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

[Chadstroma]

My son has been having good games consistently. Several tackles for losses and tackles... one forced fumble. On offense, tons of pancakes and good blocks.

My daughter has been having a great basketball season where she has blossomed from like one of, if not the worse, player out of two teams for her school to the best player on her B team. Her confidence has soared, she is way more aggressive (takes pride in her fouls this year because she actually gets fouls and last year I think had one all season). The top scorer, one of the better rebounders, second best defender, etc. She is even starting to show some leadership. Very proud of her progress. Those basketball camps over the summer really paid off.

 

[ChiefD]

16 Year Old son has played soccer his whole life. He has been bugging us to play football his whole life. He had a real bad concussion when he was 5, so we have said no.

So last November he says: "Hey, the kicker for the varsity football team graduated. I'd like to go out for kicker. Is that ok?"

Me and mom: "Sure. As long as you do the work you can try out."

So he goes out (with his own money), buys a couple of footballs, one of those field goal practice tee things, and a kickoff T. Spends the whole winter, spring, and summer going to the high school by himself to kick. I went up a couple times to just watch and help, and he's not bad. He even met the Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker up there one Sunday this summer when Butker was up there kicking. Got a great picture out of the deal.

Fast forward to fall and he's the varsity kicker on the high school team. The team isn't great but they won last week. So far he is 5-6 on extra points (one was blocked because the line is really undersized at his school). They haven't tried a field goal yet. Their coach apparently likes to go for it on 4th and 9 from the 10 on a regular basis.

His range is about 45 yards for now, but he has never played football and is doing awesome. Kickoffs need some work but that will come with experience. Just proud that he did this all by himself and he just loves that feeling of running out with his team on Friday Night Lights. It's a blast.

 

[ChiefD]

14 year old son is a hockey player. Just to get ready for hockey season he goes out for the high school soccer team. He last played soccer when he was 9.

Anyway, he's on the freshman team, and they are playing in a high school tournament here this weekend. Due to homecoming they were down 3-4 of their best players, including goalkeeper. So he and another guy are nominated the backup keepers. He had played some keeper when he was younger, so at least he knew the basics. He normally plays defense. My son plays the second half of the game last night.

Game goes into overtime and then into penalty kicks. My kid saves three penalty kicks, including the last one which gave his team the win.

 

[Chadstroma]

At football practice this week, one of the smaller faster kids challenged my son on their run, which is roughly a 100 yard sprint and back. My son pulled beat him. The cool thing about it is that my son prob has about 30 pounds on him.

Later in pass rush/pas pro blocking drills, he went up against the tallest kid which is also built strongly... I have not seen another kid, whether in basketball (I coached them last season) or football on his size from any of the other schools. They paired my son up with him. I don't know what the drill is called but basically it negates my sons quickness/speed as they have blocking bags on either side and really there is only straight forward or back to go so it is all about strength and leverage. My son held up decently going against him in this, except one round where the other kid just got my son and literally lifted him off the ground and threw him on his butt. lol We talked after practice. I was worried he would get upset and make excuses so I wanted to make sure I pointed out that he was lucky to have the other kid on his team so he could practice against him. If he is able to win against bigger kids than him, even though there really aren't many of them, then he becomes a more complete player. It was cool that he agreed with me and seemed to be motivated to go up against him more.

 

[The Z Machine]

16 Year Old son has played soccer his whole life. He has been bugging us to play football his whole life. He had a real bad concussion when he was 5, so we have said no.

So last November he says: "Hey, the kicker for the varsity football team graduated. I'd like to go out for kicker. Is that ok?"

Me and mom: "Sure. As long as you do the work you can try out."

So he goes out (with his own money), buys a couple of footballs, one of those field goal practice tee things, and a kickoff T. Spends the whole winter, spring, and summer going to the high school by himself to kick. I went up a couple times to just watch and help, and he's not bad. He even met the Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker up there one Sunday this summer when Butker was up there kicking. Got a great picture out of the deal.

Fast forward to fall and he's the varsity kicker on the high school team. The team isn't great but they won last week. So far he is 5-6 on extra points (one was blocked because the line is really undersized at his school). They haven't tried a field goal yet. Their coach apparently likes to go for it on 4th and 9 from the 10 on a regular basis.

His range is about 45 yards for now, but he has never played football and is doing awesome. Kickoffs need some work but that will come with experience. Just proud that he did this all by himself and he just loves that feeling of running out with his team on Friday Night Lights. It's a blast.

Very cool. Good for him.

Has he had to make a tackle on a kickoff yet? Or got put on his back on a kickoff return for a TD.

 

[snellman]

Not an athletic accomplishment or individual, but I have to brag about it. My son is a Freshman and this is his first year in High School band. This weekend they competed in one of the Bands of America competitions. This is the first year his school has competed. There were 19 bands at this competition. Our school band finished 6th out of 19. At first glance, this may not sound great, but the winner of this competition has 2100 students in grade 9-12 while my son's High school has 500. all 5 of the bands that finished in front of them have 3-4 times more students. Out of 500 students, 140 are band members which I found was pretty impressive. I have never been a band parent before (4 older children never did band) and I am amazed at what these kids go through for these competitions.

 

[ChiefD]

16 Year Old son has played soccer his whole life. He has been bugging us to play football his whole life. He had a real bad concussion when he was 5, so we have said no.

So last November he says: "Hey, the kicker for the varsity football team graduated. I'd like to go out for kicker. Is that ok?"

Me and mom: "Sure. As long as you do the work you can try out."

So he goes out (with his own money), buys a couple of footballs, one of those field goal practice tee things, and a kickoff T. Spends the whole winter, spring, and summer going to the high school by himself to kick. I went up a couple times to just watch and help, and he's not bad. He even met the Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker up there one Sunday this summer when Butker was up there kicking. Got a great picture out of the deal.

Fast forward to fall and he's the varsity kicker on the high school team. The team isn't great but they won last week. So far he is 5-6 on extra points (one was blocked because the line is really undersized at his school). They haven't tried a field goal yet. Their coach apparently likes to go for it on 4th and 9 from the 10 on a regular basis.

His range is about 45 yards for now, but he has never played football and is doing awesome. Kickoffs need some work but that will come with experience. Just proud that he did this all by himself and he just loves that feeling of running out with his team on Friday Night Lights. It's a blast.

Very cool. Good for him.

Has he had to make a tackle on a kickoff yet? Or got put on his back on a kickoff return for a TD.

He has been credited with one tackle. This after driving a guy out of bounds by virtue of the other guy’s stiff-arm to my son’s face.

 

[Chadstroma]

Not an athletic accomplishment or individual, but I have to brag about it. My son is a Freshman and this is his first year in High School band. This weekend they competed in one of the Bands of America competitions. This is the first year his school has competed. There were 19 bands at this competition. Our school band finished 6th out of 19. At first glance, this may not sound great, but the winner of this competition has 2100 students in grade 9-12 while my son's High school has 500. all 5 of the bands that finished in front of them have 3-4 times more students. Out of 500 students, 140 are band members which I found was pretty impressive. I have never been a band parent before (4 older children never did band) and I am amazed at what these kids go through for these competitions.

There are no rules on parents being proud of their kids accomplishments and bragging about it. (at least in my view)

It is just an open comp? I know in sports schools compete against teams based on how big the schools are. Is that the same or is it more like a tournament thing that anyone enters?

 

[Andrew74]

We finished the regular season 7-1. Total offensive implosion the last game and lost 8-0. Hopefully a wake up call for the playoffs this weekend. My son has done well this year. He made some great tackles yesterday and was really fired up and showing it. It was unusual as he’s pretty subdued on the field. I liked the intensity.

He made the All Star team for 6th grade, so that starts the first week of October. I will be an assistant coach. All Stars is fun as the kids all love football.

 

[snellman]

Not an athletic accomplishment or individual, but I have to brag about it. My son is a Freshman and this is his first year in High School band. This weekend they competed in one of the Bands of America competitions. This is the first year his school has competed. There were 19 bands at this competition. Our school band finished 6th out of 19. At first glance, this may not sound great, but the winner of this competition has 2100 students in grade 9-12 while my son's High school has 500. all 5 of the bands that finished in front of them have 3-4 times more students. Out of 500 students, 140 are band members which I found was pretty impressive. I have never been a band parent before (4 older children never did band) and I am amazed at what these kids go through for these competitions.

There are no rules on parents being proud of their kids accomplishments and bragging about it. (at least in my view)

It is just an open comp? I know in sports schools compete against teams based on how big the schools are. Is that the same or is it more like a tournament thing that anyone enters?

I honestly don't know, this is my first year being involved in this. Listening to other parents and the band instructor is that These contests are posted, and the bands sign up for the ones they want to go to, while paying an entry fee for the competition. I am guessing that most schools the same size as ours do not have the student involvement or resources to go to these competitions. Music (especially band) is a big part of our school. Looking at it from the outside before this year I called it a cult and now I am part of it. There is a lot of fund raising for it and every 3 years they go on a large band trip.. Last year they marched at disney world in Florida and a few years ago they marched in the Tournament of roses parade.

 

[Chadstroma]

We finished the regular season 7-1. Total offensive implosion the last game and lost 8-0. Hopefully a wake up call for the playoffs this weekend. My son has done well this year. He made some great tackles yesterday and was really fired up and showing it. It was unusual as he’s pretty subdued on the field. I liked the intensity.

He made the All Star team for 6th grade, so that starts the first week of October. I will be an assistant coach. All Stars is fun as the kids all love football.

Wow.... your guys season started early.

My sons team is 4-0 and so far there hasn't really been a serious challenge. Today was a 20-0 win and it wasn't that close. As usual, played all the offensive snaps and played around 50-60% of the defensive snaps. A number of good blocks on offense. Defense there was no stats but he impacted a couple of plays. Along with my son who has a good blend of height, size, strength, speed and quickness.... we have another kid on the team that is pretty much always the biggest kid on the field. He is the kid that took my son, lifted him a bit and put him on his tush. The two of them do a lot of damage in controlling the LOS on both sides and they have a few other good sized athletes that help. They usually dominate in defense... the other teams only hope is that whoever is on the edge fails in their containment and they get a long run. Their grade is full of a lot of boys who love sports and several of them have a lot of natural athletic talent too. It is looking like a good year for them.

 

[Chadstroma]

Not an athletic accomplishment or individual, but I have to brag about it. My son is a Freshman and this is his first year in High School band. This weekend they competed in one of the Bands of America competitions. This is the first year his school has competed. There were 19 bands at this competition. Our school band finished 6th out of 19. At first glance, this may not sound great, but the winner of this competition has 2100 students in grade 9-12 while my son's High school has 500. all 5 of the bands that finished in front of them have 3-4 times more students. Out of 500 students, 140 are band members which I found was pretty impressive. I have never been a band parent before (4 older children never did band) and I am amazed at what these kids go through for these competitions.

There are no rules on parents being proud of their kids accomplishments and bragging about it. (at least in my view)

It is just an open comp? I know in sports schools compete against teams based on how big the schools are. Is that the same or is it more like a tournament thing that anyone enters?

I honestly don't know, this is my first year being involved in this. Listening to other parents and the band instructor is that These contests are posted, and the bands sign up for the ones they want to go to, while paying an entry fee for the competition. I am guessing that most schools the same size as ours do not have the student involvement or resources to go to these competitions. Music (especially band) is a big part of our school. Looking at it from the outside before this year I called it a cult and now I am part of it. There is a lot of fund raising for it and every 3 years they go on a large band trip.. Last year they marched at disney world in Florida and a few years ago they marched in the Tournament of roses parade.

That is cool. Sounds like that is their niche for sure as a school. The Rose Parada is HUGE.

The first year of anything can be daunting as the parent with huge learning curves and even more so if you don't have any experience yourself doing it. My son has his first swim season for the fall/summer season. I never did swim comp myself and it was a total stumbling through it all. Now, swim started Thursday but tomorrow is his first practice since he was at football practice Thurs night..... and now I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. It make a HUGE difference from the perspective of a parent.

 

[Hoh]

Forgive me if this comes across as feeling sorry for myself. But I wish I could post about my kids success in volleyball after 8 years, school and club. She’s never been a dominant player. She’s never been on a successful team. She’s become a medium player who is frequently overlooked by coaches. And as her career winds down I see that taking a toll on her. I wish she had the wisdom to see the value in what she does so well. She’s the loudest cheerleader on the bench. She picks everyone up. She’s a student of the game. She is loved by her teammates. We talk frequently about this and I hope someday it sinks in. Here’s to all the mediums out there! :raises glass:

Quick update. Things are much happier. She made the decision to play her senior year and is a key contributor for varsity. I think she’s opened some eyes. They are a .500 team at best but the spirit of the team is completely different. The seniors have decided they are going to make their last year as memorable as they can by playing hard and enjoying each other’s company. Very proud and very relieved.

Anyway, I realize how morose the post from March was and just wanted everyone to know that all is well. Perseverance pays off.

 

[Chadstroma]

Forgive me if this comes across as feeling sorry for myself. But I wish I could post about my kids success in volleyball after 8 years, school and club. She’s never been a dominant player. She’s never been on a successful team. She’s become a medium player who is frequently overlooked by coaches. And as her career winds down I see that taking a toll on her. I wish she had the wisdom to see the value in what she does so well. She’s the loudest cheerleader on the bench. She picks everyone up. She’s a student of the game. She is loved by her teammates. We talk frequently about this and I hope someday it sinks in. Here’s to all the mediums out there! :raises glass:

Quick update. Things are much happier. She made the decision to play her senior year and is a key contributor for varsity. I think she’s opened some eyes. They are a .500 team at best but the spirit of the team is completely different. The seniors have decided they are going to make their last year as memorable as they can by playing hard and enjoying each other’s company. Very proud and very relieved.

Anyway, I realize how morose the post from March was and just wanted everyone to know that all is well. Perseverance pays off.

Sounds like she is primed to be a great vball coach too if she wants to continue involvement in the sport. Glad she is enjoying the moment.

 

[Hoh]

Forgive me if this comes across as feeling sorry for myself. But I wish I could post about my kids success in volleyball after 8 years, school and club. She’s never been a dominant player. She’s never been on a successful team. She’s become a medium player who is frequently overlooked by coaches. And as her career winds down I see that taking a toll on her. I wish she had the wisdom to see the value in what she does so well. She’s the loudest cheerleader on the bench. She picks everyone up. She’s a student of the game. She is loved by her teammates. We talk frequently about this and I hope someday it sinks in. Here’s to all the mediums out there! :raises glass:

Quick update. Things are much happier. She made the decision to play her senior year and is a key contributor for varsity. I think she’s opened some eyes. They are a .500 team at best but the spirit of the team is completely different. The seniors have decided they are going to make their last year as memorable as they can by playing hard and enjoying each other’s company. Very proud and very relieved.

Anyway, I realize how morose the post from March was and just wanted everyone to know that all is well. Perseverance pays off.

Sounds like she is primed to be a great vball coach too if she wants to continue involvement in the sport. Glad she is enjoying the moment.

Really appreciate you saying that. She absolutely will.

 

[Andrew74]

We finished the regular season 7-1. Total offensive implosion the last game and lost 8-0. Hopefully a wake up call for the playoffs this weekend. My son has done well this year. He made some great tackles yesterday and was really fired up and showing it. It was unusual as he’s pretty subdued on the field. I liked the intensity.

He made the All Star team for 6th grade, so that starts the first week of October. I will be an assistant coach. All Stars is fun as the kids all love football.

Wow.... your guys season started early.

My sons team is 4-0 and so far there hasn't really been a serious challenge. Today was a 20-0 win and it wasn't that close. As usual, played all the offensive snaps and played around 50-60% of the defensive snaps. A number of good blocks on offense. Defense there was no stats but he impacted a couple of plays. Along with my son who has a good blend of height, size, strength, speed and quickness.... we have another kid on the team that is pretty much always the biggest kid on the field. He is the kid that took my son, lifted him a bit and put him on his tush. The two of them do a lot of damage in controlling the LOS on both sides and they have a few other good sized athletes that help. They usually dominate in defense... the other teams only hope is that whoever is on the edge fails in their containment and they get a long run. Their grade is full of a lot of boys who love sports and several of them have a lot of natural athletic talent too. It is looking like a good year for them.

Yeah we started playing games in mid-August. All-Stars won’t end until mid-November. It’s a pretty long season for young kids.

 

[Chadstroma]

We finished the regular season 7-1. Total offensive implosion the last game and lost 8-0. Hopefully a wake up call for the playoffs this weekend. My son has done well this year. He made some great tackles yesterday and was really fired up and showing it. It was unusual as he’s pretty subdued on the field. I liked the intensity.

He made the All Star team for 6th grade, so that starts the first week of October. I will be an assistant coach. All Stars is fun as the kids all love football.

Wow.... your guys season started early.

My sons team is 4-0 and so far there hasn't really been a serious challenge. Today was a 20-0 win and it wasn't that close. As usual, played all the offensive snaps and played around 50-60% of the defensive snaps. A number of good blocks on offense. Defense there was no stats but he impacted a couple of plays. Along with my son who has a good blend of height, size, strength, speed and quickness.... we have another kid on the team that is pretty much always the biggest kid on the field. He is the kid that took my son, lifted him a bit and put him on his tush. The two of them do a lot of damage in controlling the LOS on both sides and they have a few other good sized athletes that help. They usually dominate in defense... the other teams only hope is that whoever is on the edge fails in their containment and they get a long run. Their grade is full of a lot of boys who love sports and several of them have a lot of natural athletic talent too. It is looking like a good year for them.

Yeah we started playing games in mid-August. All-Stars won’t end until mid-November. It’s a pretty long season for young kids.

How many games? We started practice mid or late August. Played 5 games (actually 5-0) with 3 more to go. I think there is a Championship game which at this rate looks like we will be in. There are no all-star selections. This is a catholic school league, 3-4 graders.

 

[Andrew74]

We finished the regular season 7-1. Total offensive implosion the last game and lost 8-0. Hopefully a wake up call for the playoffs this weekend. My son has done well this year. He made some great tackles yesterday and was really fired up and showing it. It was unusual as he’s pretty subdued on the field. I liked the intensity.

He made the All Star team for 6th grade, so that starts the first week of October. I will be an assistant coach. All Stars is fun as the kids all love football.

Wow.... your guys season started early.

My sons team is 4-0 and so far there hasn't really been a serious challenge. Today was a 20-0 win and it wasn't that close. As usual, played all the offensive snaps and played around 50-60% of the defensive snaps. A number of good blocks on offense. Defense there was no stats but he impacted a couple of plays. Along with my son who has a good blend of height, size, strength, speed and quickness.... we have another kid on the team that is pretty much always the biggest kid on the field. He is the kid that took my son, lifted him a bit and put him on his tush. The two of them do a lot of damage in controlling the LOS on both sides and they have a few other good sized athletes that help. They usually dominate in defense... the other teams only hope is that whoever is on the edge fails in their containment and they get a long run. Their grade is full of a lot of boys who love sports and several of them have a lot of natural athletic talent too. It is looking like a good year for them.

Yeah we started playing games in mid-August. All-Stars won’t end until mid-November. It’s a pretty long season for young kids.

How many games? We started practice mid or late August. Played 5 games (actually 5-0) with 3 more to go. I think there is a Championship game which at this rate looks like we will be in. There are no all-star selections. This is a catholic school league, 3-4 graders.

8 regular season games + playoffs. We got a bye so one Thursday night and hopefully Sunday in the “Super Bowl”. So a 10 game season. All Stars will probably be 12-15 games.

 

[Andrew74]

Well we crushed our first playoff opponent 38-8. We played the “Super Bowl” this past Sunday against the team that ruined our perfect season. By the end of the 3rd quarter we were grinding them down and about to finish them off with another TD with first and goal at the 5 to go up by 3 scores. Then the coach pulled a Pete Carroll and thought, “let’s have an 11 yo throw the ball.” Yep. Next play kid takes it 96 to the house and we are up by 1. I was about to lose my ####. Thankfully our D held, finally stopping them on 4th down with 59 seconds left to repeat.

My son was really down after the game. On the 96 yard TD, he had the RB for a safety but as he went to hit him low (the RB outweighs him by prob 25 lbs), the guy times a stiff arm perfectly to knock him down. He felt it was his fault. Good opportunity to talk about success and failure, and his role in a team sport like football.

 

[Chadstroma]

Well we crushed our first playoff opponent 38-8. We played the “Super Bowl” this past Sunday against the team that ruined our perfect season. By the end of the 3rd quarter we were grinding them down and about to finish them off with another TD with first and goal at the 5 to go up by 3 scores. Then the coach pulled a Pete Carroll and thought, “let’s have an 11 yo throw the ball.” Yep. Next play kid takes it 96 to the house and we are up by 1. I was about to lose my ####. Thankfully our D held, finally stopping them on 4th down with 59 seconds left to repeat.

My son was really down after the game. On the 96 yard TD, he had the RB for a safety but as he went to hit him low (the RB outweighs him by prob 25 lbs), the guy times a stiff arm perfectly to knock him down. He felt it was his fault. Good opportunity to talk about success and failure, and his role in a team sport like football.

We beat a team last weekend 25-0 that beat us badly last year. Near the end of the half, we were up by 13 (two TD's, one failed conversion, conversions count as the extra point) and we are on our 35 with about 1 and change of time left, 4th and 7... instead of "punting", which is walking off 30 yards, they go for it. Our offense was moving the ball well and our defense was holding well (as you can see by the end score) but at that point of the game, I didn't see the upside. Our defense held up and got the ball back actually but I didn't see the point of risking it at that point of the game. Coaches make decisions and sometimes they are wrong. It ended well for us.

I expect that his team will go through cycles. Each football team groups two grades. 3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th. My sons grade (4th) has a lot of boys who play sports and a number of them are athletically talented in different ways. Last year they won some and lost some. This year they have two more games left to go undefeated and none of the games have been really close. It looks like the class behind them is a little smaller than them and maybe not as many gifted athlete but compared to some of the older classes, they are stacked. The "varsity" team (7th/8th) has like 14 or 15 kids total on the team. I have not followed them but I am sure they have lost more than a couple of games. My boys 4th graders will likely be a force in basketball and soccer too. Basketball last year they had three full teams (just 3rd graders) so when they go to A/B teams in 6th grade they should have a stacked team. Soccer last year they went to the championship game and lost. Soccer does the two grades too and the best player was the year ahead of them but the bulk of the team was his grade so it will be interesting to see how they do but they destroyed most of the teams up to the championship where they lost a close one.

 

[ex-ghost]

Glad to see this thread pop up again. I am already getting nostalgic, even though my Senior son has the rest of this year to go. I will be living vicariously through this thread in the years to come.

My son is a runner and had a great year last year. However, one week after track season ended his foot/ankle started to hurt. Hurt bad enough that he had to pull out of Nike Nationals that was being held at Oregon in Eugene. We spent all summer trying to figure out what was wrong. His PT even gave him an old stim machine to take home and use on himself. Late August we go to a Podiatrist who specializes in runners and he says that his heel is out of alignment, causing all these issues. Heel issue sounds like it is something that only gets fixed by surgery - cutting it in half and shaving away edges so it lays "flat". Ugh and yuck. For now a custom orthotic. He probably ran 20 miles all summer.

Kudos to the boy. He has been going to the pool to workout 3-4x week at 6:30am. He lifts and rides a bike. Finally back to running and he has 30 days until the state meet. His college scholarships are really on the line, they told him to finish 1st or 2nd in state and then they will come calling. Lots of pressure and off we go!

 

[Gally]

His college scholarships are really on the line, they told him to finish 1st or 2nd in state and then they will come calling. Lots of pressure and off we go!

Have you mentioned the heel issue to them (I assume not). It sounds like a chronic issue that won't go away. What is the recovery time for the surgery? Seems like it might be something to have done right away after the meet to be ready for college season (if it's 4-6 month recovery type procedure). How would the injury affect scholarships?

 

[ex-ghost]

His college scholarships are really on the line, they told him to finish 1st or 2nd in state and then they will come calling. Lots of pressure and off we go!

Have you mentioned the heel issue to them (I assume not). It sounds like a chronic issue that won't go away. What is the recovery time for the surgery? Seems like it might be something to have done right away after the meet to be ready for college season (if it's 4-6 month recovery type procedure). How would the injury affect scholarships?

Well, that was just one doc's diagnosis. For something that big we will need to get a second opinion. He said it is a 6-week recovery which seems crazy. We've been told that if our son does not do well in State, the doors kind of close for scholarships and he will need to do well early in track season to open those doors back up.

We are headed on an official visit to Boise State Sunday, our first one. We've been told that some kids get offers on these visits, I'm assuming that since he really does not have a race under his belt that they will not make an offer. We will see.

 

[Chadstroma]

Gameday.

We started the game on defense. The other guys put together a very good drive. 4-8 yards on pretty much every down. My son, who normally plays all snaps on offense and then comes in and out on defense, was not on the field. Finally put him and our biggest kid in at DT once they drove to the 30. First play in they (my son and the big guy) both clog the middle and force a run out to the outside for like 2 yards which was the least gain given up to that point.

The next play the big kid basically close lines the RB for no gain.

Then next play they both (my son and big guy) penetrate along with a LB... misdirection run to the outside, penetration makes the RB pull back further and tries for the corner like they were doing all drive long.... but my son runs him down for about 7 yard tackle for loss. Talking to the head coach after the game, he said that only my son had the speed/size to do that.

4th down they kick my kid to DE, our DT's are playing 3 tech and they do a QB sneak right up the middle, two of our LB/secondary kids hit him but he breaks out... my son is in pursuit and their QB fumbles the ball (not sure why to be honest) and my son almost recovers but the QB got it. It was their biggest play of the game.

Next snap they hold them. Then after that, move my son back to DT, he penetrates and gets a 3 yard tackle for loss.

4th and 4, they run at him with a double block and he gets the tackle giving up a yard.

We take over on the 10. Our RB takes it for a 90 yard TD run.

Next defensive series is a 4 and out, my son gets another tackle for loss and caused chaos on another snap that ended in a tackle for loss for one of his team mates.

We take over and on our second offensive play of the day our other RB takes it 55 yards for a TD.

My son got another couple of tackles but they seemed to be running away from him for the rest of the game. The starters were pulled, Our 3rd and 4th RB's got their TD's. 26-0

One more win for an undefeated season. I found out there are no playoffs or championship games for the 3/4 graders. The DC told him that that was his best game of the season. HC after the game was telling me that every time they take him out of the game he winces but he let's the DC run that side. I told him that my son will give them all the snaps needed on both offense and defense. My son does a good job at G on offense but he is a game wrecker on D.

I mentioned how my son wanted to be a ball carrier and he started the rule of no kids over 80 pounds carrying the ball (though clearly the other teams don't really follow that rule). He said he could see him as a RB and I was saying that if he continues to have the size/height/strength/speed mix advantage that he has that I was thinking TE and DE. Looking for to the next game and hoping the boys can pull off that undefeated season.

 

[Chadstroma]

Gameday.

We started the game on defense. The other guys put together a very good drive. 4-8 yards on pretty much every down. My son, who normally plays all snaps on offense and then comes in and out on defense, was not on the field. Finally put him and our biggest kid in at DT once they drove to the 30. First play in they (my son and the big guy) both clog the middle and force a run out to the outside for like 2 yards which was the least gain given up to that point.

The next play the big kid basically close lines the RB for no gain.

Then next play they both (my son and big guy) penetrate along with a LB... misdirection run to the outside, penetration makes the RB pull back further and tries for the corner like they were doing all drive long.... but my son runs him down for about 7 yard tackle for loss. Talking to the head coach after the game, he said that only my son had the speed/size to do that.

4th down they kick my kid to DE, our DT's are playing 3 tech and they do a QB sneak right up the middle, two of our LB/secondary kids hit him but he breaks out... my son is in pursuit and their QB fumbles the ball (not sure why to be honest) and my son almost recovers but the QB got it. It was their biggest play of the game.

Next snap they hold them. Then after that, move my son back to DT, he penetrates and gets a 3 yard tackle for loss.

4th and 4, they run at him with a double block and he gets the tackle giving up a yard.

We take over on the 10. Our RB takes it for a 90 yard TD run.

Next defensive series is a 4 and out, my son gets another tackle for loss and caused chaos on another snap that ended in a tackle for loss for one of his team mates.

We take over and on our second offensive play of the day our other RB takes it 55 yards for a TD.

My son got another couple of tackles but they seemed to be running away from him for the rest of the game. The starters were pulled, Our 3rd and 4th RB's got their TD's. 26-0

One more win for an undefeated season. I found out there are no playoffs or championship games for the 3/4 graders. The DC told him that that was his best game of the season. HC after the game was telling me that every time they take him out of the game he winces but he let's the DC run that side. I told him that my son will give them all the snaps needed on both offense and defense. My son does a good job at G on offense but he is a game wrecker on D.

I mentioned how my son wanted to be a ball carrier and he started the rule of no kids over 80 pounds carrying the ball (though clearly the other teams don't really follow that rule). He said he could see him as a RB and I was saying that if he continues to have the size/height/strength/speed mix advantage that he has that I was thinking TE and DE. Looking for to the next game and hoping the boys can pull off that undefeated season.

Went back and watched the video I took with my son. His stats for the day on the defense was 3 tackles for a loss and 5 total tackles with about 50%ish of defensive snaps. He also disrupted another couple of plays too.

 

[Chadstroma]

My sons team won today, 14-0 and it wasn't at all that close. They did their best keeping the other team in the game with an uncharacteristic heavy turnover day of 2 INT's and 2 lost fumbles. Defense dominated and I think they only got 2 first downs while we marched down the field over and over and just kept shooting ourselves in the foot to not score. I would say we held them to under 40 yards of offense.

My son didn't have a huge stat day but was disruptive on defense like usual. He has 1 tackle for a loss that he also got called for a facemask (a good call but he didn't mean to, the guy's back was to him and he reached around the front when bringing him down and just got a handful of facemask). He also was a split second away from a safety but the QB handed it off as my son was taking him down. So, he ended with 1 tackle for the game.

An undefeated season and really none of the teams in the league are a threat.... except next year he will be 5/6th grade team. The 6th grade class is smaller and not as athletically talented as my sons grade is. Last year when he was in 3rd they were an average team- just above 500. I expect them to be a little better next year but overall I think we can expect alternating years of dominance to being above average and then cycle through again.

 

[snellman]

Son's band had their last competition of the season yesterday and finished 2nd. Again, they were the smallest school, but had the largest band (even if only my 3 members). They only competition they finished worse than 3rd this year was the Bands of America competition where they finished 5th. It was their first time competing in that competition. It is a little bittersweet because I am ready to not be gone all day Saturday and sometimes part of Sunday, but it makes me proud seeing him compete in something he enjoys that I never thought would be the case. Now after a brief break, it will be Jazz Band season and Robotics season so the traveling again will be here soon enough.

Here is a video of their performance if anyone is interested:
Dutchmen performance in Omaha

 

[Andrew74]

Gameday.

We started the game on defense. The other guys put together a very good drive. 4-8 yards on pretty much every down. My son, who normally plays all snaps on offense and then comes in and out on defense, was not on the field. Finally put him and our biggest kid in at DT once they drove to the 30. First play in they (my son and the big guy) both clog the middle and force a run out to the outside for like 2 yards which was the least gain given up to that point.

The next play the big kid basically close lines the RB for no gain.

Then next play they both (my son and big guy) penetrate along with a LB... misdirection run to the outside, penetration makes the RB pull back further and tries for the corner like they were doing all drive long.... but my son runs him down for about 7 yard tackle for loss. Talking to the head coach after the game, he said that only my son had the speed/size to do that.

4th down they kick my kid to DE, our DT's are playing 3 tech and they do a QB sneak right up the middle, two of our LB/secondary kids hit him but he breaks out... my son is in pursuit and their QB fumbles the ball (not sure why to be honest) and my son almost recovers but the QB got it. It was their biggest play of the game.

Next snap they hold them. Then after that, move my son back to DT, he penetrates and gets a 3 yard tackle for loss.

4th and 4, they run at him with a double block and he gets the tackle giving up a yard.

We take over on the 10. Our RB takes it for a 90 yard TD run.

Next defensive series is a 4 and out, my son gets another tackle for loss and caused chaos on another snap that ended in a tackle for loss for one of his team mates.

We take over and on our second offensive play of the day our other RB takes it 55 yards for a TD.

My son got another couple of tackles but they seemed to be running away from him for the rest of the game. The starters were pulled, Our 3rd and 4th RB's got their TD's. 26-0

One more win for an undefeated season. I found out there are no playoffs or championship games for the 3/4 graders. The DC told him that that was his best game of the season. HC after the game was telling me that every time they take him out of the game he winces but he let's the DC run that side. I told him that my son will give them all the snaps needed on both offense and defense. My son does a good job at G on offense but he is a game wrecker on D.

I mentioned how my son wanted to be a ball carrier and he started the rule of no kids over 80 pounds carrying the ball (though clearly the other teams don't really follow that rule). He said he could see him as a RB and I was saying that if he continues to have the size/height/strength/speed mix advantage that he has that I was thinking TE and DE. Looking for to the next game and hoping the boys can pull off that undefeated season.

True at any age but penetrating DTs in youth football is a giant cheat code. Heck just having kids that clog up the middle is huge.

 

[Chadstroma]

Gameday.

We started the game on defense. The other guys put together a very good drive. 4-8 yards on pretty much every down. My son, who normally plays all snaps on offense and then comes in and out on defense, was not on the field. Finally put him and our biggest kid in at DT once they drove to the 30. First play in they (my son and the big guy) both clog the middle and force a run out to the outside for like 2 yards which was the least gain given up to that point.

The next play the big kid basically close lines the RB for no gain.

Then next play they both (my son and big guy) penetrate along with a LB... misdirection run to the outside, penetration makes the RB pull back further and tries for the corner like they were doing all drive long.... but my son runs him down for about 7 yard tackle for loss. Talking to the head coach after the game, he said that only my son had the speed/size to do that.

4th down they kick my kid to DE, our DT's are playing 3 tech and they do a QB sneak right up the middle, two of our LB/secondary kids hit him but he breaks out... my son is in pursuit and their QB fumbles the ball (not sure why to be honest) and my son almost recovers but the QB got it. It was their biggest play of the game.

Next snap they hold them. Then after that, move my son back to DT, he penetrates and gets a 3 yard tackle for loss.

4th and 4, they run at him with a double block and he gets the tackle giving up a yard.

We take over on the 10. Our RB takes it for a 90 yard TD run.

Next defensive series is a 4 and out, my son gets another tackle for loss and caused chaos on another snap that ended in a tackle for loss for one of his team mates.

We take over and on our second offensive play of the day our other RB takes it 55 yards for a TD.

My son got another couple of tackles but they seemed to be running away from him for the rest of the game. The starters were pulled, Our 3rd and 4th RB's got their TD's. 26-0

One more win for an undefeated season. I found out there are no playoffs or championship games for the 3/4 graders. The DC told him that that was his best game of the season. HC after the game was telling me that every time they take him out of the game he winces but he let's the DC run that side. I told him that my son will give them all the snaps needed on both offense and defense. My son does a good job at G on offense but he is a game wrecker on D.

I mentioned how my son wanted to be a ball carrier and he started the rule of no kids over 80 pounds carrying the ball (though clearly the other teams don't really follow that rule). He said he could see him as a RB and I was saying that if he continues to have the size/height/strength/speed mix advantage that he has that I was thinking TE and DE. Looking for to the next game and hoping the boys can pull off that undefeated season.

True at any age but penetrating DTs in youth football is a giant cheat code. Heck just having kids that clog up the middle is huge.

This last game when the other team was pushed up against the end zone I was telepathically pleading for them to send my son in because there was a good chance he would get the safety.... he was so close to it. The last couple of games they started moving him around the line, he got a few snaps at DE and then even a couple at OLB. If he continues to have the same speed, quickness, size, and strength blend advantage as he gets older then he will do very well in years to come.

Now full speed with club swim (he has missed most of the practices since they started two weeks ago) and then in a few weeks school basketball starts. Swimming is phenomenal off-season conditioning. It is funny how football fit is not close to being swim fit. The only thing is with the other sports it makes it hard to do off-season camps/clinics for football but for sure will get some stuff in on the summer before next season to help him continue to develop.

With my son and then their big kid they really did cause havoc and then they have a couple of kids that are fast in the LB/secondary so their defense was very strong. I think they only gave up one TD the whole season in fact.

 

[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.

We have changed clubs (I'll get into that another time). She loves it. Our first tournament with them will be this coming weekend down in Morgan hill.

Her director and coach is the head coach for one of our opponents. We would go against her younger clubs when my daughter was in Jr high. She is good.

 

[Andrew74]

Gameday.

We started the game on defense. The other guys put together a very good drive. 4-8 yards on pretty much every down. My son, who normally plays all snaps on offense and then comes in and out on defense, was not on the field. Finally put him and our biggest kid in at DT once they drove to the 30. First play in they (my son and the big guy) both clog the middle and force a run out to the outside for like 2 yards which was the least gain given up to that point.

The next play the big kid basically close lines the RB for no gain.

Then next play they both (my son and big guy) penetrate along with a LB... misdirection run to the outside, penetration makes the RB pull back further and tries for the corner like they were doing all drive long.... but my son runs him down for about 7 yard tackle for loss. Talking to the head coach after the game, he said that only my son had the speed/size to do that.

4th down they kick my kid to DE, our DT's are playing 3 tech and they do a QB sneak right up the middle, two of our LB/secondary kids hit him but he breaks out... my son is in pursuit and their QB fumbles the ball (not sure why to be honest) and my son almost recovers but the QB got it. It was their biggest play of the game.

Next snap they hold them. Then after that, move my son back to DT, he penetrates and gets a 3 yard tackle for loss.

4th and 4, they run at him with a double block and he gets the tackle giving up a yard.

We take over on the 10. Our RB takes it for a 90 yard TD run.

Next defensive series is a 4 and out, my son gets another tackle for loss and caused chaos on another snap that ended in a tackle for loss for one of his team mates.

We take over and on our second offensive play of the day our other RB takes it 55 yards for a TD.

My son got another couple of tackles but they seemed to be running away from him for the rest of the game. The starters were pulled, Our 3rd and 4th RB's got their TD's. 26-0

One more win for an undefeated season. I found out there are no playoffs or championship games for the 3/4 graders. The DC told him that that was his best game of the season. HC after the game was telling me that every time they take him out of the game he winces but he let's the DC run that side. I told him that my son will give them all the snaps needed on both offense and defense. My son does a good job at G on offense but he is a game wrecker on D.

I mentioned how my son wanted to be a ball carrier and he started the rule of no kids over 80 pounds carrying the ball (though clearly the other teams don't really follow that rule). He said he could see him as a RB and I was saying that if he continues to have the size/height/strength/speed mix advantage that he has that I was thinking TE and DE. Looking for to the next game and hoping the boys can pull off that undefeated season.

True at any age but penetrating DTs in youth football is a giant cheat code. Heck just having kids that clog up the middle is huge.

This last game when the other team was pushed up against the end zone I was telepathically pleading for them to send my son in because there was a good chance he would get the safety.... he was so close to it. The last couple of games they started moving him around the line, he got a few snaps at DE and then even a couple at OLB. If he continues to have the same speed, quickness, size, and strength blend advantage as he gets older then he will do very well in years to come.

Now full speed with club swim (he has missed most of the practices since they started two weeks ago) and then in a few weeks school basketball starts. Swimming is phenomenal off-season conditioning. It is funny how football fit is not close to being swim fit. The only thing is with the other sports it makes it hard to do off-season camps/clinics for football but for sure will get some stuff in on the summer before next season to help him continue to develop.

With my son and then their big kid they really did cause havoc and then they have a couple of kids that are fast in the LB/secondary so their defense was very strong. I think they only gave up one TD the whole season in fact.

Swimming would be a great conditioning sport. My son played rugby in the spring and that kept him in great shape. However probably a little rougher on the body.

 

[Chadstroma]

This last game when the other team was pushed up against the end zone I was telepathically pleading for them to send my son in because there was a good chance he would get the safety.... he was so close to it. The last couple of games they started moving him around the line, he got a few snaps at DE and then even a couple at OLB. If he continues to have the same speed, quickness, size, and strength blend advantage as he gets older then he will do very well in years to come.

Now full speed with club swim (he has missed most of the practices since they started two weeks ago) and then in a few weeks school basketball starts. Swimming is phenomenal off-season conditioning. It is funny how football fit is not close to being swim fit. The only thing is with the other sports it makes it hard to do off-season camps/clinics for football but for sure will get some stuff in on the summer before next season to help him continue to develop.

With my son and then their big kid they really did cause havoc and then they have a couple of kids that are fast in the LB/secondary so their defense was very strong. I think they only gave up one TD the whole season in fact.

Swimming would be a great conditioning sport. My son played rugby in the spring and that kept him in great shape. However probably a little rougher on the body.

There is no doubt in my mind that his involvement in the spring/summer season of swimming was a large factor to his success this season in football. It is so hard to beat swimming for strength and conditioning and with the least amount of wear and tear on the body. I stumbled upon information that it actually is beneficial for encouraging height growth as well.

I would put it as equal for the two weeks of football camp he did over summer in terms of helping him get better for football. I am a huge fan of swimming now because I could see the impact it had on football. I am sure it will help him with his basketball season coming up too.

His sports by order of how much he likes them is football, soccer and then basketball and swimming are tied followed by baseball (which he doesn't play because... well... that is just too much). His first season (last season, the spring/summer season) he went to the conference championships and placed 3rd in the 25 free. A very strong 3rd too. .09 behind 2nd and .62 behind 1st. He is behind on this season because of football but the first meet is tomorrow (intrasquad meet). He is doing the 50 free, 200 free relay and 50 back (he will not be happy about the back- it is his least favorite stroke). I am really interested to see how he develops this season in swim. His last years best 50 is beating half of the 10 year olds on the team (he is 9) and not too far from the other 10 year olds that show better times.

I am really encouraging my youngest to do swimming. He wants to do it for next season so I am hoping he will be ready. His swimming development was really delayed because up until this late summer he didn't like water in his face. He is over that and is almost ready to graduate to the next level where he will get more space to swim which will help prep him to swim the full 25M pool. But yea, big fan of swimming for being a great sport for athletes who's "top" sport is something else. It is a great sport in itself (though the meets can be long and boring as a parent... basically half a day plus of sitting around trying to fill time punctuated with a min or so of pure excitement watching your kid swim).

 

[Jaysus]

My daughter batted .714 on the weekend and is now batting .643 for the fall... which is leading her team by a lot. Her coach had been batting her in the bottom 1/3 of the line up, but he moved her up to cleanup this weekend and she raked.

 

[Nigel]

My son is 6 weeks into his college lax career, up at 5:15am most days to be dressed and ready for fall-ball practice by 6. They really do own him, huge commitment, but he loves it. He played middie (two-way/short stick) his entire youth/HS career, never touched a long pole. But there it was waiting for him in his locker the third day of practice. Stick is taller than he is. Coach told him "we've got big plans for you Nigel Jr". No complaints, embraced the challenge, and by all accounts has been tearing it up. Whatever the path is to getting on the field asap when the real season starts in Feb, he is happy to take. He's got scrimmages against two teams this weekend that I'll be going to - will be telling as far as how "in the mix" he is for PT in this new role. Can't wait!

 

[Drunken knight]

My son is 6 weeks into his college lax career, up at 5:15am most days to be dressed and ready for fall-ball practice by 6. They really do own him, huge commitment, but he loves it. He played middie (two-way/short stick) his entire youth/HS career, never touched a long pole. But there it was waiting for him in his locker the third day of practice. Stick is taller than he is. Coach told him "we've got big plans for you Nigel Jr". No complaints, embraced the challenge, and by all accounts has been tearing it up. Whatever the path is to getting on the field asap when the real season starts in Feb, he is happy to take. He's got scrimmages against two teams this weekend that I'll be going to - will be telling as far as how "in the mix" he is for PT in this new role. Can't wait!

I was a defense-minded short stick middie. Very opportunistic.. excellent with takeaways and starting the fast break.

Center staring middie, man up, man down

 

[Jaysus]

"we've got big plans for you Nigel Jr".

Defense or long pole-middie?

 

[Nigel]

"we've got big plans for you Nigel Jr".

Defense or long pole-middie?

Originally assumed LSM but they've had him primarily at close D the past month. He's small (5'9") but has great feet and has picked up the slides very quickly.

 

[Chadstroma]

First meet last night. Intrasquad. He was entered in 50 free, 50 back and 200 free relay. After the last season, I was curious how he would do now being in the 10U as he is a young 9. He ended 4th out of 14 in the 50 free shaving 3+ seconds off his best time last year. They had him in third position in the 50 relay on their first team 10U relay. They easily beat the girls 10U and the second team of boys but that is harder to judge how they are going to do this season. 5th out of 7 on 50 back but he really doesn't like the back stroke. He has asked me to not enter him on any of the meets we pick what to enter. I told him to tell the coaches but after I saw they had him in the back I asked him if he said something to them and he said yes. I said, well, what did you say? He said "I said 'I don't like the back stroke'" Ok... well.... that just sounds like you are whining. You need to say "Hey coach, I would really prefer to focus on free and then fly and breast and not do back if at all possible" I keep encouraging him to work on the back because I think if he does he could do very well in the ind med but he just really does not like it. lol Overall, very happy of his progress even with only about 3 or 4 swim practices under his belt for the season as he finished football.

This weekend we have the first big meet. He will be doing 50 and 100 free, 50 and 100 breast (hoping he doesn't DQ like he kept doing last season) and 50 fly. I need to reinforce that he is going up against a number of 10 yr olds so not expect any top 3 finishes and just focus on establishing your times and lowering your best on the 50 and 100 frees.

 

[Chadstroma]

First big meet today (A smaller big meet... bigger than a dual but not as big as some of the big meets we have been at)....
100 Free, 100 Breast and 50 Fly today. 50 Free and 50 Breast tomorrow all 10U and my son is 2 months into being 9.

100 Free was not a good day for him. For whatever reason he was just gassed out of the gate. Added 5 seconds to his first leg form the 25 he did Tuesday. Ended 24 out of 28.

100 Breast was a miss because he DQ'ed. I got excited at first because it looked like he did not DQ with initial results but then they updated it to DQ.

50 Fly was a win. He won his heat and ended 7 out of 16 but 1st out of all 9 yr olds.

I expect him to do much better on the 50 Free tomorrow and hopefully he does not DQ on the breast.

 

[Chadstroma]

First big meet today (A smaller big meet... bigger than a dual but not as big as some of the big meets we have been at)....
100 Free, 100 Breast and 50 Fly today. 50 Free and 50 Breast tomorrow all 10U and my son is 2 months into being 9.

100 Free was not a good day for him. For whatever reason he was just gassed out of the gate. Added 5 seconds to his first leg form the 25 he did Tuesday. Ended 24 out of 28.

100 Breast was a miss because he DQ'ed. I got excited at first because it looked like he did not DQ with initial results but then they updated it to DQ.

50 Fly was a win. He won his heat and ended 7 out of 16 but 1st out of all 9 yr olds.

I expect him to do much better on the 50 Free tomorrow and hopefully he does not DQ on the breast.

Finished yesterday with the 50 Free and 50 Breast. He finally did not DQ in Breast which is awesome.

50 Free he shed another 2 second off his time from last Tuesday. Tomorrow is a dual meet. They have him on 50 Free, 50 Back (he isn't happy about that), 200 Free Relay (Team A) and 200 Medley Relay (Team B).

 

[Chadstroma]

My son broke the 40 second mark (39.81) doing the 200 Medley Relay (he was the freestyle leg) tonight and then shaved 8 seconds off his 50 Back.

On his 50 Free and then in the 200 Free Relay, he slipped somehow in pushing off on his turns and he ended up with very poor times 49 and 54.

 

[ex-ghost]

Son getting ready to run Districts (race before State) on Saturday. He should finish 2nd behind a kid who just committed to Northern Arizona (NAU) which is a great running school. He is just starting to run about 5 miles a day after injuries, so who knows what will happen. He has run three races, only one was a 5k. He needs to finish top 21 to get to state, should be good to go.

He has interest from Gonzaga, University of Portland, Montana State, Colorado State and Boise State. Visit to Boise was a good experience, no offer was made, he was told to go home and think about where Boise fits into his plans. He was hyped to go, but really didn't like the coaches. I did learn something new, the best part of these visits are the "photo shoot". The kids get to wear the uniforms, including the shoes, and get tons of pictures. Him and his buddy said they needed to practice the flex-and-yell, classic move. He had a good time and also picked up a nice parting gift of Covid.

 

[belljr]

Its been a long stressful process... little belljr also went into the worst slump of her life in the middle of it all.

But she finally got 2 offers from her 5 choices. We knew it was going to be a long process because she is focused on engineering and wanted to stay local so there is only a handful of choices to do that. She didn't show well in front of a couple coaches so that dampened her spirits. They weren't her top school and not the best softball wise but I'll be happy with either choice she makes. She just wants to play and get her engineering degree. Its "only" D3 but its nice to be wanted

 

[Chadstroma]

Son getting ready to run Districts (race before State) on Saturday. He should finish 2nd behind a kid who just committed to Northern Arizona (NAU) which is a great running school. He is just starting to run about 5 miles a day after injuries, so who knows what will happen. He has run three races, only one was a 5k. He needs to finish top 21 to get to state, should be good to go.

He has interest from Gonzaga, University of Portland, Montana State, Colorado State and Boise State. Visit to Boise was a good experience, no offer was made, he was told to go home and think about where Boise fits into his plans. He was hyped to go, but really didn't like the coaches. I did learn something new, the best part of these visits are the "photo shoot". The kids get to wear the uniforms, including the shoes, and get tons of pictures. Him and his buddy said they needed to practice the flex-and-yell, classic move. He had a good time and also picked up a nice parting gift of Covid.

I did post-grad online work at Gonzaga and there is a requirement for a 4 day class on campus. I absolutely loved the campus and Spokane was an awesome small town. I loved having dinner at this nice restaurant next to the river going through. All the profs were good people that were engaged in the learning process to help you flourish. From my experience, I would give a strong recommendation though I have no idea about how their running program is.

 

[ex-ghost]

Son getting ready to run Districts (race before State) on Saturday. He should finish 2nd behind a kid who just committed to Northern Arizona (NAU) which is a great running school. He is just starting to run about 5 miles a day after injuries, so who knows what will happen. He has run three races, only one was a 5k. He needs to finish top 21 to get to state, should be good to go.

He has interest from Gonzaga, University of Portland, Montana State, Colorado State and Boise State. Visit to Boise was a good experience, no offer was made, he was told to go home and think about where Boise fits into his plans. He was hyped to go, but really didn't like the coaches. I did learn something new, the best part of these visits are the "photo shoot". The kids get to wear the uniforms, including the shoes, and get tons of pictures. Him and his buddy said they needed to practice the flex-and-yell, classic move. He had a good time and also picked up a nice parting gift of Covid.

I did post-grad online work at Gonzaga and there is a requirement for a 4 day class on campus. I absolutely loved the campus and Spokane was an awesome small town. I loved having dinner at this nice restaurant next to the river going through. All the profs were good people that were engaged in the learning process to help you flourish. From my experience, I would give a strong recommendation though I have no idea about how their running program is.

Thanks Chad. Yes, Gonzaga is a great small school and their running program is usually in the top 30 of D1 programs. It is definitely the best academic school on the list. They do their official visits in January around their home basketball games and put the recruits in floor seats.

 

[zoobird]

really didn't like the coaches

Seems like this should be a HUGE negative for an athlete

 

[zoobird]

little belljr

Because of this phrasing, I've always thought she was about 11 years old

 

[Jaysus]

Its been a long stressful process... little belljr also went into the worst slump of her life in the middle of it all.

But she finally got 2 offers from her 5 choices. We knew it was going to be a long process because she is focused on engineering and wanted to stay local so there is only a handful of choices to do that. She didn't show well in front of a couple coaches so that dampened her spirits. They weren't her top school and not the best softball wise but I'll be happy with either choice she makes. She just wants to play and get her engineering degree. Its "only" D3 but its nice to be wanted

That is awesome, congratulations! Is she a Junior or Senior? At what point did she decide on a major? My daughter is a sophomore and has been talking to some DIII coaches.

 

[belljr]

Its been a long stressful process... little belljr also went into the worst slump of her life in the middle of it all.

But she finally got 2 offers from her 5 choices. We knew it was going to be a long process because she is focused on engineering and wanted to stay local so there is only a handful of choices to do that. She didn't show well in front of a couple coaches so that dampened her spirits. They weren't her top school and not the best softball wise but I'll be happy with either choice she makes. She just wants to play and get her engineering degree. Its "only" D3 but its nice to be wanted

That is awesome, congratulations! Is she a Junior or Senior? At what point did she decide on a major? My daughter is a sophomore and has been talking to some DIII coaches.

She is a senior. She was a sophomore when she decided on mechanical engineering. I can go into more detail if need be but shes not a stud pitcher or a bombers, just a solid versatile player with average to above average bat (except this summer)and speed. so we knew this could drag on. Anyway because of her major and her preferences we started with a small list and a couple dream schools. SHe got a few no's over the summer, some coaches just ghosted her after much communication and this fall she started talking with a couple schools not on her original list. THe one school she was locked into the coach retired over the summer. There is a bunch more I could probably go into but we were ok if she got no offers because of the small list. I am 100% sure we would have probably been done end of summer if she had a less specific major. If she wasnt going to play we would probably be looking at other schools right now because of her good grades

 

[ex-ghost]

really didn't like the coaches

Seems like this should be a HUGE negative for an athlete

Totally and you know where most of the information came from? The current athletes. They dished a lot on their coaches and the program. Boise has lots of international runners and the American runners told my son that even though they like each other, there is a big financial rift between the two. Most of the scholarship money goes to the internationals who supposedly also get subsides from their own governments, while many of the American runners get less money and are working jobs to make ends meet.