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

[Senor Schmutzig]

10-1 now after a 2-0 victory over a tough team that is visiting South Florida from Baltimore. My son went 2-3 with one RBI.

He was struggling a bit in the beginning of the season but has gained some confidence the last couple of games by focusing on making contact, regardless of what the outcome was. Good things happen when contact is made.

A 3-0 week gets them the weekend off of practice.

 

[Chadstroma]

One last celebration for the Fall/Winter season of swim for my son... they had their banquet tonight and part of it is handing out a few awards for each age group. My son won the "Most Improved Swimmer" for the 10U for the club. They give three awards out: MVP, Rookie of the Year and Most Improved. Before, he said he knew he wouldn't get the MVP. It was obvious who would win that and then he isn't a rookie so he wouldn't get that but then said "I think I might win the Most Improved".

He got his medals for Regionals and all the ribbons from the meets for placing. I think it got him more jazzed for the upcoming Spring/Summer season.

He was very proud and took everything over to his grandparents house where they are spending the night to show off.

 

[Gally]

Started league this weekend. Because of the stupid umpire strike I talked about before all league games will be double header Saturday. This past weekend was the first doubleheader. It turned out it was also the inaugural night game at our field. One of our alums that made it to MLB donated $1.5M to install lights at our field and it happened over the past year and they had a big ceremony commemorating the event. It was really a cool event.

I was hoping my son would get the start in the night game but he wanted to start the first game so he could start the day focusing on pitching and getting that done rather than have to play a game have the ceremony and they try and refocus. So he started the first game (not sure if he requested it or the coach was going to do that anyway).

The team they played against is probably the worst in the league. They are really young and just aren't very good. So in the first game we jumped out to a 6 run first inning to set the tone. We were visitors because they split the games since they are league games. It the bottom of the first my son struck out two and got a weak comebacker for out three. Second inning he struck out the side. Third inning he lost command for a batter and walked the leadoff guy (there goes the perfect game) then got a ground ball for one out. Walked another guy. Then a pop out and K. Fourth inning. Two more pop outs and another strike out. Fifth inning, strikeout, ground out, line out. 6th inning, ground out, E5 (air mailed throw on a routine grounder), pop out, E5 (run scores on the over throw), ground out. The second error was a tough play on a weak hit ground ball but the 3B just airmailed the throw. A good throw and he is out. There was some discussion on hit or error but it was decided to be ruled an error. The score is 8-1 and we score 4 more in the top of the 7th. My son is at 86 pitches but still throwing strong. Coaches debate pulling him but he lobbies to stay in due to the current circumstance. Coaches go to the press box to confirm the play was ruled an error by the official scorekeeper. They decide to leave him in. 7th inning, 4-3, 3-1, 3-1. No hitter!!!!!!!!

The bummer part is only a couple of the players on the field realized what was happening (might have been a good thing..hahahah) so he wasn't mobbed on the last out. It was like any other game. It wasn't until after the game when the coaches told the team that they all went crazy. Oh by the way, my son also went 3-4 at the plate with two doubles and 4 RBI's. Pretty good game all around. On the mound he finished with 7 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 8 K's, 1 R (0 ER) to go 5-0 on the year with 3 CG's.

Second game we blew them out again 13-0 in 5 innings (10-run rule). They at least scratched out two hits. My son was pulled out of the game (he was playing 3B) after 3 plate appearances through 3 innings. He was 1-1 with 2 BB's and 2 runs scored. So on the day he went 4-5 and pitched a no hitter. Not too shabby.

So his team keeps rolling. They are now 10-0 (2-0 in league) and are ranked #1 by MaxPreps in the CIF central section and #9 in California. They are the only team in the state with double digits wins and no losses. I really don't think they are as good as those rankings but they are playing solid baseball. They should be favored to win the rest of their league games although there should be some competitive games where if they don't play solid they will be beat. The last matchup of the year is against the team currently ranked #5 if CIF central section. That will likely be for the league title.

Stats:

• 13-28 (.464), 7 R, 8 RBI, 4 doubles, 5 BB, 2 K, .514 OBP, .607 SLG, 1.121 OPS
• 33.2 IP, 6 ER (1.25 ERA), 3 CG, 23 H, 4 BB, 30 K, 5-0

 

[The Z Machine]

Impressive @Gally

 

[Gally]

Impressive @Gally

It's all him. I am just enjoying getting to watch him and his team play well.

 

[acarey50]

I bragged on my sophomore for his soccer successes earlier, so now to brag on my senior for his basketball accomplishments.

Senior season awards:
Scholar Athlete
2nd Team All-League
Offensive Player of the Year (renamed the Marksmanship Award this year as the vast majority of his scoring came from his 3 point shooting)

His percentage was down a bit this year, partially due to an insane increase in volume and partly because he was face guarded in most games, so not a lot of wide open opportunities. For his varsity career a 34% 3 PT shooter (130 of 387) in 71 games.

 

[Gally]

My son earned the High School player of the week for his no hitter last week. The area schools/media have an "athletic roundtable" luncheon every week to talk about all the county schools and all spring sports. They award one male and one female athlete the player of the week. It's a nice honor since the competition is all spring sport athletes. Picture in the local paper and a little write up of the accomplishments. Pretty cool.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

My sons team was ranked #7 in the latest D2 College Lacrosse rankings and played the #3 ranked Montana Grizzlies last night in San Diego. The weather was extremely wet and windy all day and into the warmups but started to settle down around the second quarter and completely backed off for the second half. His team came out of the gates fired up and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before giving one back. My kid and the other two defensive players locked down their attack and only allowed 1 goal to an attack player all game. Final score was San Marcos 15- Grizzlies 5!!! it was 9-4 at half and the game never felt close as our team dominated in every way.

So now we are going to jump up the rankings to probably #2 in the rankings, plus that win punched our ticket to Round Rock, Texas for the D2 championships at the start of May. 5 of the remaining 6 games are against bad teams with the only challenge being UCSD whom they play their final league game against. League playoffs will determine the seeding in Texas but even if they are upset during the playoff weekend they will get an at large spot. Just booked my room and I'm beyond excited for him and his teammates.

 

[Gally]

OK. League Round #2. This time it was a double header against the team that won the league last year. My son got the start in Game 1. The first inning started out rough with a lead off walk (he only had 6 walks in 34 IP's on the year but more on that in a minute), a pop up that the CF lost in the sun then over threw 2B for the force out (had him by a mile with a decent throw). Then a double double that was crushed to score 2. Then a hit batter, then a stolen base. Nobody out 2 in and runners at 2nd & 3rd. Next batter hits a shallow fly to RF. The RF catches it and pumps the guy out at the plate for a double play. Then a K to end the inning.

Terrible start and kind of a slap to the face. After that my son settled in and gave up no more hits in his 5 IP. The ump was absolutely the worst of the year so far. Very inconsistent and squeezed one side and not the other. At least two separate batters my son through 5 pitches. All strikes and it was a walk. He probably had his best single batter of the year (against their best hitter) where he throw a 2 seam running FB that painted the inside corner (LH hitter). A change on the outer 3rd at the knees, another FB identical to the first pitch and it was 3-0 and should have been a K. He then through a get me over CB for strike 1 (looking). Then another inside FB identical to the first two. This time called a strike. Then a nasty 3-2 slider that froze the guy on the inside third at the knees in the same spot the pitch before was called a K. This was the way the game would go. He ended with 5 walks (only had 6 on the year to this point) and probably had to throw 15-20 more pitches because of the inconsistency. Really frustrating.

Anyway team battled and took the lead 3-2 going into the 5th. With two outs and runners on 1st/2nd he got the batter to pop out to 2B but the 2B lost it in the sun. The SS and 1B collide and the ball drops allowing the tying run to score (runner did a great job of running hard from the get go and it was high enough the was able to score from 2B). We finish the inning tied 3-3. We don't score in the 6th and due to pitch count (100 pitches) my son comes out having given up 2 hits (both in the first inning), 5 BB's (probably only 1 legit), 2 HBP, 3 R (1 ER), and 3 K's. They bring in a RP and he can't find the plate and struggles. They score 3 runs to go up 6-3. On to the bottom of the 6th. We put an 8 spot on the board to go up 11-6 and bring in another RP. He struggle and gives up a couple BB's a few hits and now it's 11-9 with two outs and the bases loaded. Another pitching change and he gives up a hit to score two then we finally get out of the inning all tied up. Just a complete debacle on the mound from our relief pitchers. Ump didn't help with the moving strike zone but the players just didn't get it done. We don't score in the bottom of the 7th. Top 8th and some more errors (by the pitcher). A walk or two, a few hits and they score 3. We go quietly in the bottom of the 8th and lose our first game.

Really unfortunate as they played terrible, relief pitchers struggled (likely due to a lack of work as there have only been 3.1 IP's combined for RP's un until this game), and couldn't make a play when needed.

On to game 2. We score one in the top of the 1st. They come back and score 2 in the bottom of the first. We tied it up in the 3rd. Score two more in the 4th, 5th and 6th and win 8-2. Nice revenge but a big opportunity lost in the first game.

On the day by son went 2-8 (started out 2-2) with a couple walks and on base by error twice. Hit well just a little unlucky on a couple line drives at people. PItching was a struggle mostly due to a moving strike zone but only gave up 1 ER over 5 IP. An uncharacteristic 5 BB and 3 K's. I thought he pitched well and deserved better but thems the breaks sometimes. He showed some good composure when there were a couple times I thought he was going to lose it on some calls. But he battled and showed some toughness. Good learning experience.

First loss out of the way but battled back after a heartbreaking loss to win going away. 11-1 and 3-1 in league. Until next week......

 

[Chadstroma]

OK. League Round #2. This time it was a double header against the team that won the league last year. My son got the start in Game 1. The first inning started out rough with a lead off walk (he only had 6 walks in 34 IP's on the year but more on that in a minute), a pop up that the CF lost in the sun then over threw 2B for the force out (had him by a mile with a decent throw). Then a double double that was crushed to score 2. Then a hit batter, then a stolen base. Nobody out 2 in and runners at 2nd & 3rd. Next batter hits a shallow fly to RF. The RF catches it and pumps the guy out at the plate for a double play. Then a K to end the inning.

Terrible start and kind of a slap to the face. After that my son settled in and gave up no more hits in his 5 IP. The ump was absolutely the worst of the year so far. Very inconsistent and squeezed one side and not the other. At least two separate batters my son through 5 pitches. All strikes and it was a walk. He probably had his best single batter of the year (against their best hitter) where he throw a 2 seam running FB that painted the inside corner (LH hitter). A change on the outer 3rd at the knees, another FB identical to the first pitch and it was 3-0 and should have been a K. He then through a get me over CB for strike 1 (looking). Then another inside FB identical to the first two. This time called a strike. Then a nasty 3-2 slider that froze the guy on the inside third at the knees in the same spot the pitch before was called a K. This was the way the game would go. He ended with 5 walks (only had 6 on the year to this point) and probably had to throw 15-20 more pitches because of the inconsistency. Really frustrating.

Anyway team battled and took the lead 3-2 going into the 5th. With two outs and runners on 1st/2nd he got the batter to pop out to 2B but the 2B lost it in the sun. The SS and 1B collide and the ball drops allowing the tying run to score (runner did a great job of running hard from the get go and it was high enough the was able to score from 2B). We finish the inning tied 3-3. We don't score in the 6th and due to pitch count (100 pitches) my son comes out having given up 2 hits (both in the first inning), 5 BB's (probably only 1 legit), 2 HBP, 3 R (1 ER), and 3 K's. They bring in a RP and he can't find the plate and struggles. They score 3 runs to go up 6-3. On to the bottom of the 6th. We put an 8 spot on the board to go up 11-6 and bring in another RP. He struggle and gives up a couple BB's a few hits and now it's 11-9 with two outs and the bases loaded. Another pitching change and he gives up a hit to score two then we finally get out of the inning all tied up. Just a complete debacle on the mound from our relief pitchers. Ump didn't help with the moving strike zone but the players just didn't get it done. We don't score in the bottom of the 7th. Top 8th and some more errors (by the pitcher). A walk or two, a few hits and they score 3. We go quietly in the bottom of the 8th and lose our first game.

Really unfortunate as they played terrible, relief pitchers struggled (likely due to a lack of work as there have only been 3.1 IP's combined for RP's un until this game), and couldn't make a play when needed.

On to game 2. We score one in the top of the 1st. They come back and score 2 in the bottom of the first. We tied it up in the 3rd. Score two more in the 4th, 5th and 6th and win 8-2. Nice revenge but a big opportunity lost in the first game.

On the day by son went 2-8 (started out 2-2) with a couple walks and on base by error twice. Hit well just a little unlucky on a couple line drives at people. PItching was a struggle mostly due to a moving strike zone but only gave up 1 ER over 5 IP. An uncharacteristic 5 BB and 3 K's. I thought he pitched well and deserved better but thems the breaks sometimes. He showed some good composure when there were a couple times I thought he was going to lose it on some calls. But he battled and showed some toughness. Good learning experience.

First loss out of the way but battled back after a heartbreaking loss to win going away. 11-1 and 3-1 in league. Until next week......

Sucks for the loss but I like how he didn't fall apart after the very bad start and the frustration of the calls. That says a lot about his mental game as a pitcher.

 

[El Floppo]

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!

Three games into the regular season and it's going better that we could have hoped from a playing time standpoint. He's one of four poles seeing regular time at close D (does not start, but first guy rotating in). When not playing close D he's getting some shifts at LSM and is a regular on the wing for faceoffs. He's a scrappy little bugger, causing turnovers, scooping groundballs , pushing transition. If you ask him the highlight thus far was scoring his first NCAA goal in a game played in heavy snow this past Sunday. For me, it's how evident it is from conversations with other parents at games how much he's impressed everyone in the program early on. "What # is your son?...oh, the kid who switched from middie to long-pole? Joey told me all about him." It's been a similar conversation the first time I've met pretty much every other dad. And watching him interact socially with teammates and coaches at post-games, it's obvious how how well-liked and respected he is. It's been an absolute blast to observe. Team had a tough opening loss but a couple of good wins since and is really starting to jell, hoping the good times continue to roll on all fronts.

Remind me which school he is attending



Daughter is about to start her HS season this week (@ Berkeley). Last year she transitioned from attack to D. This will be her first true year as D and learned a lot this summer/fall. Will likely play M/D this year. Love seeing her extend plays in transition. We have known the new coach since club and he know how to use her offensive skills. Can't wait

Lost to Berkeley hs on Thursday 11-13. Daughter is starting to anchor the defense. Playing great: take aways, passes defended, 2 assists.

Just played Novato: won 18-8. Coach was resting starters in the 2nd half. She looks prime for a strong season

novato is where my boys went to school, the girls were dominant for a stretch about 8 years ago or so.

one of my old teams/friends' daughter was a part of that strong girls team. back when i played (late 80s), they had some skilled players, but they were known as football players who staying shape in the offseason by playing lacrosse. my closest friend (best man) was concussed twice vs novato...one started a very big brawl


our girls are 2-2. the 2 wins were blow outs. lost one by 2, and one by 1 in OT. our girls were man down for 3 quarters of the game in that one

Novato was our farthest away game (Tam), but easiest out for soccer.

Novato was always big farm-type kids good at football and baseball. by my senior year (85'), I saw the first hispanic kid show up to play for their soccer team... good player, and soooo frustrated playing on that team.

but nobody's worse than MC, right drunken?

 

[Chadstroma]

First soccer game Sunday for school.

The soccer for the catholic school league is a mess. In talking to the coaches and other parents, I found out that schools tend to have trouble getting enough kids to field a team so some schools don't and some do which causes chaos, that the league is unorganized in general by the parent volunteers, and communication is horrible.

As a result, we didn't even have a practice as the sign ups were late (since we don't know if there IS a league or not until late) and then for whatever reason, games started earlier than last year even though there are less teams. They played the game without any practice partly due to that and partly due to weather. The teams are grouped with 3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th grades. My son being in 4th. I was curious how they would look, not only because they had not practiced at all but last year they did not lose a game until the Championship game so they ended in 2nd. Their best player from last year is now in 5th grade. It looks like they are going to be a force again. 7-2 win and it wasn't really that close.

My son is good enough to be a starter but not one of the stars. He plays.... defense? Defensiveman? I dunno... the last dude before the goalie.... whatever that is. He does his job but also talent wise is clearly 7th best player. I was wondering about two things watching him: 1) This seems like the sport he does that he least excels at and 2) How is it his second favorite sport? To be fair, the top 6 or so kids also play club soccer which is year round.

Towards the end of the game, he comes into goalie- which he has never played before. I happened to be sitting near to that goal post so I heckled him a little bit giving him a hard time "Do you know what you are doing?" and "You know you are supposed to stop the ball from getting into the net, right?" a few joking comments like that.

The other team had one really good kick on goal against him but he dove and stopped it. It was really nice and honestly, the other two goalies we had (one who started last year at goalie) would not have got. He had one more nice stop. His 'punts' as he called them (which I told him I don't think that is what they are called) wasone that was not so good and then one that was a pretty good one. I have a feeling he just won the goalie starting role moving forward. It probably uses his athleticism to the most impact for the team.

Afterwards, I asked him "did you ask to go to goalie"? and he said yes. That they asked someone else and they said they didn't want to do he said he would. Today he said "I didn't even know I could play goalie" and I told him "me neither but you did a good job".

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

 

[Chadstroma]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

 

[El Floppo]

so yeah- the way it was presented to us... she had to be top 3 to get to play in 8th grade.

 

[Chadstroma]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

 

[Gally]

Sucks for the loss but I like how he didn't fall apart after the very bad start and the frustration of the calls. That says a lot about his mental game as a pitcher.

I completely agree. He battled tough conditions and was visibally frustrated but he beared down when needed. He only have up 2 hits (both in the first inning) and kept his team in the game through 5 innings. It was a nice test of maturity and I thought he passed nicely.

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

 

[Gally]

so yeah- the way it was presented to us... she had to be top 3 to get to play in 8th grade.

So she is the Michael Jordan of girls tennis. Cut from the Varsity team as an 8th grader......but went on to persevere and be the best tennis player in the world....I can see the 30-30 now.

Just joking around here. It makes sense the way they are doing it but it is disappointing that the JV team seems not good enough and the varsity maybe a little too good. All she can do is keep working and pushing herself.

 

[Chadstroma]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

there are... but been hard to find. mostly attached to tennis clubs which are too expensive and usually in the suburbs for us. it's mostly an individual sport.

she takes classes and hits with me against a wall (I have no background- everything I've learned about tennis is from going to her classes over the last few years). she also plays in occasional tournaments.

this really is a rich person's sport. classes are expensive. private coaching- which is really the only way to get better- are super expensive. tournaments... expensive. it's a sport where the more you play- especially with a coach- the better you get. all about getting reps in. during the winter months here in NYC- you have to pay just to get on a court. summer time, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the public courts or wait upwards of 2 hours just to play 1 hour. it's ****ing crazy.

eta: I started a thread on her journey... it sucks. she's good- I can see she's just as good as any of the girls she's played against outside of a few. but her lack of reps and coaching put her at huge disadvantage in terms of her consistency, so she loses as much as she wins. frustrating for her, which makes it sad/frustrating for me... because I simply can't afford to for her to keep up with lil miss jones's

 

[Chadstroma]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

there are... but been hard to find. mostly attached to tennis clubs which are too expensive and usually in the suburbs for us. it's mostly an individual sport.

she takes classes and hits with me against a wall (I have no background- everything I've learned about tennis is from going to her classes over the last few years). she also plays in occasional tournaments.

this really is a rich person's sport. classes are expensive. private coaching- which is really the only way to get better- are super expensive. tournaments... expensive. it's a sport where the more you play- especially with a coach- the better you get. all about getting reps in. during the winter months here in NYC- you have to pay just to get on a court. summer time, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the public courts or wait upwards of 2 hours just to play 1 hour. it's ****ing crazy.

eta: I started a thread on her journey... it sucks. she's good- I can see she's just as good as any of the girls she's played against outside of a few. but her lack of reps and coaching put her at huge disadvantage in terms of her consistency, so she loses as much as she wins. frustrating for her, which makes it sad/frustrating for me... because I simply can't afford to for her to keep up with lil miss jones's

One of the few sports my son indicated he really didn't have any interest in was tennis. After reading this, I have to say it is a relief.

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

there are... but been hard to find. mostly attached to tennis clubs which are too expensive and usually in the suburbs for us. it's mostly an individual sport.

she takes classes and hits with me against a wall (I have no background- everything I've learned about tennis is from going to her classes over the last few years). she also plays in occasional tournaments.

this really is a rich person's sport. classes are expensive. private coaching- which is really the only way to get better- are super expensive. tournaments... expensive. it's a sport where the more you play- especially with a coach- the better you get. all about getting reps in. during the winter months here in NYC- you have to pay just to get on a court. summer time, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the public courts or wait upwards of 2 hours just to play 1 hour. it's ****ing crazy.

eta: I started a thread on her journey... it sucks. she's good- I can see she's just as good as any of the girls she's played against outside of a few. but her lack of reps and coaching put her at huge disadvantage in terms of her consistency, so she loses as much as she wins. frustrating for her, which makes it sad/frustrating for me... because I simply can't afford to for her to keep up with lil miss jones's

One of the few sports my son indicated he really didn't have any interest in was tennis. After reading this, I have to say it is a relief.

its a cool sport, I guess... can play deeeeep into adult life.

but super technical, which is why coaching is so key to getting better. athleticism can only take you so far.. and at this age (u12) it's the kids from country clubs with private coaches who rule- not the best athletes. I assume it will be a venn diagram of technique and athleticism as they age... but if you can't afford the technique, it's a losing battle (just like you can't teach the athleticism).

 

[((Morpheus))]

Is chess a sport? Because my 9yo took down a titled player for the first time last weekend

 

[The Z Machine]

My son got a hit in his first at bat! Ran out an infield single. Just a scrimmage but it was his first time at the plate in his life. Kid pitch 9-11 year old "minors" little league. Man that game is hard to watch...

 

[Chadstroma]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

there are... but been hard to find. mostly attached to tennis clubs which are too expensive and usually in the suburbs for us. it's mostly an individual sport.

she takes classes and hits with me against a wall (I have no background- everything I've learned about tennis is from going to her classes over the last few years). she also plays in occasional tournaments.

this really is a rich person's sport. classes are expensive. private coaching- which is really the only way to get better- are super expensive. tournaments... expensive. it's a sport where the more you play- especially with a coach- the better you get. all about getting reps in. during the winter months here in NYC- you have to pay just to get on a court. summer time, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the public courts or wait upwards of 2 hours just to play 1 hour. it's ****ing crazy.

eta: I started a thread on her journey... it sucks. she's good- I can see she's just as good as any of the girls she's played against outside of a few. but her lack of reps and coaching put her at huge disadvantage in terms of her consistency, so she loses as much as she wins. frustrating for her, which makes it sad/frustrating for me... because I simply can't afford to for her to keep up with lil miss jones's

One of the few sports my son indicated he really didn't have any interest in was tennis. After reading this, I have to say it is a relief.

its a cool sport, I guess... can play deeeeep into adult life.

but super technical, which is why coaching is so key to getting better. athleticism can only take you so far.. and at this age (u12) it's the kids from country clubs with private coaches who rule- not the best athletes. I assume it will be a venn diagram of technique and athleticism as they age... but if you can't afford the technique, it's a losing battle (just like you can't teach the athleticism).

I tried as a kid. I could not get the ball to drop to save my life. Line drive home runs every time.

 

[El Floppo]

and again... love hearing about all of this from you guys.

we found out my daughter couldn't even try out for the tennis team until 8th grade (it's HS, but we had been told while applying that 7th graders were eligible to try out... and she had been really looking forward to it next year). And even then- she has to be good enough to be a starter on Varsity to play as an 8th grader... which means being one of the top 3 singles players.

she went and watched a JV match in the fall- which I had thought would be good for her to see. I expected the kids to be pretty good- tennis is sport for rich folk, and the school is full of those. when I got home from work I asked her how they were- "I'd beat every one of them". lol. I love the confidence, but am sad about the state of the JV team, if that's true. I'm hoping she continues to progress and can compete for one of those top 3 spots on Varsity in 8th grade.

Am I understanding correctly.... for her to make varsity in 8th grade, she has to be one of the top 3 players? Like, no bench? (I dunno how that works in tennis) so if not then to JV? How many make the varsity team?

Varsity Tennis has 5 matches- 3 singles and 2 doubles. In theory, she could be selected to play doubles- but I think those are usually pairs that come up through JV.

she's ineligible for JV until she's in HS. They want JV to be inclusive of kids who might be new to the sport- more about getting kids to play and less about w/l. what was explained to us is they make a special exception for advanced athletes to play Varsity who might otherwise look elsewhere to play- so JV is not a place for younger kids who are pretty good, but not advanced enough for varsity, to beat up on newbies.

uhhh.... ok. I guess.

lol... that was exactly my response to the AD at her school when he told us that.

Are there tennis club teams? (Tennis is a world I don't know much of at all)

there are... but been hard to find. mostly attached to tennis clubs which are too expensive and usually in the suburbs for us. it's mostly an individual sport.

she takes classes and hits with me against a wall (I have no background- everything I've learned about tennis is from going to her classes over the last few years). she also plays in occasional tournaments.

this really is a rich person's sport. classes are expensive. private coaching- which is really the only way to get better- are super expensive. tournaments... expensive. it's a sport where the more you play- especially with a coach- the better you get. all about getting reps in. during the winter months here in NYC- you have to pay just to get on a court. summer time, you have to pay to reserve a spot at the public courts or wait upwards of 2 hours just to play 1 hour. it's ****ing crazy.

eta: I started a thread on her journey... it sucks. she's good- I can see she's just as good as any of the girls she's played against outside of a few. but her lack of reps and coaching put her at huge disadvantage in terms of her consistency, so she loses as much as she wins. frustrating for her, which makes it sad/frustrating for me... because I simply can't afford to for her to keep up with lil miss jones's

One of the few sports my son indicated he really didn't have any interest in was tennis. After reading this, I have to say it is a relief.

its a cool sport, I guess... can play deeeeep into adult life.

but super technical, which is why coaching is so key to getting better. athleticism can only take you so far.. and at this age (u12) it's the kids from country clubs with private coaches who rule- not the best athletes. I assume it will be a venn diagram of technique and athleticism as they age... but if you can't afford the technique, it's a losing battle (just like you can't teach the athleticism).

I tried as a kid. I could not get the ball to drop to save my life. Line drive home runs every time.

funny thing- some friends and I picked it up for a few months after college. all former athletes in other sports- and we'd have some pretty banging matches. thought we were pretty good. I had a roommate at the time who had been a juniors player in SoCal- played against Pete Sampras as a kid- who we kept trying to get to join us... but he kept avoiding it. one day, he finally comes out to hit with me... and I simply couldn't return the ball. like you- everything was baseball style and running around for me. he would take everything effortlessly and put so much spin on it with so much pace... we couldn't even rally, let alone play a match. he tried to give me some pointers- but there was just so much to absorb, that was basically the end of the tennis days lol.

 

[Gally]

Man that game is hard to watch...

I feel for you. Not enough kids play baseball on their own so that when it comes to LL type play it is terribly painful to watch. It's as if they have never swung a bat or threw a ball in their life for many of them. Just painful.

What's worse is when the umps have such a small strikezone no pitcher can throw three out of 7 pitches for strikes and it becomes an absolute walk fest. I would much rather have the zone be huge and force the kids to swing the bat to make something happen. Walk-fests kill the entire game because the kids don't get to make plays, run bases, or swing the bat. Just brutal.

 

[The Z Machine]

Man that game is hard to watch...

I feel for you. Not enough kids play baseball on their own so that when it comes to LL type play it is terribly painful to watch. It's as if they have never swung a bat or threw a ball in their life for many of them. Just painful.

What's worse is when the umps have such a small strikezone no pitcher can throw three out of 7 pitches for strikes and it becomes an absolute walk fest. I would much rather have the zone be huge and force the kids to swing the bat to make something happen. Walk-fests kill the entire game because the kids don't get to make plays, run bases, or swing the bat. Just brutal.

Hopefully the strike zone is large and they get the kids to swing. Most of the kids have been playing for a few years and can throw and know how to swing the bat. My son, notsomuch. But he's coordinated enough and can follow instructions so he should get the hang of it as long as he stays interested. Seeing him in right field though, just standing there for 30 mins... brutal. I longed for him to have a soccer ball at his feet and see something happen.

 

[Gally]

Hopefully the strike zone is large and they get the kids to swing. Most of the kids have been playing for a few years and can throw and know how to swing the bat. My son, notsomuch. But he's coordinated enough and can follow instructions so he should get the hang of it as long as he stays interested. Seeing him in right field though, just standing there for 30 mins... brutal. I longed for him to have a soccer ball at his feet and see something happen.

Hopefully your coaches are good enough that they rotate all players through the infield. First Base is a really the only position on the infield where you may limit kid involvement due to the injury aspect. They have to be able to protect themselves from thrown balls but rotating inexperienced kids through 2B or 3B should be done to give everyone an opportunity to stay involved. Now kids that are picking daisies even when on the infield may "play" themselves out of that opportunity but the opportunity should be given.

I also hope they are at least giving all the players an opportunity to get "pitching" practice each week. This is essential to developing proper throwing mechanics and should be done for every kid at that age. It doesn't take a lot of time and can be utilized as one of the stations at practice. I was able to really improve every kids throwing mechanics tremendously by giving them this opportunity each week. It also helped keep them engaged as they were "pitching".

Good luck on the year. I hope it turns around a bit as far as the excitement goes.

 

[The Z Machine]

Thanks, @Gally . I've been impressed with the coaching so far. There are something like 6 teams in the "minor" league, and all the kids from all teams practice at the same time. They do something like 10-12 different "skills and drills" stations, and rotate groups of 7-8 through each station. I think one is pitching, but they didn't have it at the first 2 practices. I think they've added it since, but I didn't watch those.

In the scrimmage yesterday, I know they rotated players through the positions, and they had 2 pitchers per inning. This group of coaches really isn't about winning games. They just want the kids to improve and have fun. And that's the way it should be.

 

[belljr]

First scrimmage... Little belljr 0-2 2ks.....back to watching and not swinging......sigh.... Can't get her over the hump with this ...... guarantee coach benches her next scrimmage or moves her to the end.... Just off a cliff last summer

 

[Andrew74]

My son’s rec league basketball ended. They were not good. His team was a bunch of small 5th graders who think they play in the NBA - constantly bombing 3s and not playing D. My son did okay; bball is his fun sport he plays in a rec league. I just liked to see him hustle, fight under the boards for rebounds and be a team player. He does need to work on his left-handed layups.

He’s had one lacrosse game they tied. It’s pretty competitive around here and he doesn’t like the sport (to my surprise) enough to put in much work. So he’s on the B team. He seems to play well and enjoyed being a defender. At the end of the game he scooped the ball, raced to mid-field and lofted a perfect pass to a streaking striker (I think) over his defender. Right in front of the net. Dude dropped it.

He’s favorite spring sport is rugby. Games start after this week’s spring break. He weighs only 85lbs or so in 6th grade, so the fearlessness scares me. I tell him to play with controlled aggression. I have to tell myself this is better than being timid.

Team’s coach starting posting player “bios” on the team page. The coach started calling him “The Legend” after he drove a kid twice his size 5 yards backward on a tackle during his first game.

“The Legend is a fearless player and a man of few words. He is one of the best rugby players I've been around at any level. Despite being one of the youngest and smallest players, Sam was the best player on the pitch at last year's all-star match.”

Oh boy.

 

[Gally]

Two more league games. Two more wins. This was against the previously un beaten in league co-leaders at the time. My son pitched the first game (seems to have settled in to the tone setter of the doubleheaders as the first guy). He went 7 Innings allowing 1 unearned run on 6 hits, 1 BB, and 7 K's. Team won 7-1. He went 0-3 at the plate but had a "non sac" fly in the first by hitting a fly ball to RF to allow the runner on 2B to tag and advance to 3rd with less than two outs. He also had and RBI groundout his next AB as he scored the runner from 3B with the infield back. Even though it counts 0-2 it was good situational hitting.

2nd game was a drubbing as the other team just gave up about the 2nd inning. We won 13-0 in a 5-inning mercy rule win. This team was 4-0 in league but hadn't played any of the top teams yet and it showed in this one. They had one decent pitcher who started the first game and kept the game close but once he left they basically shut down as a team. In the second game my son DH'd (he threw about 95 pitches in game 1) and 0-3 with a BB. That extends his hitless streak to 0-12. Although, he is getting on base (by error and walks) so he is scoring runs and helping the team. He is also doing his job with situational hitting but he is starting to get a bit frustrated. His swing is good but he is just missing squaring up the ball. The story of HS baseball and short sample sizes. He is still hitting .349 even with the last 0-12 stretch so not too shabby. Hopefully he is able to relax a bit and not press too much. I could see him start to do that in game 2 on Saturday as the other guys were putting up hits for the 13-0 win and he wasn't. We talked about it after the game and he was disappointed but not too much as he acknowledged that it was good the other guys were picking up for him and they were still rolling.

They are now 13-1 overall and 5-1 in league sitting in a three way tie for first. Those three teams seem to be the class of the league so it will likely come down to their matchups. We played one of them two weeks ago and split the double header and we play the other team the last week of the season. The other two play against each other the second to last week of the season. It should shape up to an exciting finish.

Overall Stats:

Hitting: 15-43 (.349), 13 R, 9 RBI, 6 Doubles, 8 BB, 2 K, .434 OBP, .922 OPS
Pitching: 6-0, 1.07 ERA, 4 CG, 45.2 IP, 31 H, 15 R (7 ER), 10 BB, 40 K, 8 HBP

 

[Chadstroma]

My son’s rec league basketball ended. They were not good. His team was a bunch of small 5th graders who think they play in the NBA - constantly bombing 3s and not playing D. My son did okay; bball is his fun sport he plays in a rec league. I just liked to see him hustle, fight under the boards for rebounds and be a team player. He does need to work on his left-handed layups.

He’s had one lacrosse game they tied. It’s pretty competitive around here and he doesn’t like the sport (to my surprise) enough to put in much work. So he’s on the B team. He seems to play well and enjoyed being a defender. At the end of the game he scooped the ball, raced to mid-field and lofted a perfect pass to a streaking striker (I think) over his defender. Right in front of the net. Dude dropped it.

He’s favorite spring sport is rugby. Games start after this week’s spring break. He weighs only 85lbs or so in 6th grade, so the fearlessness scares me. I tell him to play with controlled aggression. I have to tell myself this is better than being timid.

Team’s coach starting posting player “bios” on the team page. The coach started calling him “The Legend” after he drove a kid twice his size 5 yards backward on a tackle during his first game.

“The Legend is a fearless player and a man of few words. He is one of the best rugby players I've been around at any level. Despite being one of the youngest and smallest players, Sam was the best player on the pitch at last year's all-star match.”

Oh boy.

It would seem to me that Rugby and Lacrosse would be very natural sports to excel in together as well as like.

For the life of me, I can't figure out Rugby... I remember a couple of Olympics back actually spending time to try to learn the rules and understand what the hell was going on. It failed.

Is there a growth spurt possible in his future? What are your and his mothers builds/height?

 

[Andrew74]

My son’s rec league basketball ended. They were not good. His team was a bunch of small 5th graders who think they play in the NBA - constantly bombing 3s and not playing D. My son did okay; bball is his fun sport he plays in a rec league. I just liked to see him hustle, fight under the boards for rebounds and be a team player. He does need to work on his left-handed layups.

He’s had one lacrosse game they tied. It’s pretty competitive around here and he doesn’t like the sport (to my surprise) enough to put in much work. So he’s on the B team. He seems to play well and enjoyed being a defender. At the end of the game he scooped the ball, raced to mid-field and lofted a perfect pass to a streaking striker (I think) over his defender. Right in front of the net. Dude dropped it.

He’s favorite spring sport is rugby. Games start after this week’s spring break. He weighs only 85lbs or so in 6th grade, so the fearlessness scares me. I tell him to play with controlled aggression. I have to tell myself this is better than being timid.

Team’s coach starting posting player “bios” on the team page. The coach started calling him “The Legend” after he drove a kid twice his size 5 yards backward on a tackle during his first game.

“The Legend is a fearless player and a man of few words. He is one of the best rugby players I've been around at any level. Despite being one of the youngest and smallest players, Sam was the best player on the pitch at last year's all-star match.”

Oh boy.

It would seem to me that Rugby and Lacrosse would be very natural sports to excel in together as well as like.

For the life of me, I can't figure out Rugby... I remember a couple of Olympics back actually spending time to try to learn the rules and understand what the hell was going on. It failed.

Is there a growth spurt possible in his future? What are your and his mothers builds/height?

I half understand what’s going on in rugby.

I think he just doesn’t care for the stick work with lacrosse. I try to tell him he can be more physical in lacrosse, but I think he’s worried he’ll get sent off on a penalty. I know nothing of lacrosse so I’m no help. In rugby he knows he can go all out and tackle anything that moves.

He’s been slowly growing; he just needs to hit puberty. I am not sure what will happen with him. His body type is nothing like mine at that age. He’s lean while I was a “husky” kid. He reminds me of my brother and more so of my wife’s brother. Hopefully my wife’s side - my brother and I are 5’10” while my BIL is well over 6’.

 

[Gally]

We had a double header rescheduled due to our spring break tourney happening next week. So we played two games yesterday with one being under the lights. My son took the ball first (as usual) and had another solid outing. 7 IP, 5 H, 8 K, 0 BB, 2 HBP, 1 ER on 80 pitches. He had his changeup working the best it has all year. I was shocked at how many times he threw first pitch changes and had the guys way out in front looking fooling. Doesn't usually happen on first pitches. It also helped that the ump was calling the left handed batters box inside line as a strike, but to be fair he was consistent all game long for both teams. It was a great pitchers ump. At the plate he had a bunt single in 4 AB's but hit the ball hard two other times lining out to RF (on a diving catch) and the left (on another diving catch). Looks like he is battling out of his mini slump. They won 3-1. It was a tight game with his team putting across the winning runs in the bottom of the 5th to break the 1-1 tie.

Game two started out tough with a leadoff error by our 3B which ended up leading to 3 unearned runs. We were chasing all game and had the tying run on 2B with two outs in the bottom of the 7th with our leadoff batter up to bat (my son hits second so he was chomping at the bit get a chance to walk it off). Unfortuntatly the lead off bater struck out on a really good breaking ball in a 2-2 count. Game over. My son went 2-3 with a double.

The loss hurts quite a bit as it was a game they should have won but the bats went cold all day. Just didn't' seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for either game and it showed with their approaches at the plate. They also got picked off twice in game 2 on just not focusing on running the bases. A leg lift pick at 2B with two outs and it wasn't a good move. Just a brain fart by the runner. So even though they should have swept the double header they didn't play good enough to do so. This drops them to 6-2 in league which puts them a game behind two other teams that are tied at 5-1. It also took the league title out of their hands where they need someone to beat one of the teams still ahead of them. They still play two against the other team so if they sweep they will pass them.

Next week they have 4 games in three days in a tournament. I am doubting we have the pitching for that many games but we will see. Until next week.....

 

[El Floppo]

We had a double header rescheduled due to our spring break tourney happening next week. So we played two games yesterday with one being under the lights. My son took the ball first (as usual) and had another solid outing. 7 IP, 5 H, 8 K, 0 BB, 2 HBP, 1 ER on 80 pitches. He had his changeup working the best it has all year. I was shocked at how many times he threw first pitch changes and had the guys way out in front looking fooling. Doesn't usually happen on first pitches. It also helped that the ump was calling the left handed batters box inside line as a strike, but to be fair he was consistent all game long for both teams. It was a great pitchers ump. At the plate he had a bunt single in 4 AB's but hit the ball hard two other times lining out to RF (on a diving catch) and the left (on another diving catch). Looks like he is battling out of his mini slump. They won 3-1. It was a tight game with his team putting across the winning runs in the bottom of the 5th to break the 1-1 tie.

Game two started out tough with a leadoff error by our 3B which ended up leading to 3 unearned runs. We were chasing all game and had the tying run on 2B with two outs in the bottom of the 7th with our leadoff batter up to bat (my son hits second so he was chomping at the bit get a chance to walk it off). Unfortuntatly the lead off bater struck out on a really good breaking ball in a 2-2 count. Game over. My son went 2-3 with a double.

The loss hurts quite a bit as it was a game they should have won but the bats went cold all day. Just didn't' seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for either game and it showed with their approaches at the plate. They also got picked off twice in game 2 on just not focusing on running the bases. A leg lift pick at 2B with two outs and it wasn't a good move. Just a brain fart by the runner. So even though they should have swept the double header they didn't play good enough to do so. This drops them to 6-2 in league which puts them a game behind two other teams that are tied at 5-1. It also took the league title out of their hands where they need someone to beat one of the teams still ahead of them. They still play two against the other team so if they sweep they will pass them.

Next week they have 4 games in three days in a tournament. I am doubting we have the pitching for that many games but we will see. Until next week.....

remind me- how old?

and solid outing.. your son is killing it out there on the mound

 

[Gally]

remind me- how old?

and solid outing.. your son is killing it out there on the mound

Junior in High School

 

[belljr]

Today is National Student Athlete day. So honor all your athletes

 

[Chadstroma]

My son had a soccer game yesterday. I talked to the coach a little before the game and he indicated how impressed he was with my son at goalie from the first game. As I suspected, they started him at goalie and it looks like he will be the primary goalie now. They changed things up a little bit where instead of stacking the starters with the best players, they put a couple of the better players on the bench and then they basically just did line changes.... starters go out and then the bench comes in and then vice versa etc. So the team didn't dominate as much as the last game when the starters were in. We won 3-1 and it really wasn't that close either. My son did have them score but he was clearly not as quick as normal... everyone was freezing. It was about 50 degrees with a very strong wind and most were not dressed accordingly as it was 70 degrees only a few hours earlier. There were not a lot of shots on goal against him as we still had the ball on their side most of the game. Judging from them only losing one game last year (the championship game) and how they have a lot of talented kids on the team, we should have a good shot of winning the championship this year. If my son plays like he played in the first game at goalie, it will be a significant upgrade at the position for the team and they have a ton of firepower. Their biggest weakness is sometimes they don't play team ball and get locked in on trying to score themselves rather than be unselfish and pass.

One of the fathers of one of the better kids raved about how my son did the game before at goalie and how his diving save was something you can't teach really. He said he was telling his wife the whole way home from the game.

 

[nirad3]

My son has taken to flag football 10 times more than he did with basketball. He's still very raw but at least the desire is there.

He plays about 50% of the offensive snaps but they've been playing him most of the defensive snaps. Which is fine by me since I envision him as a linebacker (hopefully?)

We need to work on his burst for sure. He's pretty slow

---

The daughter is killin' it at volleyball. She's worked incredibly hard and now has a great overhand serve, even at just 12 years old, playing with girls that are much older and more advanced.

She didn't make the middle school team, but she's just in 6th and no one from her class made the team.... just 7th and 8th graders. They really should have two teams; 6th and 7th/8th.

I hear that volleyball is a great sport for girls to get into leading into college.... lots of scholarships available. Going to run with it for now.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

One of the fathers of one of the better kids raved about how my son did the game before at goalie and how his diving save was something you can't teach really. He said he was telling his wife the whole way home from the game.

That's a great feeling when other parents talk to you about your kid. If another parent hadn't done that for me when my son was 8, I may not have made it a habit myself.

 

[Gally]

One of the fathers of one of the better kids raved about how my son did the game before at goalie and how his diving save was something you can't teach really. He said he was telling his wife the whole way home from the game.

That's a great feeling when other parents talk to you about your kid. If another parent hadn't done that for me when my son was 8, I may not have made it a habit myself.

On a side note but on the other end of the spectrum, between games of the double header my wife was walking back to our seats which went by the other teams dugout. She heard one of their players talking to his mom and said he said "That pitcher......" so my wife perked up to hear what he was going to say expecting it be positive since he just held them to one unearned run in a complete game win but instead he finished with "......was terrible"

I had to laugh about that but it does fit because when you watch him pitch he isn't overpowering and he doesn't have an exceptional out pitch that lets him strike a lot of people out. But he has great movement, changes speeds well, and he rarely gets hit hard. It is very frustrating to his opponents because they can't figure out why they can't hit him. His ball moves just enough that it moves off the sweet spot fo the bat so he doesn't get squared up. When I was a player I hated playing against these guys. Everyone keeps going back to the dugout wondering why they aren't crushing him. hahahahah

 

[Chadstroma]

Speaking of saying good things and bad things...

I remember an event as a kid that had always stuck out to me. The travel team I was on was pretty bad. Looking back, it largely had to do with the coaching but that is another story. One (winless) season, we played the best team in the league (they had not lost a game) towards the end of the season. They had a very tall (I was very tall back then for my age and he had about two inches on me) center who was talented. His name was Ben so obviously we all called him Big Ben. They also had some other good players. I always matched up against him and in previous games fouled out. This one particular game, for some reason, my team actually played together as a team and we were just on that day. I think we went in not expecting anything, so we just all played very loose and happily passed the ball until their defense broker down and we would score. On defense, we were playing a good game and I was holding up well against Big Ben without picking up the fouls like I normally would. By half, we were up by 12. They were clearly shocked.

I had went over to use the water fountain and it just so happened that about half of the other teams parents were circled up by there. They were unhinged that we, the crap team of the league, was beating their boys who were supposed to be unbeatable. They were going on about how they the refs were intentionally calling against them and saying some very nasty things about my team mates. They did not even miss a beat when I walked up. Clearly knowing I was there and clearly not giving a crap. If they lost they were going to protest it to the league etc (I really have no idea what they would protest. The refs were not calling a bad game let alone anything to protest about). We ended up losing a close game by 3 but that always stuck to me. As a.... prob 10-12 ish year old, to hear adults being so vile and nasty like that.

On the other hand, same thing, I do try to make it a point to say good things about the other kids to their parents. Not making up something and I don't go out of my way to hunt down parents and say something to them but if we are on the sidelines "Man, I love how Timmy is so aggressive" or whatever it is. It can really mean something to the other person as a parent and even often times get conveyed to the child.

For hearing from the other parent yesterday, it was nice since I don't know soccer much. It looked like a good play to me but I don't watch much soccer. Hearing it from a parent whose son plays club soccer all year round was a nice validation.

 

[PIK95]

One of the fathers of one of the better kids raved about how my son did the game before at goalie and how his diving save was something you can't teach really. He said he was telling his wife the whole way home from the game.

That's a great feeling when other parents talk to you about your kid. If another parent hadn't done that for me when my son was 8, I may not have made it a habit myself.

Make sure you occasionally brag about YOUR kid (in front of them) after getting in that other habit. My son exploded at me a while back after he was the best player in a game (I was coach) and was hyping the other kids games to their parents in front of them instead of him. He was so mad, lol. He was right.

 

[humpback]

My son has taken to flag football 10 times more than he did with basketball. He's still very raw but at least the desire is there.

He plays about 50% of the offensive snaps but they've been playing him most of the defensive snaps. Which is fine by me since I envision him as a linebacker (hopefully?)

We need to work on his burst for sure. He's pretty slow

---

The daughter is killin' it at volleyball. She's worked incredibly hard and now has a great overhand serve, even at just 12 years old, playing with girls that are much older and more advanced.

She didn't make the middle school team, but she's just in 6th and no one from her class made the team.... just 7th and 8th graders. They really should have two teams; 6th and 7th/8th.

I hear that volleyball is a great sport for girls to get into leading into college.... lots of scholarships available. Going to run with it for now.

Don't mean to burst your bubble, but while there may be a lot of scholarships available for volleyball there are FAR more girls trying to get them. Around 1% of HS players go on to play D1, and not all of them get scholarships (max of 12 per team). My daughter has played in tournaments with ~1000 teams (~10,000 girls), and it was only 1 of 3 major tournaments going on around the country at the same time. It's insane.

It's far too early to worry about that now anyway but just wanted to point that out. I have a buddy whose daughter is one of the rare ones who reached the pinnacle of a full ride and he told me he'd be better off financially if she never picked up a volleyball after all the years of club, travel, camps, clinics, private training, etc. Like so much else, it's become huge business and everyone is chasing the dream thinking their kid is going to be the next superstar.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

One of the fathers of one of the better kids raved about how my son did the game before at goalie and how his diving save was something you can't teach really. He said he was telling his wife the whole way home from the game.

That's a great feeling when other parents talk to you about your kid. If another parent hadn't done that for me when my son was 8, I may not have made it a habit myself.

Make sure you occasionally brag about YOUR kid (in front of them) after getting in that other habit. My son exploded at me a while back after he was the best player in a game (I was coach) and was hyping the other kids games to their parents in front of them instead of him. He was so mad, lol. He was right.

My son's playing days are over, and since I was never a coach but rather just one of the countless other parents all bragging on their kid, I always told him to let his game do the talking. I once hinted to his travel ball coach that I thought with my son's speed and being a lefty batter that he was a 'prototypical' leadoff hitter. To the coach's credit, he took in what I said and kept him where he was, lower in the lineup the rest of the season.

I witnessed a lot of parents not only lobbying for their kid but also against teammates in the hopes that it would improve their own kid's situation. TBH, my son never cared much about praise; he 'got' sports, always worked hard and always played with joy. That was all the reward he ever wanted, and if you've read my stuff, you know he was rewarded a LOT. It has even puzzled me how nonchalantly he reacted when he earned awards:

male athlete of the year in 8th grade,
2nd team all county as a junior and 1st team all county as a senior in HS,
offensive MVP in the Brooks Robinson All-Star High School Classic (played at Camden Yards),
conference rookie of the year as a freshman in college,
first team all-conference every year he played,
conference co-player of the year as a junior,
his college's male athlete of the year his senior year.

TBH, I love talking up my boy, but he doesn't really care to hear about it, and as I said in my post in this thread about his final career statistics, it's an embarrassment of riches, so i try not to talk about it. Unless the right situation presents itself.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son has taken to flag football 10 times more than he did with basketball. He's still very raw but at least the desire is there.

He plays about 50% of the offensive snaps but they've been playing him most of the defensive snaps. Which is fine by me since I envision him as a linebacker (hopefully?)

We need to work on his burst for sure. He's pretty slow

---

The daughter is killin' it at volleyball. She's worked incredibly hard and now has a great overhand serve, even at just 12 years old, playing with girls that are much older and more advanced.

She didn't make the middle school team, but she's just in 6th and no one from her class made the team.... just 7th and 8th graders. They really should have two teams; 6th and 7th/8th.

I hear that volleyball is a great sport for girls to get into leading into college.... lots of scholarships available. Going to run with it for now.

Volleyball is a HUGE female team sport. Top 3 with Softball and Basketball I would say. I would venture a guess saying it would be THE most popular (in terms of numbers of girls playing) team sport. Yes, there are a lot of scholarships as it is a popular female sport but there is a lot of competition too. I would look for a club team to get her in for sure if she is as serious as you say. Let her work hard and have fun and shoot for the stars.