Collectively, A Thread To Celebrate Our Kids Athletic Accomplishments (1 Viewer)

[skol asylum]

My 13 year old is starting club softball this summer. Should be fun.

 

[skol asylum]

Grandaughter's husband drafted and signed by the Vikings, nice little bonus and if he sticks the 4 years should be fine. Late bloomer due to getting serious once  ,twice a father so see him succeeding if health holds up.

Who's this so I can root for him?

As a Vikings fan it's been fun watching Adam Thielen over the years and his progression. I used to work with his dad's cousin and we would talk about Adam from time to time.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son's team won their semi-final in soccer. The whole team seemed to be playing very timid but it was clear that they were the better team. Half ended 2-0 then they loosened up or something and ended the game 7-0 (with their best player sitting much more than he normally does). They beat that team 2-1 during the season because as my son pointed out "they only scored because I fouled them in front of the net and they got a free kick". 

Sunday for the Championship. The other team hasn't been announced but I would be shocked if it wasn't the team that they ended in a 2-2 tie with during the season. 

 

[Chadstroma]

It really is a key component to growing up and getting better in any sport.  

I would say at life if you translate the lesson which is my main objective to the kids. 

 

[Dickies]

This is the other component that is really good to try and teach.  In every aspect of the game there will be someone that succeeds (the pitcher in this case) and someone who fails (the batter).  By definition this will always be the case for every AB that happens in your career.  Sometimes the other guy is just better that particular encounter.  Don't let it affect your next encounter.  Every individual AB is a new chance to succeed so letting the failure of the previous AB affect the next one already puts you at a disadvantage.  Getting to the point of understanding that and being able to use that is such a huge step in the process of accepting failure to a point of making you better.  

This is definitely what I am trying to teach my son. 

Last week he played a LL playoff game against the all-star team's manager and my son wanted nothing more than to show him what he is missing out on.  He proceeded to hit a triple and then a double off of the manager's son, knocked in 3 RBIs, stole 4 bases, and threw two kids out stealing while catcher.  Probably his all-around best game of the season.

Move on to Tuesday where the all star manager was umpiring the game and he goes into the same mindset.  His first AB he gets rung up looking.  He's a pretty aggressive batter, and I'm pretty sure it was the first time all season he's struck out looking.  Pitch certainly looked close enough to swing at, but my son was adamant it was outside.  From then on he went into a major funk.  His next AB he struck out looking again, although this time the pitch was clearly outside as it didn't even touch the catcher's glove and went straight to the backstop.  His mental state went even lower.  His next AB he fouls off 3 pitches before working a walk.  He steals 2b and on the next pitch his coach gives him the sign to steal 3b.... and he gets thrown out (I think for the 1st time this season).  The coach tried assuring him that his getting thrown out is all on the coach and not him, but in his mind it was another failure added to the pile.  Then his manager decides to put him in as pitcher after the previous pitcher put a couple runners on.  It was only his 3rd time pitching this season, he was already in a mental funk, it was a a high pressure situation.  He is normally a consistent strike thrower, but he couldn't find the zone, was getting visibly frustrated, and ended up walking a few and giving up 3-4 runs before getting out of the inning.  They ended up losing in a walk-off aided by two dropped balls by 1B that should have been routine groundouts.

I've never seen him get like that while playing baseball, and it was a bummer seeing him come off of his best game of the season and have his worst game of his "career" but we are using it as a learning experience.  He felt regret immediately after the game and thought everyone was going to think poorly of him for his behavior.  We had him apologize to his coaches, but when we got home he told us that he felt bad about getting visibly upset at the umpire and that he should have apologized to him too.  I informed him that I had his phone number, and once we got him over the initial embarrassment of calling him on the phone he did it and felt better about himself afterwards.  He was assured that there were never any hard feelings and that he knew it was just the passion boiling over.  All it took was one routine moment of failure, which he has had many of over the course of the season and it snowballed into a total disaster.

 

[Gally]

  All it took was one routine moment of failure, which he has had many of over the course of the season and it snowballed into a total disaster.

This is the entire point in preaching that baseball is a game of failure.  You will fail.  It is part of the game.  It's how you recover from failure that shows what kind of player (person when dealing with life) you are.  Those that don't let it affect the next thing are the people that will succeed.  Those that dwell on the failure of the past will likely continue that snowball road to total disaster.  

 

[Dickies]

This is the entire point in preaching that baseball is a game of failure.  You will fail.  It is part of the game.  It's how you recover from failure that shows what kind of player (person when dealing with life) you are.  Those that don't let it affect the next thing are the people that will succeed.  Those that dwell on the failure of the past will likely continue that snowball road to total disaster.  

Yep. I’ve never seen it affect him like that before, but I’m glad it happened now as a 10 year old than later in life. We will use it as a teachable moment for sure

 

[Andrew74]

Nothing celebratory save we had a football clinic last night for the community.  I spent two hours holding a blocking pad for D line drills for 100+ kids.  Rubbed the skin off the back of my hand.  Great time!

Now they had a 3 cone drill set up (normal spacing).  Some guy was hand timing the kids.  I asked my son and he said his time was 6.88 seconds.  Lots of caveats here but I was surprised.  Most of all where he gets his speed/quickness.  My wife isn’t athletic and I was a slow, “husky” kid. 

 

[nirad3]

nirad3ette is really improving at volleyball.  They play in a "league" on Saturday mornings (it's only 2 teams so not much of a league) and for the past month's worth of games, the other team looked better.  Today, though, our girls swept all three games and my kid was serving well.  She really enjoys it, a lot because of the social aspect of hanging out with a bunch of girls, but she really likes the athletic component too.  I'm glad for her and hope she is good enough to make the middle school team next year.  Apparently the team there is usually really good so hoping she can at least make it.

 

[Snotbubbles]

My 13 year old is starting club softball this summer. Should be fun.

From experience...say goodbye to any summer plans.  We start our showcase season next weekend and play every weekend thereafter until August with practices twice a week and lessons once per week year round.  Met some amazing people and saw some seriously great softball.  Some of the players that have been in organizations we've been in are playing in P5 schools and I get to watch them on ESPN.   

EDIT: My daughters HS softball team won their district championship.  We start the state tournament on Monday.  She was the only freshman to make the squad.

 

[skol asylum]

From experience...say goodbye to any summer plans.  We start our showcase season next weekend and play every weekend thereafter until August with practices twice a week and lessons once per week year round.  Met some amazing people and saw some seriously great softball.  Some of the players that have been in organizations we've been in are playing in P5 schools and I get to watch them on ESPN.   

EDIT: My daughters HS softball team won their district championship.  We start the state tournament on Monday.  She was the only freshman to make the squad.

Nice!

They are really just dipping their toes into it. She's been playing rec in the same league since she was 3 1/2 starting with tball. Two seasons, spring and fall every year. We missed about a year and a half because of Covid. She also played on her 7th grade team this past season. Her rec coach from this past season wanted to try some club play and put together a team with 5 kids from this past season plus 7 more from 2-3 other teams. We are starting with two tournaments over the next two weekends. Will see where it goes from there. She loves playing so I'm glad there's another outlet for her.

 

[skol asylum]

Hit her first home run this past season a little after the 37 minute mark. That was fun.

https://youtu.be/OKM5miSH0AQ

 

[jobarules]

This is the entire point in preaching that baseball is a game of failure.  You will fail.  It is part of the game.  It's how you recover from failure that shows what kind of player (person when dealing with life) you are.  Those that don't let it affect the next thing are the people that will succeed.  Those that dwell on the failure of the past will likely continue that snowball road to total disaster.  

This just came up with my son last night and he did not handle it well at all. First AB, he drove a 3-1 count to dead CF warning track. Second AB, hard hit ball up the middle that pitcher happened to snag. Third AB, hard hit ball up the middle past the pitcher that 2B ranged to his right and just beat him at 1B. 0 for 3 night and he was visibly upset. All coaches telling him hes hitting the ball hard. You can only worry about what you control, etc. I told him its the best game at the plate hes had all year. But his body language was very poor and when the manager went to go talk to him he turned his back to him and immediately got benched in the field the last two innings. A few minutes later, he walked over the the manager and apologized which I was very happy about. Anyway, he came up in the last inning with us up 12-5 and the bases loaded and he proceeded to hit a bases clearing double down the 3B line for us to finish the mercy. Im hoping (praying) this is a turning point on how he handles failure in baseball because it will happen again and again and again.

 

[Gally]

This just came up with my son last night and he did not handle it well at all. First AB, he drove a 3-1 count to dead CF warning track. Second AB, hard hit ball up the middle that pitcher happened to snag. Third AB, hard hit ball up the middle past the pitcher that 2B ranged to his right and just beat him at 1B. 0 for 3 night and he was visibly upset. All coaches telling him hes hitting the ball hard. You can only worry about what you control, etc. I told him its the best game at the plate hes had all year. But his body language was very poor and when the manager went to go talk to him he turned his back to him and immediately got benched in the field the last two innings. A few minutes later, he walked over the the manager and apologized which I was very happy about. Anyway, he came up in the last inning with us up 12-5 and the bases loaded and he proceeded to hit a bases clearing double down the 3B line for us to finish the mercy. Im hoping (praying) this is a turning point on how he handles failure in baseball because it will happen again and again and again.

If I remember correctly your son is 12-13ish?   The fact he realized in game and apologized to the coach is a big step but he is nearing the age when the initial attitude is going to get him in bigger trouble than an apology can get him out of - especially if it is frequent.  

I have started to see in my son that a lot of it has to do with the expectations he is putting on himself with regards to how he views his abilities compared to his opponents abilities.   He played against some phenomenal talent this year and he was only a sophomore.  His expectations going in weren't extremely high.  He expected to compete but realized that he wasn't going to get a hit every time or strike every one out.  Because of that when adversity hit he was able to shrug it off and move on -----  his expectations weren't shattered due to the failure.  That is not to say he expected to fail but he didn't see it as an embarrassment if he did because the other guys were really good.   

As the season went on and he had success his expectations of his abilities vs outcome seemed to increase so he had higher expectations (good thing) but with that came the negativity if the outcome wasn't positive.  He had virtually the same performance against a league team (the team that finished 2nd and was in it for the league title until the last week) both times he faced them.  The first time he had great attitude and body language but the second time (coming off his best game of the season against a quality team) he had higher expectations of himself and when those weren't met in his eyes he had negative body language and attitude based on the perceived failure to meet his expectations.    

I also saw this happen this past weekend in a summer league game. He went against a team he didn't know much about and thought they weren't very good.  He went in about the 5th inning (right when their gonna be seniors were arriving from the SAT's).  He was unaware that "new" guys were showing up.  They hit him around a bit and he was really upset with bad body language again.  Afterwards I was talking to the summer league coach and he said that team was one of the best in the area and that they had four D1 commits that showed up that inning and were inserted in the game.  My son pitched decent but that the guys he went against were really good.  Talking with my son on the way home he was really upset because he thought the team wasn't very good and he didn't meet his own high expectations.  When in reality they were top guys and he did fine for a summer league outing.  

All that to say, sometimes a kid having higher expectations of himself can put a pressure on that affects his attitude when adversity hits.  I think that is the next step in development that I am going to try and discuss moving forward.  High expectations are good and you should expect excellence from yourself but not to the detriment of your attitude if adversity (failure) hits.  My son made big strides this year on this but I can see there is more work to be done.  I had never really thought about the expectation aspect of the attitude but now I see it and it totally makes sense.  

 

[Dickies]

So I mentioned my son missed the 10U all star team, and despite the league’s assurance that the “B” team would be much better this year than last they had enough interest for two teams and decided on making two B- teams instead of a B and C. Could have probably won most of these tournaments and I’m wondering if we will even win a game. My son went 3-3 with a 3B(off the fence in LF and a few feet short of a HR), 2B, 1B and BB and drove in 5 runs. On defense he threw two kids out stealing and managed to tag a kid out at home on a wild pitch to the backstop even though the pitcher didn’t cover. Despite all of that they got mercy ruled. Going to be a long summer, but at least the kiddo had fun. 

 

[Dickies]

Through 3 games he’s batting 1.000 with 10 RBIs, pitched 1 2/3 with 5 Ks(and 2BB), and has caught 4 stealing. Not the stiffest competition but he’s been a beast in all aspects of the game. 

 

[El Floppo]

Through 3 games he’s batting 1.000 with 10 RBIs, pitched 1 2/3 with 5 Ks(and 2BB), and has caught 4 stealing. Not the stiffest competition but he’s been a beast in all aspects of the game. 

Is your kid Sidd Finch?

 

[Chadstroma]

PROUD DADDY MOMENT!

I was so proud of Chadstroma Jr today. Not because of success but because he failed. 

CJ's favorite stroke is the butterfly. It is the hardest stroke and he doesn't get a lot of time in practice on it. Yesterday, he struggled a bit on the 50 fly, so I was nervous about todays first event the 100 fly. On the return 50 CJ really struggled to the point of stopping and holding the rope. I think he wanted to stop and swim to the side and get out but the coach kept encouraging him. He would go and stop. This happened several times. Eventually the whole crowd was clapping and encouraging him on and he made it to the end. It, in all honesty, was the biggest "failure" of a swim I have seen in all the meets I have neen to. 

After he spoke with the coach, I got his attention and had him meet me outside. I knew he would be upset. I encouraged him and told him how hard the fly is, that people don't like it because it is hard and that I couldn't finish a 100 fly. I told him that I was proud of him for pushing through and finishing. 

I asked him if it was muscle tiredness or lack of energy. He said his muscles wore out. The next event was the 50 back (he doesn't like the back stroke) and he said he was ok. I made sure he knew he could make the decision to stop (hoping he wouldn't). He said he could do it. The last thing he said was that he was going to won the 50 free. I told him, remember, you are 8 and most of these kids are 9 and 10 (swimming in 10U) and he smiled and waved me off.

He then swam the 50 back and cut off 7 seconds off his previous best time. He swam the 100 breast and did well. He then finished up with a 1st place finish for his heat on the 50 free. 

Afterwards, I told him that I was more proud of him than if he had won that 100 fly because he "failed" and yet didn't stop. He kept going and finished strong. In sports, everyone fails and it is the same in life. The people that are successful are the ones that embrace failure, learn from it and continue stronger and CJ did exactly that today. Yup- very proud Daddy today. 

 

[Chadstroma]

Swim season finished. It was my sons first season at 8 years old. 

He made the conference team. The conference team being like the best swimmers for the final meet of all 4 teams in the conference. 

He was selected for the 25 Free as well as the 100 Free Relay (anchor) and 100 Medley Relay (doing the free). 

100 Medley Relay 2nd place but his team DQ'd on breast. He made up time and overtake to move from 3rd to 2nd. 

25 Free 3rd place. A strong 3rd... he was .11 from 2nd and .72 from 1st. 

100 Free Relay 4th but 1st place team DQ'd so 3rd. The team that DQ'd destroyed everyone but one of their kids jumped in confused. My son made up a lot of distance as the anchor but they were just way behind. 

I think that that was a great showing for him in his first season of swimming. He nabbed a few 1st, 2nd and 3rd places out of the duel meets through the season. And then there is the story above about him struggling and coming back to win a heat which was my most proudest moment of him this season. 

 

[Drunken knight]

We had our first tournament in lake tahoe a few weeks ago.  she and many or her teammates were not feeling well. Daughter is their lead defender.  She could barely play the saturday games. played sunday and did a very nice job.  One of her HS teammates (a defender) is also on the team and did not play much on saturday and was feeling so bad they drove home.

We are having a local tournament this weekend.  This is the first time she's looked healthy in a long time. She looked great in both games today (as did her hs teammate). 

One more tournament in Bend next weekend, then Morgan Hill the weekend after that.

There are a couple of things coach dad would like to see her work on, but I loved seeing her excitement when was not forced  to hold back.  

 

[Chadstroma]

We had our first tournament in lake tahoe a few weeks ago.  she and many or her teammates were not feeling well. Daughter is their lead defender.  She could barely play the saturday games. played sunday and did a very nice job.  One of her HS teammates (a defender) is also on the team and did not play much on saturday and was feeling so bad they drove home.

We are having a local tournament this weekend.  This is the first time she's looked healthy in a long time. She looked great in both games today (as did her hs teammate). 

One more tournament in Bend next weekend, then Morgan Hill the weekend after that.

There are a couple of things coach dad would like to see her work on, but I loved seeing her excitement when was not forced  to hold back.  

Soccer? (Guessing, I don't know if there are defenders in soccer)

 

[Drunken knight]

Soccer? (Guessing, I don't know if there are defenders in soccer)

Lacrosse

 

[Chadstroma]

Lacrosse

ahhhh.... yea, don't know that either but I really love seeing how it is exploding in popularity. I am betting my son ends up playing at some point. 

 

[Drunken knight]

ahhhh.... yea, don't know that either but I really love seeing how it is exploding in popularity. I am betting my son ends up playing at some point. 

I played hs, college, coached my old hs, then coached girls when my daughter started playing.  Very fun sport.

 

[Drunken knight]

women's lacrosse:

1 goalie

4 defenders

3 midfielders (play both offense and defense)

4 attack

my daughter has been attack until this year.. midway through she converted to defense.  

One of the things coach dad would like to see her develop is being and offensive minded defender. She has a pretty high lacrosse iq and makes good decisions on the field. yesterday i saw her do a few of those things in starting fast breaks and staying the offense in those situations.  she is very good at drawing extra defenders when she has the ball and finding the open teammate.

 

[Dickies]

Against all odds my son’s team just won their home tournament, and he got the game ball in the championship game after hitting a walk-off single. So far this summer he’s hitting 0.857 (36-42) with 10 walks and 28 rbis. In the first game of the tournament he closed out the game with a diving play while ranging towards 3b to field a ground ball. He popped up and threw a laser to first to get the runner. In the championship game he was playing 3b and charged a chopper, fielding it bare-handed and threw the ball to 1b in stride to beat the runner by half a step.

As bummed as he was missing the all star team he’s having the time of his life this summer and he said today was his second favorite day of his life, the first being the day he got to meet Buster Posey. Having a proud parent moment right now. 

 

[Chadstroma]

My daughter made the vball club team. 

She played vball last year for her school team and that was her first year. She also played bball and that was her first. She definitely prefers vball over bball. Over the summer signing the kids up for various sports camps, she was all go for any vball stuff while she really only wanted to do any bball camps with a friend. 

She is not nearly as naturally athletically talented as her brothers. I am happy to see her be able to be good enough to make the team and will be interested on how much she grows in it. 

She is playing bball at school again (first year of A and B teams, she was placed on B). So.... it is going to be a very busy year already as my son (4th grade) will be playing football for school and swim for club. My daughter (6th grade) will have bball at school and this club vball. 

I am not sure how much it is going to cost either but I know it isn't cheap. 

 

[Chadstroma]

Against all odds my son’s team just won their home tournament, and he got the game ball in the championship game after hitting a walk-off single. So far this summer he’s hitting 0.857 (36-42) with 10 walks and 28 rbis. In the first game of the tournament he closed out the game with a diving play while ranging towards 3b to field a ground ball. He popped up and threw a laser to first to get the runner. In the championship game he was playing 3b and charged a chopper, fielding it bare-handed and threw the ball to 1b in stride to beat the runner by half a step.

As bummed as he was missing the all star team he’s having the time of his life this summer and he said today was his second favorite day of his life, the first being the day he got to meet Buster Posey. Having a proud parent moment right now. 

That is a nice hitting streak! And I take it that it is against higher level players too. 

 

[Drunken knight]

Fun tournament in bend.  1-2 but all tight games. If this were hockey she would have had 4 assists … she is developing her leadership skills and anchoring the defense

 

[gump]

I guess it’s time to join this discussion…some great videos in this thread…my 4-yr-olds golf swing hasn’t accomplished anything…yet…https://youtu.be/ZYQ0G-JXzOI

He’s making 2s on 80-yard holes now regularly. Next step is 9-holes w me on big boy course.

 

[Chadstroma]

I guess it’s time to join this discussion…some great videos here…my 4-yr-olds golf swing hasn’t accomplished anything…yet…https://youtu.be/ZYQ0G-JXzOI

That is like a hundred times better than my swing. 

 

[Dickies]

That is a nice hitting streak! And I take it that it is against higher level players too. 

Not the best competition to be honest, but he’s making the most of the situation. He hasn’t seen a lot of breaking balls given that our little league discourages kids his age from throwing them, but today he faced a kid who could throw a curveball for consistent strikes and after striking out on a breaking ball the last time they played, he really wanted to get a hit off of this kid. He noticed a difference in the kid’s delivery when he was throwing the curveball vs fastball. He knew a curve was coming, and he smoked it off the fence down the left field line.

I would have never noticed the different delivery, but he told the rest of his team and it changed the game for them. The pitcher who was just chewing up the lineup got turned into a punching bag and the boys ended up getting the win. 

 

[Chadstroma]

Not the best competition to be honest, but he’s making the most of the situation. He hasn’t seen a lot of breaking balls given that our little league discourages kids his age from throwing them, but today he faced a kid who could throw a curveball for consistent strikes and after striking out on a breaking ball the last time they played, he really wanted to get a hit off of this kid. He noticed a difference in the kid’s delivery when he was throwing the curveball vs fastball. He knew a curve was coming, and he smoked it off the fence down the left field line.

I would have never noticed the different delivery, but he told the rest of his team and it changed the game for them. The pitcher who was just chewing up the lineup got turned into a punching bag and the boys ended up getting the win. 

Yea, that was the end of my baseball... I couldn't pick up on any of that crap. Jeff Weaver was on our team (thank goodness because I did not want to go up against him at bat... it was bad enough when he threw to first... hurt my hand with a bad catch and one of his heaters once) and though no other pitchers could touch him.... I always remember the moment I knew baseball was done for me. At bat and pitch comes, and hit the dirt thinking it was going to tag me.... then I hear strike 3 and the catcher laughing.... never played again after that season. 

 

[Dickies]

Yea, that was the end of my baseball... I couldn't pick up on any of that crap. Jeff Weaver was on our team (thank goodness because I did not want to go up against him at bat... it was bad enough when he threw to first... hurt my hand with a bad catch and one of his heaters once) and though no other pitchers could touch him.... I always remember the moment I knew baseball was done for me. At bat and pitch comes, and hit the dirt thinking it was going to tag me.... then I hear strike 3 and the catcher laughing.... never played again after that season. 

I umpire a bunch, and what you described is probably my favorite call.

Baseball wasn’t my thing growing up (played soccer, hockey and swam) but I’ve come to really appreciate what goes into it since my son is so passionate about it. 

 

[Andrew74]

Football camp in the books.  I’m helping as assistant coach again.  First practice is Tuesday and first game August 13th.  Our church rents out a local water park each summer as an end to summer celebration.  My wife asked him if he wanted to go and he said no - wants to go to practice.  Surprised an 11 yo would miss out on a water park for practice.  
 

We drafted our team Thursday night.  Went the “defense wins championship” route and have an All Star DL.  Coach wants to try my son at strong safety. Time to YouTube Ronnie Lott videos. 

 

[Chadstroma]

Football camp in the books.  I’m helping as assistant coach again.  First practice is Tuesday and first game August 13th.  Our church rents out a local water park each summer as an end to summer celebration.  My wife asked him if he wanted to go and he said no - wants to go to practice.  Surprised an 11 yo would miss out on a water park for practice.  
 

We drafted our team Thursday night.  Went the “defense wins championship” route and have an All Star DL.  Coach wants to try my son at strong safety. Time to YouTube Ronnie Lott videos. 

Bo Jackson has a camp around here for football and baseball and they did the football camp a couple of weeks ago. They loved it. The coach actually wanted to work with my older son extra after practice a couple of days. Once with just him and a couple of other times with a couple of other kids. 

They has flag football with the city rec but first day my soon with up for a pass and got knocked a bit and came down on his shoulder and said he heard a pop. So, his grandfather, a Dr, had us pull him from the rest of the week and rest his shoulder. The kid has been super busy with sports camps and swim club all summer and then STOP. His energy levels have been driving me crazy. 

This week he goes back to Bo Jackson Football camp. Then we go on vacation. The following week he is at a Nike bball camp and then football practice starts the following week. He picked up his helmet and pants and fitted for the shoulder pads a few days ago. I am very interested to see how he does this year.

 

[jobarules]

After going 4 for 6 yesterday in a 12u tournament my son went 0 for 3 (roped one up the middle that pitcher snagged), made a great diving play at 3b and then an error that basically lost us the game. Baseball is brutal sport for kids but I told him how proud I was of him.

 

[Gilroy34]

My son has piggy backed a great spring season with an even better summer season as a pitcher for his legion baseball team.  This team pulled kids from 6 different high school teams and is a very good team.  He went from being a spot reliever early in the year to starting the first game of the state championship tournament this past week.  He beat a team that was 28-2 on the season and the clear favorite to win state pitching 5 innings allowing 2 runs striking out 8 and walking none.  Double elimination tournament and we are facing the same team in the semi-finals today, my son may be pitching again.  We have to beat this team and then beat another good team in order to advance to regionals, should be a tall task.

 

[Chadstroma]

First scrimmage with another team...

My son, 4th grade, played LG and DE. Started at LG and came in off bench at DE. He was.... well.... without being a Daddy overzealous..... dominant. On his team he is right around 3rd tallest (two kids are clearly taller than him and then there are a couple of kids that are all about the same height with him), he is one of the fastest kids (can give any of the fastest kids a run for their money and is capable of beating them at times in sprints), and one of the strongest on the team.

As G he had 5 pancakes. 2 on one play. (He was in on less than 10 offensive plays as they scores quickly on their possessions). Consistently getting into the second level.

As DE the stats were not much... prob 1 tackle but he into the backfield every play. He had 2 "almost sacks" and 2 "almost tackles for a loss" (need to work on finishing the tackle and wrapping up), 1 not sure if it would be stated as a forced fumble but he hit the QB as he was in the process of pitching it to the RB, it got no where near him but was picked up by the other team and had one either tackle or tackle for a loss after a blatant hold (even for this level) and pursued with the play going away from him with a very nice tackle hitting mid section and wrapping up the legs.

I wasn't understanding what they were doing with him at G as they have the two biggest kids at tackle. He played tackle last season. But I think they want to try to hold those edges and then have the guard go head hunt in the second level.... and my son did that. lol

I do hope that they have him start at DE too. He is clearly a force there... and one of his friends is a bowling ball DT that was getting some penetration too (one of the almost sacks was the two of them hitting each other off the QB who then escaped as they took each other out). He enjoys DE much more and clearly can excel. But this is a development team so they may not.

I am also proud of him as I have not heard him whine or complain about being a G. It isn't a position he wants but he is going out there and doing his best. On offense he wants to be a WR but for HS, I can see them putting him at TE. He is ok not playing WR now as they rarely throw.

Also, Thursday night practice, they had him co-leading the stretching which is an indication he may end up as a captain for the team.

 

[Andrew74]

First scrimmage with another team...

My son, 4th grade, played LG and DE. Started at LG and came in off bench at DE. He was.... well.... without being a Daddy overzealous..... dominant. On his team he is right around 3rd tallest (two kids are clearly taller than him and then there are a couple of kids that are all about the same height with him), he is one of the fastest kids (can give any of the fastest kids a run for their money and is capable of beating them at times in sprints), and one of the strongest on the team.

As G he had 5 pancakes. 2 on one play. (He was in on less than 10 offensive plays as they scores quickly on their possessions). Consistently getting into the second level.

As DE the stats were not much... prob 1 tackle but he into the backfield every play. He had 2 "almost sacks" and 2 "almost tackles for a loss" (need to work on finishing the tackle and wrapping up), 1 not sure if it would be stated as a forced fumble but he hit the QB as he was in the process of pitching it to the RB, it got no where near him but was picked up by the other team and had one either tackle or tackle for a loss after a blatant hold (even for this level) and pursued with the play going away from him with a very nice tackle hitting mid section and wrapping up the legs.

I wasn't understanding what they were doing with him at G as they have the two biggest kids at tackle. He played tackle last season. But I think they want to try to hold those edges and then have the guard go head hunt in the second level.... and my son did that. lol

I do hope that they have him start at DE too. He is clearly a force there... and one of his friends is a bowling ball DT that was getting some penetration too (one of the almost sacks was the two of them hitting each other off the QB who then escaped as they took each other out). He enjoys DE much more and clearly can excel. But this is a development team so they may not.

I am also proud of him as I have not heard him whine or complain about being a G. It isn't a position he wants but he is going out there and doing his best. On offense he wants to be a WR but for HS, I can see them putting him at TE. He is ok not playing WR now as they rarely throw.

Also, Thursday night practice, they had him co-leading the stretching which is an indication he may end up as a captain for the team.

Nice if he’s playing 4th grade and can work to the second level. I’m constantly riding my 6th graders about this. If the guy they think they should block isn’t there, they stand around wondering what to do.

My son’s 6th grade team has started off 3-0. Todays game was rough. Hot and humid and the other team jumped on us 13-0. But we battled back and just dominated the LOS. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had the ball 12-13 minutes of the 16 min in the 2nd half.

My son just loves to tackle even though he’s a smaller kid (80lbs). He’s also getting the chance to play RB this season. He had two TDs in the second game. He’s been running upright trying to outrun everyone (as he’s pretty fast). Today he seemed to be picking up the nuances of body lean and using his agility to create space. He did have one run in the second game where he got super skinny through a hole. I still don’t know how he squeezed through it. It’s his second year of playing and it is so much fun coaching these kids.

 

[Chadstroma]

First scrimmage with another team...

My son, 4th grade, played LG and DE. Started at LG and came in off bench at DE. He was.... well.... without being a Daddy overzealous..... dominant. On his team he is right around 3rd tallest (two kids are clearly taller than him and then there are a couple of kids that are all about the same height with him), he is one of the fastest kids (can give any of the fastest kids a run for their money and is capable of beating them at times in sprints), and one of the strongest on the team.

As G he had 5 pancakes. 2 on one play. (He was in on less than 10 offensive plays as they scores quickly on their possessions). Consistently getting into the second level.

As DE the stats were not much... prob 1 tackle but he into the backfield every play. He had 2 "almost sacks" and 2 "almost tackles for a loss" (need to work on finishing the tackle and wrapping up), 1 not sure if it would be stated as a forced fumble but he hit the QB as he was in the process of pitching it to the RB, it got no where near him but was picked up by the other team and had one either tackle or tackle for a loss after a blatant hold (even for this level) and pursued with the play going away from him with a very nice tackle hitting mid section and wrapping up the legs.

I wasn't understanding what they were doing with him at G as they have the two biggest kids at tackle. He played tackle last season. But I think they want to try to hold those edges and then have the guard go head hunt in the second level.... and my son did that. lol

I do hope that they have him start at DE too. He is clearly a force there... and one of his friends is a bowling ball DT that was getting some penetration too (one of the almost sacks was the two of them hitting each other off the QB who then escaped as they took each other out). He enjoys DE much more and clearly can excel. But this is a development team so they may not.

I am also proud of him as I have not heard him whine or complain about being a G. It isn't a position he wants but he is going out there and doing his best. On offense he wants to be a WR but for HS, I can see them putting him at TE. He is ok not playing WR now as they rarely throw.

Also, Thursday night practice, they had him co-leading the stretching which is an indication he may end up as a captain for the team.

Nice if he’s playing 4th grade and can work to the second level. I’m constantly riding my 6th graders about this. If the guy they think they should block isn’t there, they stand around wondering what to do.

My son’s 6th grade team has started off 3-0. Todays game was rough. Hot and humid and the other team jumped on us 13-0. But we battled back and just dominated the LOS. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had the ball 12-13 minutes of the 16 min in the 2nd half.

My son just loves to tackle even though he’s a smaller kid (80lbs). He’s also getting the chance to play RB this season. He had two TDs in the second game. He’s been running upright trying to outrun everyone (as he’s pretty fast). Today he seemed to be picking up the nuances of body lean and using his agility to create space. He did have one run in the second game where he got super skinny through a hole. I still don’t know how he squeezed through it. It’s his second year of playing and it is so much fun coaching these kids.

The problem with him getting to that second level is that too many times he is "olay!"ing the guy on the line. But I mean... he can't be ready for the NFL yet being in 4th grade. lol He also has no concept of pass pro but considering they run it 97% of the time and the 3% is always a play action that isn't a big deal. Regardless, he is showing some real good potential early.

I have coached (fatherly and actual basketball coach) him about having a high motor. In all of his team sports... football, basketball and soccer... that always hustling and not giving up on plays, pursuit, etc will end up counting for a couple extra plays a game and that can easily be the difference in the game. He did awesome on that on defense and as I mentioned above that ended up in a tackle for him after a hold that nearly spun him 180. He stayed at it and flew in for the tackle. That and the double pancake made me super proud for those reasons... they would have been my favorite even if he wrapped up and brought the QB down for a sack like he could have a couple of times just because he was going almost all the time. There was 1 play where he pancaked the MLB and then just stood there watching the rest of the play. I mentioned it to my wife and she was like "is that a bad thing?" I was like, yea, he should have looked for someone else to hit. But he definitely made up for it to me with that double pancake. It is funny because I videoed all his plays and the noises that came out of me with that double pancake are hiliarious... ooooo, wa, wow, yeaaa! or something like that. lol the pancakes were hit and then hit back to back.

The team seems better this year. I think they are better coached this year... last year they brought in the guy who is the OC for the local HS that has kids at our school but none at that level because I think they were light on experience (not that I could have done better, I never played football so all my knowledge is being a fan and zero running a scheme etc unless it is a video game) but he was running around and not always there (understandably). This year, one of the kids father played college ball and clearly has helped give more structure, organization and focus to practices. There is a lot less sitting around for the kids as they broke them down into groups and usually run them through 2-4 drills at one time. The way the teams are broken down is 3&4, 5&6, and then 7&8 grades. My sons grade is very athletically minded so they seem to have more and better quality athletes for his age than some of other grades. The scrimmage seemed to back that up so it should be an exciting year.

My son is north of 80lbs so that gives you an idea of his size. lol

I haven't watched the next level team much but playing upright is 100%. There may be some kids that are bigger than my son but I think he will be able to hold his own against those DTs. The ones that will be hard for him are the kids like his friend on the team that I mentioned before as a bowling ball because the low center will give him trouble because he tends to play upright even though he is near perfect form on his 3 point stance.... he gets straight quickly often.

I am eating up watching him play. His second year as well. It going to be crazy with my daughter playing school basketball and starting club volleyball soon and then my middle son adding club swim to his football soon too.... but I am happy to get worn out with them being busy and make it a point to remind myself to enjoy the moment.

2 TD's is awesome! I hope to read more of his feats during the season!

 

[Chadstroma]

First scrimmage with another team...

My son, 4th grade, played LG and DE. Started at LG and came in off bench at DE. He was.... well.... without being a Daddy overzealous..... dominant. On his team he is right around 3rd tallest (two kids are clearly taller than him and then there are a couple of kids that are all about the same height with him), he is one of the fastest kids (can give any of the fastest kids a run for their money and is capable of beating them at times in sprints), and one of the strongest on the team.

As G he had 5 pancakes. 2 on one play. (He was in on less than 10 offensive plays as they scores quickly on their possessions). Consistently getting into the second level.

As DE the stats were not much... prob 1 tackle but he into the backfield every play. He had 2 "almost sacks" and 2 "almost tackles for a loss" (need to work on finishing the tackle and wrapping up), 1 not sure if it would be stated as a forced fumble but he hit the QB as he was in the process of pitching it to the RB, it got no where near him but was picked up by the other team and had one either tackle or tackle for a loss after a blatant hold (even for this level) and pursued with the play going away from him with a very nice tackle hitting mid section and wrapping up the legs.

I wasn't understanding what they were doing with him at G as they have the two biggest kids at tackle. He played tackle last season. But I think they want to try to hold those edges and then have the guard go head hunt in the second level.... and my son did that. lol

I do hope that they have him start at DE too. He is clearly a force there... and one of his friends is a bowling ball DT that was getting some penetration too (one of the almost sacks was the two of them hitting each other off the QB who then escaped as they took each other out). He enjoys DE much more and clearly can excel. But this is a development team so they may not.

I am also proud of him as I have not heard him whine or complain about being a G. It isn't a position he wants but he is going out there and doing his best. On offense he wants to be a WR but for HS, I can see them putting him at TE. He is ok not playing WR now as they rarely throw.

Also, Thursday night practice, they had him co-leading the stretching which is an indication he may end up as a captain for the team.

My son and I went back and watched the video I took of each of his snaps. It was better than I even thought. 22 plays... roughly split between offense and defense. Every offensive snap he was either blocking his guy like 10 yards down the field or pancaking someone. On defense, every play he was in the backfield and was getting double teamed. The one play he pancaked the guy in front of him and stopped, apparently his strap came off and he was trying to fix it. On one play, I asked him if he was running full speed pursuing the back end of the play (cause it didn't look like it) and he was like "Dad, I was tired, I was playing offense and defense." I laughed and said that was fair.
He dominated the scrimmage. If he plays half as good this season as that he will be the league MVP (they don't really have that but still). The opposing defenses better have a good 2 tech or he will destroy their LB corps. On defense, he saw that the couple of missed sacks/tackles for losses were being too high. He if attacks mid section like he did on his one tackle for loss the RB's and QB's of the offenses will be in trouble. I am kind of giddy about how this season will be now.

 

[Kanil]

Not the best competition to be honest, but he’s making the most of the situation. He hasn’t seen a lot of breaking balls given that our little league discourages kids his age from throwing them, but today he faced a kid who could throw a curveball for consistent strikes and after striking out on a breaking ball the last time they played, he really wanted to get a hit off of this kid. He noticed a difference in the kid’s delivery when he was throwing the curveball vs fastball. He knew a curve was coming, and he smoked it off the fence down the left field line.

I would have never noticed the different delivery, but he told the rest of his team and it changed the game for them. The pitcher who was just chewing up the lineup got turned into a punching bag and the boys ended up getting the win.

Yea, that was the end of my baseball... I couldn't pick up on any of that crap. Jeff Weaver was on our team (thank goodness because I did not want to go up against him at bat... it was bad enough when he threw to first... hurt my hand with a bad catch and one of his heaters once) and though no other pitchers could touch him.... I always remember the moment I knew baseball was done for me. At bat and pitch comes, and hit the dirt thinking it was going to tag me.... then I hear strike 3 and the catcher laughing.... never played again after that season.

This 100% happened to me. It was the first time I ever saw breaking pitches. Pitcher was throwing a perfect game into the 6th and got me with this for strike one on a 2-0 count. I ended up ruining his perfect game by walking. Got cheers from the bench/parents. Then got picked off at 1st.

 

[Chadstroma]

A little bragging about my daughters progress.

Last year was her first year of basketball. Out of 8 girls.... talent wise she was 6th or 7th. This summer she was in three week long basketball camps. She tried out for the A team but didn't make it but she was happy to be on the B team.

Her first games this season are this weekend. I asked her what position she has been playing and she said 1, 2 and 3. This actually was surprising. First, most of the girls are just about the same height but she may have a slight advantage over most of them but more so because last year the thing she struggled with the most was ball handling. My guess is that she is not the starting 1 but even being in the rotation at all shows a huge improvement.

It is funny because I first asked and my reaction was "Wow, point guard?! I guess those basketball camps paid off!" then later that night, she told her mother and her reaction was literally identical saying "Wow... those basketball camps really paid off!" Then later her younger brother (my middle son who I am usually in her bragging over) heard and said "What?! You? Point guard?"

Very proud of her progress. I am looking forward to seeing her play in the games this weekend. She should end up with lots of playing time and should be much more a part of the game than last year. Then next week, club volleyball starts up too. She will be busy.

 

[skillz]

My son started his senior year of cross country. He hurt is foot last Spring and missed most of track season. He rehabbed and trained all summer. Ran his first cross country race of the season and finished #1 with a time of 16:12. Last Fall he was all-state and finished under 16:00 to get there. Hoping he stays healthy and it's great to see all of his hard work pay off and to see him accomplish his goals.

 

[Shaft41]

My son started his senior year of cross country. He hurt is foot last Spring and missed most of track season. He rehabbed and trained all summer. Ran his first cross country race of the season and finished #1 with a time of 16:12. Last Fall he was all-state and finished under 16:00 to get there. Hoping he stays healthy and it's great to see all of his hard work pay off and to see him accomplish his goals.

My son also has the first cross country meet of his senior season tonight. Our small high school of 200 kids has multiple state titles and numerous top 5 team finishes in state, but this year, he's the only senior on a team of mainly freshmen and sophomores, so expectations are slim. I hope he can not only be the team leader, but achieve the time and success he wants. His goal is under 16:00, as last year I believe his PR was around 16:30. He had a great track season in the spring, getting his mile time down to around 4:50 and being part of our 4x800 relay team that finished 2nd in state. He is a three-sport athlete who runs at 6:30 AM every day of the summer, putting in 600-700 miles over the summer, then goes to basketball practice. He literally never has a day off. He will finish the cross country season on a Saturday and start basketball practice on Monday (even though he's been going to optional basketball practices already this school year in addition to his cross country practice). Proud of how hard he works and hope he can be a great mentor to the younger kids on the team.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son started his senior year of cross country. He hurt is foot last Spring and missed most of track season. He rehabbed and trained all summer. Ran his first cross country race of the season and finished #1 with a time of 16:12. Last Fall he was all-state and finished under 16:00 to get there. Hoping he stays healthy and it's great to see all of his hard work pay off and to see him accomplish his goals.

My son also has the first cross country meet of his senior season tonight. Our small high school of 200 kids has multiple state titles and numerous top 5 team finishes in state, but this year, he's the only senior on a team of mainly freshmen and sophomores, so expectations are slim. I hope he can not only be the team leader, but achieve the time and success he wants. His goal is under 16:00, as last year I believe his PR was around 16:30. He had a great track season in the spring, getting his mile time down to around 4:50 and being part of our 4x800 relay team that finished 2nd in state. He is a three-sport athlete who runs at 6:30 AM every day of the summer, putting in 600-700 miles over the summer, then goes to basketball practice. He literally never has a day off. He will finish the cross country season on a Saturday and start basketball practice on Monday (even though he's been going to optional basketball practices already this school year in addition to his cross country practice). Proud of how hard he works and hope he can be a great mentor to the younger kids on the team.

What is the third sport? Cross country and basktball... ?

 

[Shaft41]

My son started his senior year of cross country. He hurt is foot last Spring and missed most of track season. He rehabbed and trained all summer. Ran his first cross country race of the season and finished #1 with a time of 16:12. Last Fall he was all-state and finished under 16:00 to get there. Hoping he stays healthy and it's great to see all of his hard work pay off and to see him accomplish his goals.

My son also has the first cross country meet of his senior season tonight. Our small high school of 200 kids has multiple state titles and numerous top 5 team finishes in state, but this year, he's the only senior on a team of mainly freshmen and sophomores, so expectations are slim. I hope he can not only be the team leader, but achieve the time and success he wants. His goal is under 16:00, as last year I believe his PR was around 16:30. He had a great track season in the spring, getting his mile time down to around 4:50 and being part of our 4x800 relay team that finished 2nd in state. He is a three-sport athlete who runs at 6:30 AM every day of the summer, putting in 600-700 miles over the summer, then goes to basketball practice. He literally never has a day off. He will finish the cross country season on a Saturday and start basketball practice on Monday (even though he's been going to optional basketball practices already this school year in addition to his cross country practice). Proud of how hard he works and hope he can be a great mentor to the younger kids on the team.

What is the third sport? Cross country and basktball... ?

Track

 

[Chadstroma]

My son's first game of the season (4th grade). He played most of all snaps on offense (LG) and majority of defense in a 6-2 (was DE last year and played DE at the scrimmage last weekend but it looked like they had him at DT today). Had a loss for tackle, forced fumble and 2 pancakes. The team won 16-0 (no FG, just conversions) and it wasn't that close. It really should have been 24-0 but they shot themselves in the foot a couple of times. He is way quick off the line, so much noticeably than anyone on either team.

 

[PIK95]

My son got a hat trick in his high school soccer game this week. It was against the team that knocked us our last year. We won 4-0. Nice way to start senior year. Anyway, I have been filming. I am now messing with Imovie to make highlight vids. I have a decent one of my son, but not sure how to make the circle, box, highlight to follow him around. Also, what's the best way to upload all my vids where people can see them. Is you tube still the way? We just threw them on insta so far. I would post it here, but not sure how.