldn't bet on academic scholarships. Need based... it kind of depends.... we might make it need wise now but if I have a good year then nope. Maybe his grandfather would be willing to pay the bill- education is the one thing he doesn't have any issues paying for his kids and offered all the grandchildren to pay all their college if they become a Doctor (like him) so... maybe that. The Catholic HS's recruit heavily from the Catholic league his school is in. So, being at his school gets him exposure to potential options for HS in very good programs.

These college summer camps... are you talking about going to Northwestern or Notre Dame (example of greater Chicago area college programs) football summer camps or these multiple college summer camps that I have seen? I haven't really figured all that stuff out yet as it is a bit off from being something to really worry about.

It's football. There's not much you can't learn pretty quickly. Antonio Gates didn't even play in college. If you kid is bigger than most, is in shape, and lifts weights on a regular basis in his freshman/sophomore year in high school he'll be able to play football. From there the colleges will find him if he has promise. Until the NFL stops using college as it's farm system, their will be plenty of time for kids to learn the game.

 

[BassNBrew]

These college summer camps... are you talking about going to Northwestern or Notre Dame (example of greater Chicago area college programs) football summer camps or these multiple college summer camps that I have seen? I haven't really figured all that stuff out yet as it is a bit off from being something to really worry about.

Well, not necessarily those schools - more of the multiple college camps.

There are basically two types of camps: prospect camps and then schools hold their own camps. The prospect camps usually have a bunch of schools there that evaluate all the kids. This is a good way to get exposure to anywhere from 10 - 30 colleges at the same time.

The school camps are just one college having a camp for kids who might be interested in going to that school. We have been to both kinds this summer. It's just a way for you to get your kid exposed to the process.

Maybe football is different, but college soccer camps are scams used to put cash in assistants pockets who are making minimum wage. The coaches might watch the kids already on their chalkboard, but no one showing up cold and getting a sniff. The most important thing is to have a good youth coaching network who are tapped into the college coaches.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

He's ten. I would be concerned with overuse injuries if he does too, too much. It's a problem.

As long as he's happy, I'd let him grow for a bit.

 

[Chadstroma]

He's ten. I would be concerned with overuse injuries if he does too, too much. It's a problem.

As long as he's happy, I'd let him grow for a bit.

The typical overuse injuries tend to come from repetitive motions. Like a kid that is on three baseball teams and plays year round. That same throwing motion over and over and over is where you get those. One of the reasons why I am an advocate for multi sport athletes at the youth level is to avoid those. My son plays football in the fall. Basketball in winter and Soccer in Spring with the school. Swim is overlapping that for about 8 months of the year. In off season swim, he doesn't do a lot of swim so he gets a nice break plus I really push him to work on all strokes... partly to keep from overuse injuries.... even though he loathes the back stroke. Injury is always a risk but I don't think there is any reason with my son to be worried about overuse injuries at this point. His workloads are just different. Even in the summer with him doing a lot of sports camps. This week he is in football camp. Next week he is in basketball camp.

 

[SouthJersey]

My kids are around the same age as your son. Thinking back to my experience in youth sports, the kids who were "the best" at 10 were average at best when we got to highschool. For my kids i'm focusing on fun for them, and the least amount of time in the car for me. As they get older if they show an exceptional aptitude for a sport then I'll reassess otherwise we're sticking to the local leagues and school teams.

 

[Chadstroma]

My kids are around the same age as your son. Thinking back to my experience in youth sports, the kids who were "the best" at 10 were average at best when we got to highschool. For my kids i'm focusing on fun for them, and the least amount of time in the car for me. As they get older if they show an exceptional aptitude for a sport then I'll reassess otherwise we're sticking to the local leagues and school teams.

I think that is hit and miss. I definitely remember a lot of the best baseball players were not even playing baseball by HS. Basketball was a bit different- more of the best at that age were still playing ball in HS. I didn't play football but I had a buddy who was a phenomenal LB all as kids and he played HS but he was just too small for any level of college. (I believe that if he had my size, he would have had a shot at the NFL)

For baseball, many of the best seemed to burn out on baseball all seemed to have the fathers that made them do more... thus being better than the other kids. I don't ever really remember the kids themselves being really into baseball. I mean, they were, but it wasn't like they were the ones asking to go to the batting cages after practice. There really does seem to be a line for fathers of being supportive, helpful, encouraging etc and then being the ones that drive it all. That always left an impression on me. Thus, I do not force my kids into any sports. I have tried to expose them to multiple sports but never push them into anything. If I did, my daughter would be in swim right now as I think she would have done well. My son skipped out on volleyball with the school this year when he could have done it, I didn't push it but was a little surprised so I made sure to ask a couple of times. What I do do is set expectations that they need to go to practice etc. I don't force them to practice on their own but I do make myself available if they want to do something like play catch or whatever. I am mindful of not wanting to push my own wants on to them but support theirs. All of their sports are chosen by my kids and what they want to do. For summer, I do put them into a lot of summer camps because of three reasons... in order: 1) So, I have a break from them and don't murder them. 2) They burn off energy. 3) They get chances to work on skillset development for whatever sport. I ask them what sports they want to do and then figure it out. My sons are up for anything and just have one request for a particular football camp that they did last year and just completed this year and love. My daughter is all about volleyball and then basketball but is mostly concerned if any of her friends will be going or not. I am taking my son to a private coach today.... BUT that is because he specifically asked for it. He told me that a couple of the kids that are just a tad faster than him had speed coaches and he wished he had one. Ok, let's figure that out. Here is a birthday present.

For me personally, baseball ended after a season of hating every time Jeff Weaver threw the ball to me (he was on my team and the dude didn't know how not to throw hard) and then getting a called strike after hitting the deck and realizing I couldn't hit the curve ball. I think that was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. Basketball and pretty much any other sport ended when I blew out my knee on a bike accident on the way home from school in 9th grade with a hyper extension and carnage in the knee with several reinjuries while playing basketball trying to make a come back.

For the kids in basketball... I can't remember any kid who was really good around 10 years not wanting to play basketball in HS. For me, it was my knee, but for most it was size. They didn't grow. It is harder to be effective in HS bball when you are 5'3'' than it was to be a little shorter in club bball with other 10 year olds. Then me, with my bum knee as another example.

Another thing is natural talent/athleticism versus the work ethic. And this worries me with my son where you do well against your competition so you don't feel a need to work harder to get better. I have tried to push against that mentality but I can see it at times with my son and he has even said things of that nature to me in the past. At this age, a kid with physical advantages but doesn't work hard to get better often will be better than the kid with little natural talent but is working hard. Over time, that changes. And then a kid who was average or smallish in size hits a growth spurt later on that has that work ethic and then the physical advantage is gone and they are the best kid on the team.

I speak with the AD for our school often between having three kids at the school and coaching basketball for the school. We have talked about the classes and a lot about my older sons grade. A lot of the focus is on basketball and when we project future it is always "a lot can change in 4 years....." or "if Timmy continues to develop....." or "most likely Joe won't have that size advantage he has now and kids will catch up to him...."

 

[Chadstroma]

I was talking to the head coach of JV and an assistant for Varsity (JV = 5th/6th and Varsity = 7th/8th for this elementary/middle school) and the AD. We lost a couple of players that played last year that would be in 4th grade. They both go to the school. It isn't unheard of for someone from the school to opt to play for a club team but from what I gather what it seems like is that the kids get into their flag football program early and then want to continue. Out of my sons grade where the majority of boys play football from a very strong athletic class with a little over 30 boys playing from that grade.... one plays for the club and then less than 10 don't play football or not this year.

We had an assistant coach from last year in the 3rd/4th grade team for my son announce to everyone they would not be back (which was odd... not something people typically announce). The father played college football (I think it was a D2 school). He did bring value to the team and was a good addition.

Apparently, they did not move to the local club team but a club team that is about 35-40 min one way drive away.... with current construction for the route you need to take, probably north of an hour wouldn't be not unexpected. On top of that, the fees for that club are 5 times that of the school. The move wasn't made because they have a better program. It was made because he wanted to be the head coach of the 3rd/4th grade team and his son to play QB.

It was funny because after practice yesterday and I was thinking about it. What a horrible role model you are providing your son. The sense of entitlement and selfishness that if you don't get what you want (there was good reasoning why they had someone else do HC) and that if you can't compete and beat out someone else for the position you want.... go to another team. Then in contrast to the what happened after practice. I was chatting with my sons HC (JV) and we were talking about him last year and this year. The coach asked me how I thought we should use him because I mentioned that last year it felt to me that he made more of an impact on defense though he only played about 50% of the snaps. I told him whichever way you need to to win. He pressed me to answer so I said I liked him on the Dline, especially DE but moving him around could be beneficial. On offense, I said that I didn't know. I kind of project him to be TE at HS level but he could play basically everything. My son came by and so I asked him, what do you prefer and he kind of shrugged his shoulders. I said "So, whatever helps the team to win?" and then he got a big smile and said "YES!" I feel like that is the better life lesson for him to learn for sports. It isn't about your personal glory but about winning.

 

[SwampDawg]

So I believe you are in California if I remember right and things are different there from back here on the east coast in that youth sports seem to be school run there vs club run here from what you've said. That said I'll offer my perspective as a parent of a 16 year old that is looking like he'll have a good chance to play soccer in college. At pre high school ages let him play with his friends and have fun unless it's a situation where he just isn't getting any decent instruction but that doesn't sound like it is the case. We know a lot of kids that went to play for a serious club/travel team be it soccer or baseball at an early age and then got burned out by the time they were in high school. I'm a big fan of playing multiple sports at least until high school like you are doing so good job there. With my son he played for the local youth clubs for soccer, basketball and baseball through age 13. His U13 soccer year we made the switch to a higher level club team because that was the sport he loved and it was time. He still secondary rostered on our local club team and played with a bunch of his friends when he could that year as well. He quit baseball because he had lost interest in it but continued to play basketball for the middle school team and he played soccer for his school team as well. In HS he plays soccer for the school and has taken up track this past year because it works around his club soccer schedule. Now the one big difference you have is you are talking football which is very driven by high school and you have a limited number of games per year to be seen. With soccer school team 100% does not matter, college coaches recruit totally from the club level. Basketball and baseball are probably more split but again if you play on a good AAU or travel team that is probably where you get most of your development and recruiting notice but they may still come to HS games of better teams.

 

[Chadstroma]

So I believe you are in California if I remember right and things are different there from back here on the east coast in that youth sports seem to be school run there vs club run here from what you've said. That said I'll offer my perspective as a parent of a 16 year old that is looking like he'll have a good chance to play soccer in college. At pre high school ages let him play with his friends and have fun unless it's a situation where he just isn't getting any decent instruction but that doesn't sound like it is the case. We know a lot of kids that went to play for a serious club/travel team be it soccer or baseball at an early age and then got burned out by the time they were in high school. I'm a big fan of playing multiple sports at least until high school like you are doing so good job there. With my son he played for the local youth clubs for soccer, basketball and baseball through age 13. His U13 soccer year we made the switch to a higher level club team because that was the sport he loved and it was time. He still secondary rostered on our local club team and played with a bunch of his friends when he could that year as well. He quit baseball because he had lost interest in it but continued to play basketball for the middle school team and he played soccer for his school team as well. In HS he plays soccer for the school and has taken up track this past year because it works around his club soccer schedule. Now the one big difference you have is you are talking football which is very driven by high school and you have a limited number of games per year to be seen. With soccer school team 100% does not matter, college coaches recruit totally from the club level. Basketball and baseball are probably more split but again if you play on a good AAU or travel team that is probably where you get most of your development and recruiting notice but they may still come to HS games of better teams.

In the burbs of Chicago but originally from California.

Club teams are all around for all sports, the public schools for elementary and middle school don't have anywhere near the sports programs that the Catholic schools do for most sports. I don't think they have any football at all. Most middle school have basketball but most elementary do not. I am not sure of soccer for public but soccer seems very much driven by club as that is easily the weakest sport for the Catholic leagues we are in. For basketball and soccer it is fairly common for players to play both club and school. You will see different approaches to the conflict of that where you can have a team with one or two star players that hardly show up or don't show up at all for the season and then come to all the playoff games. The Championship game we had for basketball was just that, two kids who must have played club all season showed up for playoffs and took the 5th seed to the Championships after beating the top seed who only lost one game (to us) all season. They were two very good players with good height and ball handling who could drive and shoot. They did a pick and roll every single time and as soon as my boys started to get the hang of what they were doing and stifled them the rest of the team couldn't help out and we took the win in OT. On the other end of that, was my team, where two of my best players also played club ball but their parents told me that they would prioritize the school team. Hence, they missed a couple of club games to play the school games. They did miss one of our games for theirs which the game didn't matter to us but was important for the club team so I was fine with that. I think our school or maybe it is the grade my boys are in is a little different in that all the boys really are friends and are tight. There really is not outcasts. The kids that may get picked on or bullied in private school are included and positive friends in their grade (from what I have heard, that is not exactly the standard always but it does seem to be much more positive environment than the public schools from what I am picking up). So the relationships are important.

Football is a little different. It is the Catholic schools and then club teams until you get to HS. There is some rivalry amongst them or at least for our local club team and our school for football. We don't play each other but there is no mistake that it is a us vs them mentality on both sides. Our school program is very good. We have ex D1 players as coaches and guys that have been coaching football for XX years. The varsity OC for our local HS helps out and we even have an athletic trainer who had no connection to the school at all started helping coaching after he ended up with several kids there were his clients. And so forth. So, it isn't just a bunch of Dads that are coaching and some of the staff at each level is stationary whether or not they have kids at that level or even any kids at all at the school. For my sons grade, most of the boys play football. I think one or two never played, three more dropped out this year. One of them plays for the club team. Apparently, it was because he started flag football with the club and then just continued from there (which has happened more than once which is a big reason we started a flag football program this year). To me, that has to suck because you know the boys leading up to a game are all talking about it and then after a game will talk about what happened.... and you are the one kid who plays but not with all the other boys? That right there would make it hard for me to move my kid under any circumstance. As you point out, those relationships are huge and will be a big factor in staying at it and being motivated or burning out and dropping it.

For recruitment, at least this level, the Catholic HS's have a presence at the Catholic league games. I can't say that they don't go to the club games... I am sure they do but I am also sure that they have special focus on the Catholic league as that is kind of 'easier' pickings than trying to get a public school kid to go to a Catholic HS. As the levels increase, there is more of a presence but they start hitting up games at the 5/6th level and then it is odd to go to a game at the 7th/8th level and not see a scout/recruiter. That is a big bonus for the Catholic league as the Catholic HS's have some great programs here in Illinois.

My approach has been to let him pick, for the most part (I did say no to baseball when he said he wanted to play this year), what sports he plays in. We have stuck to the school teams for Football, Basketball and Soccer (though I did inquire about club Soccer teams but the year round commitment would be too much on top of everything else he does) and then club swim. He declined Volleyball but I believe he wants to do Track, which I think starts this year which is all with the school. I recognize the relationships are hugely important. Swim has been rougher than the other sports in terms of enthusiasm and commitment but got smoother as he developed friendships on the team.

I am also, pretty much be default, a loyal person. So, I think that is the thing that stopped me and made me think "if I was presented with an offer like this.... is it right to just decline it out of hand or would that be a disservice to my kid?" On the other hand, I hear about parents complaining to the board at the swim club that their kid did not make regionals meaning it was the coaches fault.... meanwhile, these kids miss a ton of practices and never go to any of the larger optional meets. I am not that guy. As I told the HC of the football team, play him where he makes the most impact on the team when he asked me where I thought he should play. He pressed me further and I said from last year it seemed to me he had more of an impact at DT/DE on defense even though he only played about 50% of the snaps than on offense at LG where he played almost every snap for the season and was part of an impressive run game. That is the attitude I am trying to instill in my son. When I turned to him and asked "what position would you want to play on offense?" he kind of shrugged. I said "whichever helps the team win?" and he got a big smile on his face and said "Yes." emphatically.

I like to walk through things like this in my head. And then sometimes I want to get out of my head and get other people's perspectives. I don't think I am unique in that with other Dads. I don't think women are like that much. I asked a question in a swim FB group of what possible reasons my sons fly times could be declining significantly while his free continued to improve. I asked it by starting off that "I wasn't trying to coach my son but just trying to understand the sport better." and still got a ton of replies (almost all women) with the general gist of "Just make it fun and don't push him, let the coaches coach and you be the parent." which made me want to strangle people. A few helpful people brought up growth spurts can wreck their strokes, specially fly and breast, at times and that made sense as he had a big growth spurt around that time. I never shared that info with him or coached him on it etc... it was just for me to better understand the sport and my son in it.

 

[Chaz McNulty]

My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.

Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."

The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.

So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....

Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?

This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.

I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?

So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.

I have 2 girls in rep sports. My advice would be not to worry about this until he's 13 or 14. You will eventually have to learn 'coach speak'.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.

Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."

The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.

So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....

Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?

This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.

I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?

So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.

I have 2 girls in rep sports. My advice would be not to worry about this until he's 13 or 14. You will eventually have to learn 'coach speak'.

Rereading the bolded may help clarify. This is more of a thought experiment to walk through this.

And I found the last part extremely condescending and unneeded.

 

[Chaz McNulty]

My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.

Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."

The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.

So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....

Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?

This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.

I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?

So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.

I have 2 girls in rep sports. My advice would be not to worry about this until he's 13 or 14. You will eventually have to learn 'coach speak'.

Rereading the bolded may help clarify. This is more of a thought experiment to walk through this.

And I found the last part extremely condescending and unneeded.

It wasn't meant that way at all. I just meant that when your son gets to the age when he has to whittle down his options (pick a sport, pick a team, etc.), you will get a lot of coaches that will try to convince you that going with them is the best option for your son. My advice is to try and find players and parents of players that used to play for said coach. The majority of our decisions for our daughters were good, but we made a mistake one year and our oldest daughter almost quit softball. The coach was great at tryouts, but he ended up being way to aggressive and screamed at the girls a lot. If we would have done more research we would have been able to figure this out.

Your son will make the decision of who to go with in the end, but you will know what kind of player and person he is, and might be able to steer him to the best situation for him.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.

Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."

The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.

So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....

Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?

This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.

I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?

So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.

I have 2 girls in rep sports. My advice would be not to worry about this until he's 13 or 14. You will eventually have to learn 'coach speak'.

Rereading the bolded may help clarify. This is more of a thought experiment to walk through this.

And I found the last part extremely condescending and unneeded.

It wasn't meant that way at all. I just meant that when your son gets to the age when he has to whittle down his options (pick a sport, pick a team, etc.), you will get a lot of coaches that will try to convince you that going with them is the best option for your son. My advice is to try and find players and parents of players that used to play for said coach. The majority of our decisions for our daughters were good, but we made a mistake one year and our oldest daughter almost quit softball. The coach was great at tryouts, but he ended up being way to aggressive and screamed at the girls a lot. If we would have done more research we would have been able to figure this out.

Your son will make the decision of who to go with in the end, but you will know what kind of player and person he is, and might be able to steer him to the best situation for him.

My apologies, I took that a different way.

Starting next year, things will start to begin to get interesting as he enters middle school. 7th and 8th will be when conversations start about the Catholic HS's trying to recruit him. Since Illinois doesn't allow athletic scholarships, I am not sure how much financial aid he can get based on academics. He isn't a bad student but he isn't a great student either. He has struggled early and needed a lot of extra help with reading. He has improved but still, I am not expecting him to be a top student to get those scholarships. How creative are they in getting athletes that they want scholarships? I don't know. We shall see. My nephew went to his same elementary/middle school and is a very good student and playing basketball and football at the local public HS. Apparently, my SIL/BIL screwed up not realizing the rules of recruiting and did not call back when the schools reached out and apparently the schools are limited in how many calls they can make so they missed out on the whole HS Catholics recruiting process. I think that that will be the major choice, in which school to go to... one of the Catholic schools near us or the public school. Then, also there will likely need to be a sport or two dropped from what he currently does. We have a few years from that though so I am going to enjoy this time of him playing the sports and getting better. Help guide him and support him. Then worry about those choices when it is time to.

This is not an option because of the relationships he has and I also know it would be hard on him in other ways but my son is right on the line for school. We had the choice to put him in or hold him off a year. We put him in because I just don't like the idea of holding my son back so he can dominate in sports. BUT, looking at the 3rd/4th grade team at practice.... oh my gawwwwwwd, if my son was on that team, he would be a monster destroying little kids. The difference in athleticism, height, strength, speed.... he woulnd't be allowed at any skill positions but on defense, he would just throw whatever lineman that had on him and sack the QB before they had a chance to hand off. As is, he is going to be making lives hard for some 6th graders this football season.