Collectively, A Thread To Celebrate Our Kids Athletic Accomplishments (3 Viewers)

[Orange&Blue]

my kid was picking her nose when she farted/sneezed. beat that!!

 

[El Floppo]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

 

[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.

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.

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.

Yeah, my son was the same way. But deep down every kid wants dad's approval no matter what they say. I forget if I mentioned it, but my boy made the futsal national team final pool. We have to leave the beach to go to Kansas in July though.

 

[PIK95]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

 

[Chadstroma]

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.

I don't get it.
I take enjoyment out of watching his teammates do well and succeed. It may be a little different at the Catholic school as I know many of these boys now through the various teams and even coaching but even on his swim club where we don't have that much connectivity, I love seeing his teammates do well.

But on a practical level... you don't make you son/daughter better by having the competition or a teammate they are competing against, get worse... you get them to play better.

In football, my son is one of the tallest, one of the strongest, as well as one of the quickest/fastest but he isn't the tallest, strongest, fastest, etc. One of his teammates who is the tallest and strongest and him went up against each other in a drill. I forget the name of the drills but you have two blocking pads on each side with no room to go sideways, you have to take on the guy in front of you head on. The bigger kid basically lifted my son up off his feet and threw him down. It was a pretty impressive move as my son is one of the sturdier and likely heavier kids on the team. I celebrated it with my son. I told him how lucky he was to have a teammate like that (who I think he is tallest/strongest in the league) to go against in drills like that. If he embraces that and uses it, it will help him get better and when he goes against kids bigger/stronger than him, he will know how to defeat them better because of it. I celebrated it with the kid and then later with the kids father too. It is sport. It is competition. Your kid is not going to win all the time. The most important thing is to learn from when you don't win. That is the key to not only sports success but success in life. These dipstick parents talking down about other kids to somehow try to elevate their kid are doing not only horrible things to the kids they are talking about but they are making their own kids weaker and a disservice all around.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

I can't much about soccer as my only experience is a Catholic school league which I haven't noticed anything toxic wise.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching. I have heard mostly positive interaction between them with props being given on both sides for good plays etc. I really didn't think about it until you said something here but very different atmosphere. Swim is even more so laid back.... you don't hear "Oh, come on! She DQ'd on that breast stroke ref!!!" or anything... just cheering on whatever swimmer.

 

[Chadstroma]

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.

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.

Yeah, my son was the same way. But deep down every kid wants dad's approval no matter what they say. I forget if I mentioned it, but my boy made the futsal national team final pool. We have to leave the beach to go to Kansas in July though.

I had to look Futsal up.... I thought it was some sort of particular league of a sport or something, I did not know it was a different sport. Seems to be kind of like soccer's version of 3 man basketball?

 

[Charlie Steiner]

I don't get it.
I take enjoyment out of watching his teammates do well and succeed. It may be a little different at the Catholic school as I know many of these boys now through the various teams and even coaching but even on his swim club where we don't have that much connectivity, I love seeing his teammates do well.

But on a practical level... you don't make you son/daughter better by having the competition or a teammate they are competing against, get worse... you get them to play better.

My son got that concept at an early age. Whatever team and whatever sport he played, he sought out the best player(s) on his team and worked to get to their level, and when he was that player in college, he wasn't used to not having that motivation any more.

As for the first part of your reply, I absolutely enjoyed not only seeing his teammates do well, but also any commendable play by kids on the other team. When they were 11U, they faced a kid in a tournament who absolutely shut them down with tremendous pitching. His movement and location were on point and he just kept the entire team off balance. I approached his dad first and shared my appreciation for his effort, and he brought his son over so he could hear it for himself. On the flip side of that, one of the moms on my son's team was notorious for how blatantly she would lobby for her kid. I watched her go to the coach when she overheard one of the kids say he was sad because he had relatives visiting from out of town and wanted to visit with them instead of playing ball. She was out of earshot, but her body language as she was talking to the coach reminding me of when your little sister tattled on you for doing something wrong. She actually believed this would help her son get more playing time and was willing to throw an 10 year-old under the bus to help her kid. Sad thing is, he didn't need her help since as one of the youngest kids on the team, he always held his own.

 

[El Floppo]

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.

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.

Yeah, my son was the same way. But deep down every kid wants dad's approval no matter what they say. I forget if I mentioned it, but my boy made the futsal national team final pool. We have to leave the beach to go to Kansas in July though.

I had to look Futsal up.... I thought it was some sort of particular league of a sport or something, I did not know it was a different sport. Seems to be kind of like soccer's version of 3 man basketball?

totally different ball is the main difference. and on hard court. otherwise, like indoor soccer- smaller court/field and less players.

 

[El Floppo]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

 

[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.

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.

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.

Yeah, my son was the same way. But deep down every kid wants dad's approval no matter what they say. I forget if I mentioned it, but my boy made the futsal national team final pool. We have to leave the beach to go to Kansas in July though.

I had to look Futsal up.... I thought it was some sort of particular league of a sport or something, I did not know it was a different sport. Seems to be kind of like soccer's version of 3 man basketball?

totally different ball is the main difference. and on hard court. otherwise, like indoor soccer- smaller court/field and less players.

Yeah, the ball doesn't bounce much. It's harder an even a lil heavier I believe. It's a FAST game. The most technical/creative/great vision/unselfish guys always do well. It's opposite youth/high school soccer in that regard. Great sport.

My favorite futsal moment was watching a local kid who was like fifteen,and had to be 300lbs, just carving up the the other team who was filled with the rich athletic kids and those parents. The kid looked like Pablo from Backyard baseball, just fatter,and with a big fro. Good times.

 

[Gally]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

 

[Gally]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I would have guessed swimming to be up there in the rankings.

 

[El Floppo]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I would have guessed swimming to be up there in the rankings.

8th.. from lowest- lax, cheer, swimming, tennis, xc....for girls

 

[belljr]

Here's the chart


TEN MOST POPULAR GIRLS PROGRAMS

SCHOOLS	PARTICIPANTS
1. Basketball- 17,901	1. Track and Field (Outdoor)- 456,697
2. Track and Field (Outdoor)- 17,028	2. Volleyball- 454,153
3. Volleyball- 16,532	3. Soccer- 374,773
4. Softball (Fast Pitch)- 15,454	4. Basketball- 370,466
5. Cross Country- 15,448	5. Softball (Fast Pitch)- 340,923
6. Soccer- 12,071	6. Cross Country- 191,323
7. Golf- 10,580	7. Tennis- 176,185
8. Tennis- 9,987	8. Swimming and Diving- 149,751
9. Swimming and Diving- 8,079	9. Competitive Spirit- 140,552
10. Competitive Spirit- 7,236	10. Lacrosse- 96,762

Eta: this is the NFHS survey

This does not count kids that may not play hs but play club. Everyone around here in club plays HS. . .some might play HS but not club

 

[PIK95]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

I coach, have coached, managed,and ran organizations over the last thirty years. I have been involved with baseball all the way to college level, coach youth rec hoop, futsal, soccer and even a lil vollyball helper now. I never coached football or track, but played. In my opinion hoop is the craziest and most negative vocal parents, and it's not really close. I have seen some football and soccer games that were brutal, but hoop is on another level of bad now. And it's every game. Hoop also has the worse refs so that's probably part if it. I have never seen any trouble around here with baseball, futsal, or vollyball fwiw. My hockey parent friends are intense in general, but I have never been to a game so I can't speak to that.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I would have guessed swimming to be up there in the rankings.

I will tell you one thing... if I was a kid again, I would make swim one of my sports. It is dominated by girls. Even more so as you get older. It seems to be to be probably a 2-1 advantage of girls to guys at younger ages and thins out to even more of an advantage to girls as they get older. On top of that, the swim naturally making for a very lean, athletic, strong build which most girls find attractive. Target rich environment. A lot of pretty girls in swimsuits? Why in the hell did I not think of that when I was a kid?

 

[El Floppo]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

 

[Gally]

I coach, have coached, managed,and ran organizations over the last thirty years. I have been involved with baseball all the way to college level, coach youth rec hoop, futsal, soccer and even a lil vollyball helper now. I never coached football or track, but played. In my opinion hoop is the craziest and most negative vocal parents, and it's not really close. I have seen some football and soccer games that were brutal, but hoop is on another level of bad now. And it's every game. Hoop also has the worse refs so that's probably part if it. I have never seen any trouble around here with baseball, futsal, or vollyball fwiw. My hockey parent friends are intense in general, but I have never been to a game so I can't speak to that.

Basketball is very similar to baseball in that almost everyone has played it at some point and think they know it. Add into that being in a confined space (gym) with 100% judgement calls on fouls and it breeds toxicity for overzealous parents. I would agree with you there.

I think baseball parents are on par with that but are more spread out (down the lines or in the OF) so you don't get the immediate blow up at the officials as concentrated as in a gym. But I think baseball parents are worse for play time concerns because baseball substitution rules can be very prohibitive for getting equal playing time so a lot more bitching and moaning about play time can occur.

Basically for youth sports the bottom line is that parents suck. Very few parents see reality when it comes to their kid and they all see scholarships and money coming their way. It is a petry dish for breeding toxicity.

 

[Chadstroma]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

There may be truth to that. I often had to explain "double hit" or "lift" to parents who were confused on what happened on a call. People know basketball, baseball, etc more and are likely more comfortable with that.

I do think the physical interaction is a factor though. The one time I was likely the most obnoxious as a parent was in my daughters championship basketball this year. One of the girls on the other team was a dirty player (I didn't realize how dirty until after the game and hearing how she was digging her nails into some of our players leaving marks etc). One of our girls is very good defensive player full of energy and like most good defensive players will give a foul here and there .... well, she did and this dirty player full on took a swing at her. It was a full right hook that just (luckily) didn't connect. The whole crowd was going crazy. I waited and then they just called a foul on the girl that took a swing. It really was the wrong call and for anything the safety of the girls. You can't let that type of thing go, it needs to be shut down. So, I waited and after the noise from the crowd died so I could be heard, yelled "that is a technical!"

You are not going to get that kind of interaction one way or another in volleyball.... or swim.... or track and field.... etc. Soccer, basketball, etc you are. With baseball, it is more about the subjective nature of calls for strikes I think is an issue.

 

[Chadstroma]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

I coach, have coached, managed,and ran organizations over the last thirty years. I have been involved with baseball all the way to college level, coach youth rec hoop, futsal, soccer and even a lil vollyball helper now. I never coached football or track, but played. In my opinion hoop is the craziest and most negative vocal parents, and it's not really close. I have seen some football and soccer games that were brutal, but hoop is on another level of bad now. And it's every game. Hoop also has the worse refs so that's probably part if it. I have never seen any trouble around here with baseball, futsal, or vollyball fwiw. My hockey parent friends are intense in general, but I have never been to a game so I can't speak to that.

I think for Football... a few of things go in the favor of it not being as bad as compared to basketball..... 1) Teams on the opposite sides of the fields with parents on the other ends. 2) The detachment of the parents to the game/refs. 3) You are supposed to hit and tackle etc so unless something goes really crazy, it is mostly part of the game. 4) The bastardization of basketball by the NBA has confused and warped a lot of people into what basketball is and is not.

In basketball, often the parents are mixed in and then the court is right there. The action is closer and not as covered with not many players so you are focused on where things go awry. Calls are by degree less subjective in football. In basketball, the refs hear is all from the parents and coaches- I can understand how they end up being defensive and I think sometimes they make it worse versus making it better while in football, for the most part, they are not going to hear a parent yelling at them because they are much further away.

 

[Gally]

You are not going to get that kind of interaction one way or another in volleyball.... or swim.... or track and field.... etc. Soccer, basketball, etc you are. With baseball, it is more about the subjective nature of calls for strikes I think is an issue.

I have never been more ready to fight anyone than I was during a basketball game. Soccer is also close but there is a lot less being in constant contact. But in those sports there is so much player interaction off the ball that the officials can't see everything and you can get cheap shot artists that take big advantage of that fact. I played against a guy in high school that would pinch and twist just above your hip every time you tried to post up or box out and it was brutal. We had all of our players coming out of that game with scratches and brusises from these twisties he would do. He would also throw out an elbow anytime a player motioned through the paint to clip you in the kidney. It was terrible. Officials couldn't really tell what was going on and even with us making it known it was never called. I was sure someone was going to hall of and clock this guy at some point.

Point is sports like soccer, basketball and water polo (probably the most brutal as everything is under water) are just begging for cheap shot artists to get away with crap.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

No, I would be willing to say doubles is a team sport. Singles.... no, you are not going to convince me that that is a team sport.

 

[belljr]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

No, I would be willing to say doubles is a team sport. Singles.... no, you are not going to convince me that that is a team sport.

What? HS tennis is 100% a team sport.
So is golf. They compete against individuals but standings and matches are by teams. There are individual tournaments at the end of season

 

[Chadstroma]

You are not going to get that kind of interaction one way or another in volleyball.... or swim.... or track and field.... etc. Soccer, basketball, etc you are. With baseball, it is more about the subjective nature of calls for strikes I think is an issue.

I have never been more ready to fight anyone than I was during a basketball game. Soccer is also close but there is a lot less being in constant contact. But in those sports there is so much player interaction off the ball that the officials can't see everything and you can get cheap shot artists that take big advantage of that fact. I played against a guy in high school that would pinch and twist just above your hip every time you tried to post up or box out and it was brutal. We had all of our players coming out of that game with scratches and brusises from these twisties he would do. He would also throw out an elbow anytime a player motioned through the paint to clip you in the kidney. It was terrible. Officials couldn't really tell what was going on and even with us making it known it was never called. I was sure someone was going to hall of and clock this guy at some point.

Point is sports like soccer, basketball and water polo (probably the most brutal as everything is under water) are just begging for cheap shot artists to get away with crap.

My most embarrassing and shameful sport moment was as a kid.... prob 8 or 9 is my guess.... this one kid was doing cheap shots all game long. We battled all game long, I complained to the refs of the various dirty things he was doing and got no calls. I don't remember who won but when we went to the line to shake hands, he had this huge cheshire cat smug grin on his face. I snapped. Punched him in the stomach and kept going finishing hi fiving the rest of his team.

I think everyone 'understood' because all I got was a 'please, don't do that again' speech.

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

No, I would be willing to say doubles is a team sport. Singles.... no, you are not going to convince me that that is a team sport.

What? HS tennis is 100% a team sport.
So is golf. They compete against individuals but standings and matches are by teams. There are individual tournaments at the end of season

No. Not a team sport. You are competing as a team but you are not playing as a team. Those are two different things.

 

[PIK95]

Water Polo, lmao. Nice pull.

 

[Gally]

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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

No, I would be willing to say doubles is a team sport. Singles.... no, you are not going to convince me that that is a team sport.

What? HS tennis is 100% a team sport.
So is golf. They compete against individuals but standings and matches are by teams. There are individual tournaments at the end of season

No. Not a team sport. You are competing as a team but you are not playing as a team. Those are two different things.

I have always said that baseball is an individual sport that masquerades as a team sport. Every play really is up to the individual. No teammate is helping you hit or throw or field. But you need teammates to play the game.

Another sport nobody mentioned is wrestling. It's a team sport as you have to cover all the weight classes and you win the meet by accruing points for the team. But it's all individual when it comes right down to it.

 

[Chadstroma]

Water Polo, lmao. Nice pull.

I have heard that that is easiest the dirtiest sport played. And not dirty like mud... cause... well.... you know, they are in a pool.

 

[acarey50]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

There may be truth to that. I often had to explain "double hit" or "lift" to parents who were confused on what happened on a call. People know basketball, baseball, etc more and are likely more comfortable with that.

No - people THINK they know basketball (or whatever other sport), and are not afraid to die on the hill of their incorrect understanding of a rule.

 

[PIK95]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

There may be truth to that. I often had to explain "double hit" or "lift" to parents who were confused on what happened on a call. People know basketball, baseball, etc more and are likely more comfortable with that.

No - people THINK they know basketball (or whatever other sport), and are not afraid to die on the hill of their incorrect understanding of a rule.

100%

 

[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.

I think soccer is bigger than Volleyball... just googled- I'm wrong, and we missed one.

Track and field is the most popular athletic program among girls in high school, with 456,697 participating in 2021. Volleyball is a close second, followed by soccer and basketball

I was thinking in terms of total numbers of kids who start on it. Volleyball is huge. My daughter is in a club that is about 5 minutes from us.... but their communication/organization is horrible so I have been wondering about switching her and I have 4 other clubs within 20-30 minutes to choose from it I did. (I won't because it is too convenient) Each club has several teams at each age grouping. Most sports thin out as you get higher up as some lose interest or just are not good enough or whatever else but VBall is very popular among girls and seems to be one of the more popular sports in HS and college for girls as well.

The other part is that I was thinking team sports. I would not say Track and Field is a team sport (maybe technically it is? I dunno... but I don't see it as a team sport).

It was probably my bias against soccer that made me forget about it. Softball has to be 4th, no?

I bet Lacrosse is quickly heading up those rankings. It seems it is the fastest growing youth sport.

I didn't make up these numbers. girls' lax was the lowest- but such a new sport for girls, and as you say- growing in popularity- so I assume is showing the highest growth curve. it's behind sports like cross-country, cheer, tennis and swimming.

my son is on his HS track team. they score points for top 3 or 5 finishers, so it's not all about individual performance- even though you could go into it strictly for the individual performance. this also makes it popular for kids who aren't top finishers- they can still be part of the team, compete, and not hurt the overall team score by not being elite- which also means track teams don't have to make cuts. that all explains why the numbers are so high. also very social. my son is NOT a runner at all- but loves being on the track team.

eta: lol... I think your soccer bias continues... I listed the top 4 per released stats. softball is 5th.

Yea, I wouldn't have said Lacrosse was near the top at all but there is no doubt it is a leader if not the leader in growth for both boys and girls.

I still wouldn't say it is a team sport. I get it that they are on teams and you have relays etc. Same with Swim. Points and all. I mean, track and swim are basically the same thing except one is in water and the other is not. I wouldn't say that is a team sport even though they have relays. Though I can see the argument made on it. I am kind of trying to differentiate between the sports like Basketball, Soccer, Softball etc versus more of the individual performances added together. Gymnatics would be like that too. Maybe I am being clumsy in my thinking on that cause the relays on the two sports do muddy those waters a bit.

I think track, correct me if I am wrong, is more of a 'hey, you are fast, you should try track' around the jr and HS areas. It doesn't seem like a sport that has a lot of young kids in and the thins.... it seems to be the peak would be HS.

Oh, my soccer bias is strong. No doubt.

they start xc and track in MS, I think. kids push and pace each other, especially so in practice. but they're not working as a team necessarily the way traditional ball sports work.

tennis is a team sport- I assume that's a problem for you too.

No, I would be willing to say doubles is a team sport. Singles.... no, you are not going to convince me that that is a team sport.

What? HS tennis is 100% a team sport.
So is golf. They compete against individuals but standings and matches are by teams. There are individual tournaments at the end of season

No. Not a team sport. You are competing as a team but you are not playing as a team. Those are two different things.

I have always said that baseball is an individual sport that masquerades as a team sport. Every play really is up to the individual. No teammate is helping you hit or throw or field. But you need teammates to play the game.

Another sport nobody mentioned is wrestling. It's a team sport as you have to cover all the weight classes and you win the meet by accruing points for the team. But it's all individual when it comes right down to it.

Yea, I am putting wresting into the competing as a team but not a team sport category.

And surprise... surprise... I am going to say I don't fully agree with you on basketball. (how many times have we done this.... and I am sure it will end in a "we basically see it the same way but with just different ways of looking at it")

Everything in a team sport relies on individuals doing something that others can't do for them. Using your definition, there is no team sport. No teammate can help you pitch or hit a ball or catch or block or tackle or pass or play defense and on and on.

The difference I am talking about from what I would say is a team sport and a team competition is that the team competition- you play on your own or race or whatever.... track, swim, etc... other than relay's there is no interaction at all. It is just you doing your thing. You place and get points. Add up the points to see who wins. Where as team sports, a pitcher needs a catcher, a quarterback needs a line and receivers, a basketball player needs at least someone to take the ball out to the PG in the least, etc. Sure, the catcher can't pitch for the pitcher, the line can't throw for the QB, one bballer can't shoot for another but you literally can not play the game without the team mates. For the competitions sports, you can play the game- the full game or do a race or whatever it is. The competition is putting all of those together.

As for basketball, in my view, in it's purest form (not the basterdized NBA) it is a one of the greatest of team sports... in the sense of you needing the team to play well. You know, as well as I do, that the best teams are not the best collection of most talented bballers but the ones that play together the best. I will take the team that plays team defense and passes the ball well over the team that has the superior individual player any day. My sons season was a good example of this... we beat several teams that had one player who was better than anyone on our team but my second through 4th and even 5th were better and played together as a team better. The teams that gave us the hardest times (other than maybe the championship game*) were the teams that didn't have that clear star but played well as a team.

*The Championship game the other team had two very good players. But again, that was pretty much all they had. Once my boys adjusted to their pick and roll between those two, that is when we caught up in the deficit, pulled it even, took it to OT and then won.

 

[Chadstroma]

My daughter switched from soccer to vollyball last year. The major difference is there isn't any parents acting crazy at vollyball. Ironically, the place we had to go the last few weeks for tournaments even served alcohol. And it was closer to a golf match with the quiet during play. That may be why it's getting bigger? Girls soccer was getting TOXIC imo.

Volleyball is pretty laid back in comparison to pretty much all sports I have been a part of. I wonder if it is the nature of the sport where the teams are not in direct physical contact and there are not a lot of subjective calls (lifts and double hits are pretty clear most of the time) and you might get a line call someone doesn't agree with. In many of the games that my daughter has played the parents of both teams are mixed together watching.

My impression is that the sports that parents played and think they understand (baseball is the most "understood" by far) get worse parent feedback because they think they know the game better than the coaches. It could be that volleyball isn't as well known with regards to rules, techniques etc so parents don't feel comfortable making an annoyance of themselves because the aren't sure if what they are complaining about is correct. So the more mainstream a sport is the more problematic (toxic) the parents are.

There may be truth to that. I often had to explain "double hit" or "lift" to parents who were confused on what happened on a call. People know basketball, baseball, etc more and are likely more comfortable with that.

No - people THINK they know basketball (or whatever other sport), and are not afraid to die on the hill of their incorrect understanding of a rule.

Sure, I don't disagree but the point I was making was that most people know generally what a travel in basketball is. It seems not so much know what a lift in volleyball is.

 

[Gally]

And surprise... surprise... I am going to say I don't fully agree with you on basketball. (how many times have we done this.... and I am sure it will end in a "we basically see it the same way but with just different ways of looking at it")

I didn't say anything about basketball. I assume you are talking about baseball here. My differentiation is that in basketball/football is that the entire team is involved with blocking/picking/passing etc to get points to win. In baseball it's you and the pitcher. Your team has nothing to do with it. I am also not saying baseball isn't a team sport. It definitely is. It's just you are on an island for much of it.

 

[Chadstroma]

And surprise... surprise... I am going to say I don't fully agree with you on basketball. (how many times have we done this.... and I am sure it will end in a "we basically see it the same way but with just different ways of looking at it")

I didn't say anything about basketball. I assume you are talking about baseball here. My differentiation is that in basketball/football is that the entire team is involved with blocking/picking/passing etc to get points to win. In baseball it's you and the pitcher. Your team has nothing to do with it. I am also not saying baseball isn't a team sport. It definitely is. It's just you are on an island for much of it.

Uh... I am dumb. I read basketball somehow. I agree.

 

[Drunken knight]

The girls have a 5 game win streak going and are now 2nd in division. Daughter is fighting through a toe injury from the fall. It’s pretty ugly and it’s hard to plant/push off. She is getting plenty of pt but definitely looks a step slower. Doing great. Coach is resting her for bigger games at the end of regular season. We lost a wonderful senior defender to multiple concussions (cheer and lacrosse), so they are thinner at the position.

 

[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.

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

 

[El Floppo]

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

lol. when floppinha started playing tennis a couple years ago, we were told the same thing about tennis (didn't matter- was never her or our goal for playing). soooo many scholarships for women. but what we've learned is that only the best of the best are getting scholarships at d1 schools- girls who spend every waking minute playing, and who's parents spend every waking dollar to support it. some are getting D2 and 3 scholarhips or at least plus points on their applications, but it's a small percentage relative to those who play.

But they're still young and have time to learn/grow... you start to see in HS which kids elevate to those tracks.

for her part, floppinha recently told me her goal was to play HS tennis.

 

[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.

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

lol. when floppinha started playing tennis a couple years ago, we were told the same thing about tennis (didn't matter- was never her or our goal for playing). soooo many scholarships for women. but what we've learned is that only the best of the best are getting scholarships at d1 schools- girls who spend every waking minute playing, and who's parents spend every waking dollar to support it. some are getting D2 and 3 scholarhips or at least plus points on their applications, but it's a small percentage relative to those who play.

But they're still young and have time to learn/grow... you start to see in HS which kids elevate to those tracks.

for her part, floppinha recently told me her goal was to play HS tennis.

Well... yea.... I mean, I am confused on that statement. You thought any random girl could walk in and say "Hey, I play ______ sport, can I have a scholarship?" at a D1?

 

[El Floppo]

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

lol. when floppinha started playing tennis a couple years ago, we were told the same thing about tennis (didn't matter- was never her or our goal for playing). soooo many scholarships for women. but what we've learned is that only the best of the best are getting scholarships at d1 schools- girls who spend every waking minute playing, and who's parents spend every waking dollar to support it. some are getting D2 and 3 scholarhips or at least plus points on their applications, but it's a small percentage relative to those who play.

But they're still young and have time to learn/grow... you start to see in HS which kids elevate to those tracks.

for her part, floppinha recently told me her goal was to play HS tennis.

Well... yea.... I mean, I am confused on that statement. You thought any random girl could walk in and say "Hey, I play ______ sport, can I have a scholarship?" at a D1?

let me rephrase since you're confused. when we were told- like nirad- that there SOOOO many scholarships out there, that implied to me the track was easier. the reality- not that many scholarships, the track is only for the select few, not easy.

 

[Gally]

My son is up for player of the week for our local area. It's based on his games from last week where he had a complete game win on the mound giving up 1 R, 5 H, 0 walks with 8 K's. He also went 3 for 7 at the plate in the doubleheader.

If you are so inclined you can vote here:

Vote For Spencer


Thanks.


PS......they do let you vote more than once.

 

[El Floppo]

My son is up for player of the week for our local area. It's based on his games from last week where he had a complete game win on the mound giving up 1 R, 5 H, 0 walks with 8 K's. He also went 3 for 7 at the plate in the doubleheader.

If you are so inclined you can vote here:

Vote For Spencer


Thanks.

done... congrats, and GL!

 

[PIK95]

My son is up for player of the week for our local area. It's based on his games from last week where he had a complete game win on the mound giving up 1 R, 5 H, 0 walks with 8 K's. He also went 3 for 7 at the plate in the doubleheader.

If you are so inclined you can vote here:

Vote For Spencer


Thanks.


PS......they do let you vote more than once.

Plus 10. Whew.

 

[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.

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

lol. when floppinha started playing tennis a couple years ago, we were told the same thing about tennis (didn't matter- was never her or our goal for playing). soooo many scholarships for women. but what we've learned is that only the best of the best are getting scholarships at d1 schools- girls who spend every waking minute playing, and who's parents spend every waking dollar to support it. some are getting D2 and 3 scholarhips or at least plus points on their applications, but it's a small percentage relative to those who play.

But they're still young and have time to learn/grow... you start to see in HS which kids elevate to those tracks.

for her part, floppinha recently told me her goal was to play HS tennis.

Well... yea.... I mean, I am confused on that statement. You thought any random girl could walk in and say "Hey, I play ______ sport, can I have a scholarship?" at a D1?

let me rephrase since you're confused. when we were told- like nirad- that there SOOOO many scholarships out there, that implied to me the track was easier. the reality- not that many scholarships, the track is only for the select few, not easy.

I don't mean to sound jerkish on the being confused.... I am just really confused trying to reconcile there being a lot of scholarships and then the comments of the best of the best going to D1 schools. I just don't get it.

Yes, comparatively speaking to boys there are more athletic scholarships available simply because boys play more sports and there are equal athletic scholarships for boys and girls. I don't know the actual numbers but let's say there is 3 male athletes for every 1 female athlete, which means it is 'easier' to get a sports scholarship for a girl going to college.

What I am really confused about is that scholarship or no scholarship... the best of the best would be going to D1 anyways because generally speaking (of course there are always outliers) the best of the best athletes going to college are going or at least seeking to go to a D1. I just don't get why that was surprising to you- with or without the scholarship angle.

 

[Chadstroma]

My son is up for player of the week for our local area. It's based on his games from last week where he had a complete game win on the mound giving up 1 R, 5 H, 0 walks with 8 K's. He also went 3 for 7 at the plate in the doubleheader.

If you are so inclined you can vote here:

Vote For Spencer


Thanks.


PS......they do let you vote more than once.

It prob doesn't have that power these days but there was a time that the FFA could sway online votes. Put in my work to help though.

 

[Chadstroma]

My little guy has watched his older brother and sister do all the sports and has been biting at the bit to do his own stuff. He is in 1st grade so no school sports until 3rd grade. Last summer he did a lot pretty much the same sports camps as his brother did all summer long as much as possible. This basketball season he came to some of the practices and games with me and I made him "Assistant Coach" and he took it seriously. He would take part in warm ups and some drills (beating some of the players on the team at times in races etc). I signed him up for a developmental basketball league on Thursdays which I ended up coaching (didn't want to but he got excited when I told him I was so it is all good).

He has been in swim lessons for several years now (with a big break during COVID) as all three started at the same time. He didn't make much progress for a very long time because he hated water in his face. Well, finally got over that and has been making progress over the last few months. A bit ago I told him that he could try out for the swim club for this spring/summer season. He has been focused and working very hard at the swim lessons to continue progressing and get ready. We have a number of make up sessions built up as any time he missed a lesson with his brother and sister so busy with sports we basically could never schedule any make ups but over the last month or so we have been able to get 2 or 3 make up sessions added. Again, he is as serious as any 7 year old can be about anything and is very adamant about me taking video of him so he can watch afterwards.... basically like watching film.

Yesterday was try outs. Leading up to it, he mentioned how he was nervous and scared about it. The day of he told me at least a dozen times about being nervous and scared. I did my best to calm him, give him confidence and relax him. Try outs come and he goes out. Starts his swim and is doing well.... then about half way where the pool drops off into the deep end full on screech of the brakes stop. He wouldn't go because he was too scared. We had talked about it and since the swimming lessons are prob about 4 feet a the deepest, the 16 feet of the deep end was going to be a shock to him as he has never swam in a pool like that ever. The coaches worked with him for a while and after a while got him to make the trip using a kickboard. I wasn't sure if that would be enough for him to make the team but afterwards one of the coaches told me that his free and back strokes were really good and they would work with him on the fear issue with the deep end... so he made the team.

I told him and he got really excited. Jumped up and said "Let's gooooo!" and that his dream came true. (he is a little over dramatic with statements like that.... there have been a LOT of best and worst days of his life for example).

Today was the first practice. They warmed him up on the shallow end and then about half way through had him go for the full length. Again, right up to that drop off and the brakes were applied. A bit of time with the coaches talking to him and then he looked up at me in the stands and I just pointed in the direction of the deep end. He noded his head "yes" and then took off and swam it. They took his whole group out of the lane and talked for a bit and then had them all swim back. He was the last and it was obvious jumping into the deep end was now another challenge for him. He delayed awhile behind the rest of the group significantly and then finally looked up at me again. I gave him an exaggerated big nod "yes" with my head and he turned back and then got into the water and swam back.

After his group was done (they have the swimmers in age groups with the younger ones finishing about 15 minutes before the next group which my other son is in) he got changed and came up to sit with me in the stands. I gave him a big high five and said something about how awesome it was for him to overcome that challenge. He was super excited and then said "I just wanted to make you proud Daddy." and I told him I was "very proud" which he immediately stepped over and gave me a big hug. It was one of those moments you will always remember as a father.

 

[The Z Machine]

Son had his first baseball game today. I missed it as I'm on a work trip in China. I could pay attention via the "Game Changer" app. He struck out out ang got a walk. Looked good in his uniform though!

 

[El Floppo]

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.

Huh, things must have changed dramatically since I last looked at the numbers and/or heard from others about the preponderance of volleyball scholarships. Ah well, even if it's a D-2 school or partial scholarship somewhere it'll be better than nothing. If it happens. She's 12. LOL

lol. when floppinha started playing tennis a couple years ago, we were told the same thing about tennis (didn't matter- was never her or our goal for playing). soooo many scholarships for women. but what we've learned is that only the best of the best are getting scholarships at d1 schools- girls who spend every waking minute playing, and who's parents spend every waking dollar to support it. some are getting D2 and 3 scholarhips or at least plus points on their applications, but it's a small percentage relative to those who play.

But they're still young and have time to learn/grow... you start to see in HS which kids elevate to those tracks.

for her part, floppinha recently told me her goal was to play HS tennis.

Well... yea.... I mean, I am confused on that statement. You thought any random girl could walk in and say "Hey, I play ______ sport, can I have a scholarship?" at a D1?

let me rephrase since you're confused. when we were told- like nirad- that there SOOOO many scholarships out there, that implied to me the track was easier. the reality- not that many scholarships, the track is only for the select few, not easy.

I don't mean to sound jerkish on the being confused.... I am just really confused trying to reconcile there being a lot of scholarships and then the comments of the best of the best going to D1 schools. I just don't get it.

Yes, comparatively speaking to boys there are more athletic scholarships available simply because boys play more sports and there are equal athletic scholarships for boys and girls. I don't know the actual numbers but let's say there is 3 male athletes for every 1 female athlete, which means it is 'easier' to get a sports scholarship for a girl going to college.

What I am really confused about is that scholarship or no scholarship... the best of the best would be going to D1 anyways because generally speaking (of course there are always outliers) the best of the best athletes going to college are going or at least seeking to go to a D1. I just don't get why that was surprising to you- with or without the scholarship angle.

no worries.

your point is good and clear. when floppinha started playing a little more tennis, she showed genuine aptitude for it... people would always stop and comment to me about her at courts- how old is she? wow! disparate former male college players made the comments to me about the track for women's scholarships and there being a lot- and that she could be on that track. so when she was just starting out and before she had played any tournaments, I had the sense that despite being a long ways away that might be an option.

after a year of tournaments, the reality is that it's either a rich person's sport or a sport where easy access to free courts and less expensive lessons is the only way to be on that track. neither apply in our situation. the girls have to be out there all the time and getting quality instruction.

so my earlier comment about best of the best was misspoken. like Nirad with volleyball, I had been told by various people about there being "so many" scholarships available for women's tennis.. to the point where my first assumption was that the track would be easier. it isn't.