Kanil
Footballguy
I think this qualifies as a FBG approved, "It's OK to embarrass yourself" life moment. Let the tears rip.
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Collectively, A Thread To Celebrate Our Kids Athletic Accomplishments (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Anarchy99
- Start date
Nigel
Footballguy
No advice on controlling emotion but what a great idea. Just enjoy it, tears and all.
the moops
Footballguy
Bouldering season ended for my kids on Saturday. I posted about this last year, but to recap, this is just their 2nd year if competing. They both qualified for the regional championships (region 61 consists of ND, SD, MN, IA, NE, WI, IL). In their age categories, U13 and U15 there were approximately 100 kids that competed throughout the season. Top 26 make it to regionals. My 11 year old qualified in 5th place, my 13 year old barely squeaked in tied for 26th.
11 year old finished in 4th, and really had no chance to get on the podium. There are 3 kids that are just a notch above him. My 13 year old finished in 16th, which was far better than he expected. If he finished top 13 he would have advanced to divisionals, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
If anyone is interested in watching my kids climb, below is the timestamped youtube links to each of their 4 climbs. And for those who aren't real familiar with bouldering, scoring is based on getting to the top in the fewest amount of attempts. If you don't get to the top, then it is based on getting to a zone, again in the fewest amount of attempts.
We went back to the gym yesterday for they had practice but also because I wanted to try each of their climbs. In watching their comp, I thought I would be able to top 3 or 4 of their boulders. No such chance. I was only able to get two of them. I am not a great climber, but if you chose ten random 50 year old climbers in any gym (there aren't too many of us) I would be top 50% for sure. And if you chose any random buff 20 year old bro who has never climbed or only climbed a few times, I would for sure be able to top way more boulders than them. All that to say that this **** is hard. Like way way harder than it looks. Even after all this I still fall into the "oh they made that look easy, I can definitely get that one" false notion.
Anyway, super stoked and way proud of them
Ollie # 1
Ollie # 2
Ollie # 3
Ollie # 4
Nico # 1
Nico # 2
Nico # 3
Nico # 4
11 year old finished in 4th, and really had no chance to get on the podium. There are 3 kids that are just a notch above him. My 13 year old finished in 16th, which was far better than he expected. If he finished top 13 he would have advanced to divisionals, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
If anyone is interested in watching my kids climb, below is the timestamped youtube links to each of their 4 climbs. And for those who aren't real familiar with bouldering, scoring is based on getting to the top in the fewest amount of attempts. If you don't get to the top, then it is based on getting to a zone, again in the fewest amount of attempts.
We went back to the gym yesterday for they had practice but also because I wanted to try each of their climbs. In watching their comp, I thought I would be able to top 3 or 4 of their boulders. No such chance. I was only able to get two of them. I am not a great climber, but if you chose ten random 50 year old climbers in any gym (there aren't too many of us) I would be top 50% for sure. And if you chose any random buff 20 year old bro who has never climbed or only climbed a few times, I would for sure be able to top way more boulders than them. All that to say that this **** is hard. Like way way harder than it looks. Even after all this I still fall into the "oh they made that look easy, I can definitely get that one" false notion.
Anyway, super stoked and way proud of them
Ollie # 1
Ollie # 2
Ollie # 3
Ollie # 4
Nico # 1
Nico # 2
Nico # 3
Nico # 4
SofaKings
Footballguy
I love this thread. While my daughters D3 soccer career is 5 years behind us, as a teacher I love supporting my high school students at various athletic events, drama and robotics. Scratches that itch. I'll have a D1 golfer next year and a past student will be a jr on a D1 soccer team next year, she made the sweet 16 this year and has started every game of her college career.
Don't be embarrassed. You are proud, sad, excited, all rolled into one. Nothing to be embarrassed about.
SWC
Bromigo
hug her and cry and be proud about it and know that it is aok bromigo thats your baby and its her senior night aint no shame in loving your girl take that to the bank brohan
Skipdog77
Footballguy
I held it together pretty good. She, on the other hand, was a mess. As soon as the coach told them he had a surprise for them and she saw me walk in the locker room to tie her skates she lost it, full-on crying. I teared up a bit myself, but kept it together.
Then on the ice for the ceremony she was bawling again. She played great though, team got the win..a great night all around.
Now we get to go to Lake Placid for a tournament with her travel team this weekend, where a good buddy of mine and his son are coming up to watch and visit the town for the first time, and the following weekend will be Senior Night for her travel team. Fully enjoying this last ride before she heads off to play NCAA D3 hockey in the Fall.
belljr
Footballguy
Well this is going to stink. I'm heading to Lake Placid this weekend with the wife. First time and we always wanted to visit!!! It's going to stink because it'll be packed with hockey teams lok
Skipdog77
Footballguy
You'll love it (even with the hockey teams). One of my favorite places on earth. If I run into you at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, first one's on me.
El Floppo
Footballguy
Beautiful place. I did IM Lake Placid and proposed to my wife near the finish line... The place holds a really special spot for me.
SWC
Bromigo
best thing ive read this week take that to the bank brohans
Angry Beavers
Footballguy
Took a while to recover from the shoulder surgery but he is back at it. He still coaches boxing and has gone to MMA. 1ST bout was last weekend. He won by 2nd round KO victory against a very good opponent who had his own share of combat sports accomplishment including all state wrestling multiple times. Let's go!
glvsav37
Footballguy
Big weekend in the Glvsav house.
• Daughters college dance team captures their 3rd straight (daughter's 1st) National Championship at UDA in Orlando
• Son's 14UAA ice hockey team runs the table at the CCM MLK invitational in Mass/RI.
Funny thing is the semi's and final game were both on monday, our team had to play our game but in the 2-3 game, the #3 team forfeit b/c their kids were ill. So we had to take on a fresh team in the finals–ultimately playing 6 games while they only played 5. Thankfully we built up a good lead early, bc you could tell we were gassed in the 3rd and it got a little scary. Ahhh to be young and athletic again lol
• Daughters college dance team captures their 3rd straight (daughter's 1st) National Championship at UDA in Orlando
• Son's 14UAA ice hockey team runs the table at the CCM MLK invitational in Mass/RI.
Funny thing is the semi's and final game were both on monday, our team had to play our game but in the 2-3 game, the #3 team forfeit b/c their kids were ill. So we had to take on a fresh team in the finals–ultimately playing 6 games while they only played 5. Thankfully we built up a good lead early, bc you could tell we were gassed in the 3rd and it got a little scary. Ahhh to be young and athletic again lol
nirad3
Footballguy
Solid outing for my daughter and her 15U club volleyball team. Had a 3-game tourney this past Saturday. Won the first match quite handily. Lost to the eventual champion in the second match, but honestly they should have beat them. And then beat the #1 seed in the third and final match of the day in a nailbiter. And my kid made a crazy, ninja-like dig at the sideline that fortunately, one of the moms got on video.
El Floppo
Footballguy
At least you're not there now- so cold!!
I proposed on the speed skating oval- at the bend before the IM finish line because I knew she didn't want to be on the diamond vision screen set up there. Fortunately some other spectators sussed out what I was doing and took a few photos- tracking me down by race number through the race organizer.
belljr
Footballguy
Bro it was cold yesterday
nirad3
Footballguy
I am a long ways off from actually needing it, but can someone recommend a site (or does it vary by sport) where I can start uploading videos of my daughter's "greatest hits"? I want her to have a solid library of highlights starting as early as 8th grade to show progression. Or is this just a bad idea? I know the chances are miniscule for her to get noticed but I'm a hopeful dad. 
We used In Shot to splice together videos and uploaded it to youtube so I could send a link to the coaches (and cut down on email size by sending the entire file). I am an amateur and no nothing about videography.I am a long ways off from actually needing it, but can someone recommend a site (or does it vary by sport) where I can start uploading videos of my daughter's "greatest hits"? I want her to have a solid library of highlights starting as early as 8th grade to show progression. Or is this just a bad idea? I know the chances are miniscule for her to get noticed but I'm a hopeful dad.
I know some local high schools use a service that they upload the entire game films to and then you can input number etc for each player and then pull just the shots of that player. I am not sure how it works or what it was but I am sure someone on here may know. Our school didn't film baseball so we had to do our own which is why I don't know what that service was called.
Good Luck.
belljr
Footballguy
We loaded all clips to YouTube and sent that link to coaches. Then would break down some of those clips and emailed the clip directly. YmmvI am a long ways off from actually needing it, but can someone recommend a site (or does it vary by sport) where I can start uploading videos of my daughter's "greatest hits"? I want her to have a solid library of highlights starting as early as 8th grade to show progression. Or is this just a bad idea? I know the chances are miniscule for her to get noticed but I'm a hopeful dad.
Gally Jr was told by the coach last week that he plans to redshirt him this year. Somewhat contradictory to all the feedback he has gotten through the fall and into the winter. The team has a large freshman class and the coach told 9 of the 11 freshman and one transfer that his plan is to redshirt them this year.
Gally Jr doesn't like it as he thinks he has performed better than the two freshman that weren't included and many of the other transfers that aren't redshirting. It doesn't sound like the coach expanded much on his reasoning but if the first weekend of games (this past weekend) are any indication it could be that he plans to have the team be senior heavy as 7 out of the 10 starters (9 positions plus DH) were seniors with the other spots being juniors.
My guess is that he believes this freshman class is a good group and wants them to stay together and with being top heavy this allows this group to save a year of eligibility. At least this is the only thing that makes sense if his feedback is to be believed thus far.
My son is taking it in stride and isn't really too frustrated yet although I can tell from some of his responses about how practice it going that he is a bit miffed. Obviously the redshirt players aren't going to get the same practice time but when I ask how practice went and he is responding with shoveling snow and shagging balls" there is a hint of frustration there.
I suggested he talk to the coach just to see his reasoning and to see if there is something in particular he needs to work on to move up on the depth chart but he doesn't want to do that because he thinks it would be "weird" because it's not like "I am gonna change his mind by talking to him". It tried to explain that wasn't the purpose of the conversation but it was to get a better understanding of where you need to get better. He said he will try to talk to his pitching coach to see what he thinks about it or has any clarifications.
One of the two freshman they did keep active started one of the four games this past weekend. He went 4+ innings and gave up 9 hits, 9 R (5 ER), and had an error leading to a few of those unearned runs. Not a great outing. The other freshman didn't play in any of the four games. But the team did go 3-1 so a promising start overall.
Obviously things can change in a hurry with people not performing or injuries happening and redshirting may be the best thing for the long term but I can tell its hard on him when he thinks he is better than quite a few of the guys getting the opportunities. I told just keep working hard and getting better and he will get his chance. He said, I know I will get a chance next year for sure so I just have to wait my time. Not a bad approach.
Gally Jr doesn't like it as he thinks he has performed better than the two freshman that weren't included and many of the other transfers that aren't redshirting. It doesn't sound like the coach expanded much on his reasoning but if the first weekend of games (this past weekend) are any indication it could be that he plans to have the team be senior heavy as 7 out of the 10 starters (9 positions plus DH) were seniors with the other spots being juniors.
My guess is that he believes this freshman class is a good group and wants them to stay together and with being top heavy this allows this group to save a year of eligibility. At least this is the only thing that makes sense if his feedback is to be believed thus far.
My son is taking it in stride and isn't really too frustrated yet although I can tell from some of his responses about how practice it going that he is a bit miffed. Obviously the redshirt players aren't going to get the same practice time but when I ask how practice went and he is responding with shoveling snow and shagging balls" there is a hint of frustration there.
I suggested he talk to the coach just to see his reasoning and to see if there is something in particular he needs to work on to move up on the depth chart but he doesn't want to do that because he thinks it would be "weird" because it's not like "I am gonna change his mind by talking to him". It tried to explain that wasn't the purpose of the conversation but it was to get a better understanding of where you need to get better. He said he will try to talk to his pitching coach to see what he thinks about it or has any clarifications.
One of the two freshman they did keep active started one of the four games this past weekend. He went 4+ innings and gave up 9 hits, 9 R (5 ER), and had an error leading to a few of those unearned runs. Not a great outing. The other freshman didn't play in any of the four games. But the team did go 3-1 so a promising start overall.
Obviously things can change in a hurry with people not performing or injuries happening and redshirting may be the best thing for the long term but I can tell its hard on him when he thinks he is better than quite a few of the guys getting the opportunities. I told just keep working hard and getting better and he will get his chance. He said, I know I will get a chance next year for sure so I just have to wait my time. Not a bad approach.
Semi athletic related so I'll put it here - my son received the Orange County ADA Athlete of Character Award. It is given to one male and one female athlete from each high school in the county. Pretty select group when you think about how many student athletes there are at each high school.
Fantasy_Freak
Footballguy
My son plays high school football, he uses Hudl for his highlights and you can keep them available as long as you like. He has loaded his freshman year highlights, then this past season was sophomore highlights, and he will continue on. Not sure how much Hudl is used for volleyball.I am a long ways off from actually needing it, but can someone recommend a site (or does it vary by sport) where I can start uploading videos of my daughter's "greatest hits"? I want her to have a solid library of highlights starting as early as 8th grade to show progression. Or is this just a bad idea? I know the chances are miniscule for her to get noticed but I'm a hopeful dad.
HUDL is also something that is set up by the school, but each kid can access their highlights, team film, etc. through it so long as the team films their game and uploads it. At my kid's high school, we have a HUDL camera in the gym, so games are automatically recorded and uploaded to HUDL. For road games, all games are filmed and uploaded to HUDL. For field sports, they will film and upload the game film as we do not have HUDL cameras on the fields. I believe HUDL can also link directly to maxpreps if I am not mistaken.My son plays high school football, he uses Hudl for his highlights and you can keep them available as long as you like. He has loaded his freshman year highlights, then this past season was sophomore highlights, and he will continue on. Not sure how much Hudl is used for volleyball.I am a long ways off from actually needing it, but can someone recommend a site (or does it vary by sport) where I can start uploading videos of my daughter's "greatest hits"? I want her to have a solid library of highlights starting as early as 8th grade to show progression. Or is this just a bad idea? I know the chances are miniscule for her to get noticed but I'm a hopeful dad.
Many athletes use Youtube to curate their highlights and put together compilations that they want to show coaches.
Email works, but more and more contact/communication is via Twitter/X.
Our school did not have HUDL but I know other's in the area did have it. It also wasn't for all sports so even if your school has it it may not be for the sport you are playing. Definitely worth checking with your coach or AD to see if it's available.
There is a fee associated with it, so at our school the various sports choose to opt in or not if they want to use it, but that is paid for through the boosters usually as there definitely isn't budget for it through the district. I know for sure football and basketball pay a higher fee as they use some of the other services such as the automatic stats, etc.
Gally jr finally had a chance to talk to the pitching coach about the redshirting news. The pitching coach told him he was close but they didn't want to burn a year for him only to get a few innings of game play. He also told him that the head coach is kind of old school to a degree in that he likes to see how players respond to news like redshirting. He wants to see what guys will step and work harder and which ones will fade to the back.
The other big piece was that just because the plan is to reshirt doesn't mean that will happen as things happen in the season. Injuries, sickness, poor play, etc always happen so he has to be ready for the call at any time. Also, told him that he will get opportunities in practice and needs to be ready for them and keep doing well when given the chance.
Jr was happy with the discussion and knows what he has to do. Next set of games are this weekend but it is another travel destination so he likely won't be going.
Until next time......
The other big piece was that just because the plan is to reshirt doesn't mean that will happen as things happen in the season. Injuries, sickness, poor play, etc always happen so he has to be ready for the call at any time. Also, told him that he will get opportunities in practice and needs to be ready for them and keep doing well when given the chance.
Jr was happy with the discussion and knows what he has to do. Next set of games are this weekend but it is another travel destination so he likely won't be going.
Until next time......
belljr
Footballguy
Welp year 2 is underway.
Little belljr has started SS the first 3 games. Made some nice plays. A tad shaky here and there but overall very solid.
That's the good news.
The bad news she can't hit to save her life. 0-9..... Has only hit 2 balls hard but putting the ball in play. The rest all dinks and dribbles. Timing way off and spinning out.
Hammered the ball last year so it's a bit concerning. Been ph for 3 times now but it's understandable. It wouldn't stand out as much, but the rest of the team is just hammering the ball right now.
Hopefully the coach remembers how much she did last year, and gives her a chance to work it out but you never know
Little belljr has started SS the first 3 games. Made some nice plays. A tad shaky here and there but overall very solid.
That's the good news.
The bad news she can't hit to save her life. 0-9..... Has only hit 2 balls hard but putting the ball in play. The rest all dinks and dribbles. Timing way off and spinning out.
Hammered the ball last year so it's a bit concerning. Been ph for 3 times now but it's understandable. It wouldn't stand out as much, but the rest of the team is just hammering the ball right now.
Hopefully the coach remembers how much she did last year, and gives her a chance to work it out but you never know
Chadstroma
Footballguy
THIS IS HUGE at this age. My daughter missed half of both club and school Volleyball which included tryouts for both due to a broken arm. She was placed on the A team for school considering she was one of the better players from 7th grade team but for club she had to workout with a few of the teams. There are 4 teams for this level. She likely would have competed for the top or second highest team (two of her teammates from school are on those two top teams and she is very comparable to them) but basically was told the top team was not going to happen as they are full.Wrapped up our first club volleyball tournament this past weekend. My girl's on a 15U team (she's not even 14 yet) here locally. It's a newer club with a very young (college volleyball player) coach and her dad helping out. She loves the girls she's on the team with, which is a big part of it.
Was up and at 'em at 6am on Saturday morning (after being at my company Christmas party the day before where I had juuuust a few cocktails) for an 8am game. Another at 11 and the last at noon. We lost the first match (to one of the better squads in the tournament) but came roaring back to win the final two matches, which was nice to see. My daughter's serves were on point and she got the final two points to win the first match. So proud of her.
Games Sunday at a different location against slightly better competition and unfortunately lost all three games, the last two of which we should have won. Girls were just losing focus at the absolute worst times. But they had fun and the point is to just get better every time out there.
My girl is also on her school (8th grade) team, and their first game is tomorrow afternoon. She was on the 7th grade team last year and from what I remember about what her school's 8th grade team looked like last year, we may not be very good.
The first thing that the director did when she got medically cleared was have her go play a tournament with the bottom team that weekend. She had not practiced with them at all and wasn't being placed on the team but just to get her some playing time right away and have some of the coaches start to see her. I did not expect her to play a ton- after all, she had not practiced with them and was coming out of no where but I wanted her to really start knocking off the rust ASAP so I agreed.
She starts to warm up with the team. She knew one of them from school so I was expecting that girl to kind of introduce her and help welcome her. I watched some of the warm ups and knew there was no way that my daughter would be on this team as it was very much below her skill level to a laughable degree. Right at the end of warm ups, my daughter runs up to me and kind of whispers "these girls are sassy" and ran back. I was like WTF does that mean? But kind of brushed it off because she was smiling and seemed upbeat when she came over.
The first game goes and she did not play at all. Again, not unexpected and I was ok as long as she got some playing time in the next two games. The game was HORRIBLE. They got blown out on all three sets, scoring like 3 or 4 on two of the sets and the other I think they managed 10.
After the game, my daughter up to me.... visibly upset. And asked if we could leave. I asked why and she did not want to tell me. I told her we can't leave unless you tell me what is going on. She relented and told me that the girls were being mean and shutting her out etc. She didn't want to go into it at that time but she was crying so that was enough for me on top of knowing that there was no way she would be on this team. I went to the coach and informed him that we were leaving and the reason why. He apologized, assured he would talk to the team and tried to convince my daughter to stay but she had no interest. As we went home, she opened up and basically the girls first came up asking her (with attitude) what position she plays and my daughter said "I play most positions, whatever the coach wants me to" which is try, she has played everything except Libero. Those girls started saying how they didn't know where she would play because they were full in all the positions. They went on giving her dirty looks. At one point, two of them talking Polish and then both turning around and looking at her with attitude and a ton of other little things that was a bunch of 13 year olds making it known she was not welcome.
The next step was to practice with the two middle teams and then a decision would be made. She ended up on the 3rd level team which I was fine with as I wanted her to get the most reps possible just to get back after being off for multiple months with the broken arm. The team was welcoming and seems like a good group of girls. So, it works.
But my gosh... I was taken aback at how female dog and catty these 13 year old girls can be. The really stupid thing is that if she played she would have helped them a ton as she was far superior in skill level than any of them.
So that is HUGE. Glad your daughter landed on a team with girls she likes.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
That is awesome! It is also a resume builder as most people will recognize that it takes discipline and a work ethic to achieve (at least from a reputable place).
It kind of reminds me of my son with swim. He excels at it but it is his least favorite sport. Swim is a huge grind too. This last season we basically ended up skipping.... basically because of my wife going through medical treatment and needing attention on top of not being able to assist in drop off/pick ups etc. I was coaching two basketball teams for my boys and my daughter on her vball teams. It was just too much and even more so to try to get a kid(s) who don't really want to go to go when I am low on energy from everything.
He has lost muscle and conditioning because of it. I think he realizes it now as well. Plus, I showed him pictures from the team for Regionals. He asked if he would have swam at Regionals and I told him yea, you already qualified in two events just based on your times from the previous season. I am hoping he has a similar switch to your son.... even if eventually ends swimming just getting the benefits of the conditioning and strength building for other sports is a huge plus much like the great things the second degree has and will bring for you son.
Gally Jr got to throw live AB's last week (like a controlled intersquad). He got 6 batters. They do this every so often and have a handful of pitchers throw live.
Here is how he described his outing over the phone:
1st batter......strikeout
2nd batter......strikeout
3rd batters.......strikeout
4th batter......4 pitch walk. The guy has been on fire so I nibbled a bit to much. It's practice...I shoulda just gone after him. Either way I wasn't disappointed in my approach.
5th batter......strikeout
6th batter......routine flyout to centerfield.
He said his arm felt lively and thought his velo was up. He had everything working and got K's on all of his pitches.
On a side note the 6-6 freshman pitcher that is not redshirting was blown up for 6 runs in less than 2 innings this weekend and has struggled with an ERA of 9.0 to date. The other freshman that didn't redshirt has only played 1 inning thus far in 18 games.
Here is how he described his outing over the phone:
1st batter......strikeout
2nd batter......strikeout
3rd batters.......strikeout
4th batter......4 pitch walk. The guy has been on fire so I nibbled a bit to much. It's practice...I shoulda just gone after him. Either way I wasn't disappointed in my approach.
5th batter......strikeout
6th batter......routine flyout to centerfield.
He said his arm felt lively and thought his velo was up. He had everything working and got K's on all of his pitches.
On a side note the 6-6 freshman pitcher that is not redshirting was blown up for 6 runs in less than 2 innings this weekend and has struggled with an ERA of 9.0 to date. The other freshman that didn't redshirt has only played 1 inning thus far in 18 games.
El Floppo
Footballguy
forgot to mention, 13yo Floppinha won a 14u tourney 3 weeks ago.
L7 (the lowest/easiest rated tourney), but the highest level players I've ever seen for an L7, where there's usually some newbs playing. Everybody was good and playing and winning in L6s here.
Plus- there were twins from one of her regular tennis classes (who I thought were older). these girls are probably slightly less technically capable than my daughter, but to my eyes in the class play like killers- super competitive and crush the ball. and a year older than floppinha, who still holds her own more or less against them in class.
the first match was against one of the twins- the better one. not at her best while she was still warming up, but was a battle. it went to tie-break, and floppinha pulled it out on calling a lobbed shot out. while I never like seeing a match end that way- I'm SUPER proud of her for making that call. she always errs on the opposite side of things and calls (even in this match) a lot of stuff in that is clearly out. the lob looked in to my eyes, fwiw... don't care!
she won the next match 4-0 (short sets in a quick tourney), and then 4-0 against a kid who looked really good and i thought would cause problems.
that took her to the final against the winner of the other bracket who was an absolute beast- huge serve and ground stroke and fantastic/dominant at the net from what I saw of her on the other courts (she beat the other twin 4-0). (eta: I fully expected Floppinha to lose based on what I'd seen of this girl- and just wanted her to play well and get some games off the kid)
Floppinha took her down 4-0 for the title!
she put a lot of pressure on the other girl, hitting deep and not allowing her take control of points... and forcing her into a lot of errors. she figured out how to return the big serve, punching it back using the serve's force in the return- which also put the other girl under pressure.
(eta: I was really proud of her here... her main weakness isn't her own fault- inconsistency. this is purely based on lack of court time and reps hitting the ball. but outside of the first few games vs the twin to open the play- and still her warming up- she was locked in. especially against the beast in the final. super consistent and dictating points as a result, forcing all the girls into a lot of errors)
L7 (the lowest/easiest rated tourney), but the highest level players I've ever seen for an L7, where there's usually some newbs playing. Everybody was good and playing and winning in L6s here.
Plus- there were twins from one of her regular tennis classes (who I thought were older). these girls are probably slightly less technically capable than my daughter, but to my eyes in the class play like killers- super competitive and crush the ball. and a year older than floppinha, who still holds her own more or less against them in class.
the first match was against one of the twins- the better one. not at her best while she was still warming up, but was a battle. it went to tie-break, and floppinha pulled it out on calling a lobbed shot out. while I never like seeing a match end that way- I'm SUPER proud of her for making that call. she always errs on the opposite side of things and calls (even in this match) a lot of stuff in that is clearly out. the lob looked in to my eyes, fwiw... don't care!
she won the next match 4-0 (short sets in a quick tourney), and then 4-0 against a kid who looked really good and i thought would cause problems.
that took her to the final against the winner of the other bracket who was an absolute beast- huge serve and ground stroke and fantastic/dominant at the net from what I saw of her on the other courts (she beat the other twin 4-0). (eta: I fully expected Floppinha to lose based on what I'd seen of this girl- and just wanted her to play well and get some games off the kid)
Floppinha took her down 4-0 for the title!
she put a lot of pressure on the other girl, hitting deep and not allowing her take control of points... and forcing her into a lot of errors. she figured out how to return the big serve, punching it back using the serve's force in the return- which also put the other girl under pressure.
(eta: I was really proud of her here... her main weakness isn't her own fault- inconsistency. this is purely based on lack of court time and reps hitting the ball. but outside of the first few games vs the twin to open the play- and still her warming up- she was locked in. especially against the beast in the final. super consistent and dictating points as a result, forcing all the girls into a lot of errors)
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Chadstroma
Footballguy
Impacting kids other than your own has a special feeling for sure. Last year one of my players said something along the lines of "I can't wait to thank my middle school basketball coach when I am successful".... that right there was the best payoff for coaching I ever had. No matter what the kid does, knowing that I have impacted his life for the better in a way that he makes a comment like that is just pure gold.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
My middle son's basketball season finished up.
32-3 overall record. 30-0 in league play with two Championships (they play in two leagues). My son developed his offensive skillset a good amount this season. Much better shooter and able to drive effectively as well. Considering in my opinion he is the best defender in the league(s) for both A and B (overall could guard anyone from the quickest guards to the biggest centers) and he is a very good rebounder, getting his offensive skills up more is really helping him round out to a very good basketball player.
32-3 overall record. 30-0 in league play with two Championships (they play in two leagues). My son developed his offensive skillset a good amount this season. Much better shooter and able to drive effectively as well. Considering in my opinion he is the best defender in the league(s) for both A and B (overall could guard anyone from the quickest guards to the biggest centers) and he is a very good rebounder, getting his offensive skills up more is really helping him round out to a very good basketball player.
My son was inches away from his first HR in College yesterday. Ball went 335 feet and hit the top of the LF wall for an easy stand up double.
He has started in 5 positions so far this season. Primarily at SS and LF but has also played 2B, CF and RF.
Currently 4th on the team in hitting.
2nd in OBP
2nd in SB
Having a strong Sophomore season and heading on the road tomorrow for two games vs two top 20 teams in the nation.
He is strongly entrenched as the teams 2nd hitter in the order. He is having a ton of fun and now after these two games it's all conference play from here on out.
We were up there Thursday thru today (just got back this afternoon). Got to see 6 games. He started in 4 of them and appeared in another. Was a great time.
I will be heading back up two times in April to catch 6 more games. Only one home series (this weekend) I will miss the rest of the way. They have a ton of road games in the back half of March and all of April.
Currently hitting .280 with a bullet. He has hit many balls on the screws, laid down 4 SAC bunts, Sac fly RBI as well. He is just getting started.
OBP is .391 SLG is .333 OPS .724 (and rising)
Just happy to see him having a great time...loves his coaches and teammates. Living his dream.
He has started in 5 positions so far this season. Primarily at SS and LF but has also played 2B, CF and RF.
Currently 4th on the team in hitting.
2nd in OBP
2nd in SB
Having a strong Sophomore season and heading on the road tomorrow for two games vs two top 20 teams in the nation.
He is strongly entrenched as the teams 2nd hitter in the order. He is having a ton of fun and now after these two games it's all conference play from here on out.
We were up there Thursday thru today (just got back this afternoon). Got to see 6 games. He started in 4 of them and appeared in another. Was a great time.
I will be heading back up two times in April to catch 6 more games. Only one home series (this weekend) I will miss the rest of the way. They have a ton of road games in the back half of March and all of April.
Currently hitting .280 with a bullet. He has hit many balls on the screws, laid down 4 SAC bunts, Sac fly RBI as well. He is just getting started.
OBP is .391 SLG is .333 OPS .724 (and rising)
Just happy to see him having a great time...loves his coaches and teammates. Living his dream.
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the moops
Footballguy
Tell that boy to hit the weight room!!
I kid, I kid. Congrats mini Todem. Love the playing 5 position thing!
Well it didn’t help he had 15 MPH gusts blowing in….cuz he hit every stich of that baseball LOL!!!
So Todem Jrs team travelled to Virginia today to take on the 12th ranked D3 in the country.
We pulled out a stunning 12-11 win and man it got too close for comfort!!!
We faced a great pitching staff believe it or not….but his team was locked in from the get go.
Long story short. A great team win.
He went 2-4 with 2R
Sac, HPB
But he made a full extension diving catch in LF on sinking line drive with runners on 1st and 3rd and two outs in the 7th inning to end the inning and save two runs.
It was huge.
They are heading to Maryland as I type this to face the #5 team in the country (D3).
He has now pushed his average up to .318 and his two singles were missiles. He continues to do all the little things and has established his utility starters role and hitting 2nd in the lineup. His coach told him he loves him at SS and sees him as the future there but right now he needs him to be versatile and my so told him in his fall exit meeting I just want to help this team win and I can play anywhere the team needs me except catcher lol.
Proud of him and his team. They have won 5 of their last 7 and are coming together at the right time as conference play begins in earnest this weekend!
We pulled out a stunning 12-11 win and man it got too close for comfort!!!
We faced a great pitching staff believe it or not….but his team was locked in from the get go.
Long story short. A great team win.
He went 2-4 with 2R
Sac, HPB
But he made a full extension diving catch in LF on sinking line drive with runners on 1st and 3rd and two outs in the 7th inning to end the inning and save two runs.
It was huge.
They are heading to Maryland as I type this to face the #5 team in the country (D3).
He has now pushed his average up to .318 and his two singles were missiles. He continues to do all the little things and has established his utility starters role and hitting 2nd in the lineup. His coach told him he loves him at SS and sees him as the future there but right now he needs him to be versatile and my so told him in his fall exit meeting I just want to help this team win and I can play anywhere the team needs me except catcher lol.
Proud of him and his team. They have won 5 of their last 7 and are coming together at the right time as conference play begins in earnest this weekend!
Skipdog77
Footballguy
TLDR; My daughter’s 19U club/travel/rep hockey team won the State Championship this past weekend, her first time winning it and they are now headed off to USA Hockey Nationals the first weekend in April!
(better grab a beer if you're still with me)
My daughter has been playing hockey since she was 5, and playing club/travel/rep (whichever you prefer to call it) since she was 7. She played co-ed with the boys through her second 12U season (USA Hockey age groups are two year blocks), and then moved to a Tier 1 Girls hockey program in her first year of 14u.
The State Tournament here has always been a big thing for the hockey kids..they all want to get there, and they all want to become State Champs, they all want to go to Nationals. Our state is divided up into four Sections, and typically each Section gets to send their top two teams (determined through either round-robin home and away qualifying games played throughout the season, or a profiling tournament, depending on the number of teams), so it’s usually the top 8 teams in the state battling it out. Her last co-ed 12u team qualified for States in 2020, but COVID shut the world down the week before their tournament was set to be played, and everything was cancelled that year.
Her first year of 14u Girls Tier 1 her team made it to the state championship game, but had a bad first period and couldn’t fully recover, and they fell to the team that would become their biggest rival over the next 5 years. Subsequent trips to States for the 2nd year of 14u and for both years of 16u all ended in either semi-final or round-robin eliminations.
This year she moved to a new team after her old one fell apart (girls going to prep school, players wanting to play closer to their homes, etc.). There were some panicked moments during tryout season last year where we weren’t sure if some of the girls from her old team were going to have a place to play this season. We ended up in contact with the coach of a team that we knew from a couple of hours away and explained the situation, and even though we weren’t going to be able to make their final tryout, he agreed to take our 5 girls on as he had seen them play over the past couple of seasons and knew their skill levels. The coach is a no-nonsense kind of guy, demands a lot from the girls, is very blunt and honest, and as a 3-time purple heart awardee has seen some sh*t and makes it easy for the girls to give their all for him and the team.
We end up first in our Section, and have one of the top seeds going into the State tourney. 2 divisions of 4 teams, with 2 #1 seeds and 2 #2 seeds in each division. Our first game comes about Friday morning, and we completely outplay one of the #2 seeds outshooting them 42-13. The problem is their goalie stands on her head (and gets some luck from her posts and the knob of her stick) and the game goes to OT tied at zero. OT is played 3v3, which our team never played or practiced, and a mistake ends up in the back of our net and we lose the opener 1-0. The standings are based on points (3 for regulation win, 2 for an OT or shootout win, and 1 for an OT or shootout loss), so we get 1 pt for the loss. Next game is scheduled for that evening against our top rival team (the team that beat my daughter’s 14u team 5 years prior). For context, in the MyHockey Rankings, our team ended up 5th in the country and theirs was #6, so these are two very evenly matched teams. Our backs are up against the wall now, and we know we have no margin for error and have to win our next two games in regulation to make the semi-final round.
We get a powerplay goal about 7 minutes into the 1st period and add a 2nd goal with about a minute and a half left in the 2nd to take a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period. The other team scores with just under 10 minutes to go in the 3rd, leading to an intense battle in the remaining time as both teams needed the win. Our team was able to hold on, playing some stout defense and limiting them to only 4 shots in the 3rd period. My heartrate had to have stayed above 160BPM for the entire 3rd period. With the 3 pts earned from that game, we moved into 1st place in our division.
Our last round-robin game was Saturday afternoon. A win in regulation would clinch us 1st seed in our division (and thus playing the #2 seed in the other division in the semis), and an OT win would at least guarantee us making the semis. The officiating in this game was, uh…creative. The girls battled through though, and once again took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period. Their opponents scored a goal with about 3 minutes remaining, setting off the old heartrate again. Our rival team had finished up their game on the rink next door, and all of the players and parents came over to our rink to watch the end of the game, as they wanted us to lose so they could get the #1 seed and not have to face the #1 seed from the other division in the semis. That was a little intense. We were able to hit an empty netter though, wrap up the #1 seed, and send all of the rival players and parents home a little sad.
The semi-final game was against a team we had played 5 times during the season, and we had won them all. We went up 1-0 a few minutes into the game, added another early in the 2nd, then my daughter scored a top-shelf snipe to make it 3-0 and give us some breathing room. We ended up cruising to a 5-0 win, while only giving up 10 shots on goal. Meanwhile our rivals took care of the #1 seed in the other division rather easily, setting up the championship game matchup as it should have been, with the two best teams form the state in their age playing for the title.
What I haven’t mentioned is that this State tournament is hosted each year at the home rink for our favorite rivals. So that means friends, family, etc. come out in force to cheer them on when they get to championship final games. As luck would have it, we were scheduled to play that game on probably the smallest rink in the facility, with very low stands on one side, and people just packed shoulder to shoulder standing along the glass/boards around the ends of the rink. It must have been like playing in a fish-bowl for the girls, and a hostile one at that for our girls.
Game starts and it’s a physical, intense one. We knew they would come out flying due to the home crowd support, and we were able to withstand the first few minutes and settle down into our game. My daughter gets so jacked for these games, and she was flying off the bench for her line changes and causing havoc with her forecheck, creating turnovers, taking away time and space, doing what she does best. We get a 1st period power play goal to go up 1-0, but the game is a long way from being over. About 7 minutes into the 2nd period we get a second goal..nothing fancy, just crashing the net, being in the right spot, and doing the little things it takes to win a tough game, giving us a 2-0 lead. With about a minute and a half to go through, the rival team throws one in from the blue line, goalie can’t find it through a maze of bodies, it hits a stick or skate and deflects into the net, and our lead is down to 2-1 going into the 3rd. At this point my fitbit wants to know if I’m hiking a mountain, and I take it off. The 3rd period is just a battle…two rival teams going at it for 17 minutes of a winner takes all donnybrook. With just under 3 and a half minutes to go our captain takes a penalty, and now we are short-handed for 2 minutes in a one-goal game. The girls keep their composure and kill it off to 6 seconds remaining in the penalty, and 1:23 remaining on the game clock. Rival team pulls their goalie for a faceoff in our defensive end, and will have effectively 10 seconds of 6 on 4 advantage until our player can get back in the play after exiting the box. I didn’t see this until I watched the video of the game later, but my daughter was on the bench by the door, and right before this faceoff she sat down on the bench, and then just stared straight ahead at the door..she couldn’t even bring herself to watch, it meant so much to her. With about 45 seconds to go, our D got control of the puck, brought it out to the red line, passed it off to a winger, and she put it into the empty net to seal the win and the state championship. The buzzer sounds, the girls pour over the bench and race to the goalie to celebrate, hugs all around, etc. Just so happy for them to get their revenge, get the state title they always wanted, and now get to go onto Nationals. As the team started skating away from the group hugs to go shake hands, I noticed my daughter hang back a little, put her stick on her thighs, and bend over at the waist letting it all sink in and gather herself a bit. Have to admit that made me tear up a bit, knowing she wanted this so bad, and seeing her and the team achieve it. She has one good friend that she has made on the rival team, and after the team and official handshakes as both teams were lining up on their blue lines for the presentations, her and her friend stopped in the middle of the ice and my daughter gave her a huge hug.
Not only proud of her success on the ice, but moreso proud of the person that she has become on this journey. She may be a beast on the ice, but her warmth and empathy just draws people to her. Can’t wait to watch her play college hockey in the Fall.
(for all those who made it this far, I both apologize and am grateful. George R.R. Martin should hire me to finish his dragon books.)
(better grab a beer if you're still with me)
My daughter has been playing hockey since she was 5, and playing club/travel/rep (whichever you prefer to call it) since she was 7. She played co-ed with the boys through her second 12U season (USA Hockey age groups are two year blocks), and then moved to a Tier 1 Girls hockey program in her first year of 14u.
The State Tournament here has always been a big thing for the hockey kids..they all want to get there, and they all want to become State Champs, they all want to go to Nationals. Our state is divided up into four Sections, and typically each Section gets to send their top two teams (determined through either round-robin home and away qualifying games played throughout the season, or a profiling tournament, depending on the number of teams), so it’s usually the top 8 teams in the state battling it out. Her last co-ed 12u team qualified for States in 2020, but COVID shut the world down the week before their tournament was set to be played, and everything was cancelled that year.
Her first year of 14u Girls Tier 1 her team made it to the state championship game, but had a bad first period and couldn’t fully recover, and they fell to the team that would become their biggest rival over the next 5 years. Subsequent trips to States for the 2nd year of 14u and for both years of 16u all ended in either semi-final or round-robin eliminations.
This year she moved to a new team after her old one fell apart (girls going to prep school, players wanting to play closer to their homes, etc.). There were some panicked moments during tryout season last year where we weren’t sure if some of the girls from her old team were going to have a place to play this season. We ended up in contact with the coach of a team that we knew from a couple of hours away and explained the situation, and even though we weren’t going to be able to make their final tryout, he agreed to take our 5 girls on as he had seen them play over the past couple of seasons and knew their skill levels. The coach is a no-nonsense kind of guy, demands a lot from the girls, is very blunt and honest, and as a 3-time purple heart awardee has seen some sh*t and makes it easy for the girls to give their all for him and the team.
We end up first in our Section, and have one of the top seeds going into the State tourney. 2 divisions of 4 teams, with 2 #1 seeds and 2 #2 seeds in each division. Our first game comes about Friday morning, and we completely outplay one of the #2 seeds outshooting them 42-13. The problem is their goalie stands on her head (and gets some luck from her posts and the knob of her stick) and the game goes to OT tied at zero. OT is played 3v3, which our team never played or practiced, and a mistake ends up in the back of our net and we lose the opener 1-0. The standings are based on points (3 for regulation win, 2 for an OT or shootout win, and 1 for an OT or shootout loss), so we get 1 pt for the loss. Next game is scheduled for that evening against our top rival team (the team that beat my daughter’s 14u team 5 years prior). For context, in the MyHockey Rankings, our team ended up 5th in the country and theirs was #6, so these are two very evenly matched teams. Our backs are up against the wall now, and we know we have no margin for error and have to win our next two games in regulation to make the semi-final round.
We get a powerplay goal about 7 minutes into the 1st period and add a 2nd goal with about a minute and a half left in the 2nd to take a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period. The other team scores with just under 10 minutes to go in the 3rd, leading to an intense battle in the remaining time as both teams needed the win. Our team was able to hold on, playing some stout defense and limiting them to only 4 shots in the 3rd period. My heartrate had to have stayed above 160BPM for the entire 3rd period. With the 3 pts earned from that game, we moved into 1st place in our division.
Our last round-robin game was Saturday afternoon. A win in regulation would clinch us 1st seed in our division (and thus playing the #2 seed in the other division in the semis), and an OT win would at least guarantee us making the semis. The officiating in this game was, uh…creative. The girls battled through though, and once again took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period. Their opponents scored a goal with about 3 minutes remaining, setting off the old heartrate again. Our rival team had finished up their game on the rink next door, and all of the players and parents came over to our rink to watch the end of the game, as they wanted us to lose so they could get the #1 seed and not have to face the #1 seed from the other division in the semis. That was a little intense. We were able to hit an empty netter though, wrap up the #1 seed, and send all of the rival players and parents home a little sad.
The semi-final game was against a team we had played 5 times during the season, and we had won them all. We went up 1-0 a few minutes into the game, added another early in the 2nd, then my daughter scored a top-shelf snipe to make it 3-0 and give us some breathing room. We ended up cruising to a 5-0 win, while only giving up 10 shots on goal. Meanwhile our rivals took care of the #1 seed in the other division rather easily, setting up the championship game matchup as it should have been, with the two best teams form the state in their age playing for the title.
What I haven’t mentioned is that this State tournament is hosted each year at the home rink for our favorite rivals. So that means friends, family, etc. come out in force to cheer them on when they get to championship final games. As luck would have it, we were scheduled to play that game on probably the smallest rink in the facility, with very low stands on one side, and people just packed shoulder to shoulder standing along the glass/boards around the ends of the rink. It must have been like playing in a fish-bowl for the girls, and a hostile one at that for our girls.
Game starts and it’s a physical, intense one. We knew they would come out flying due to the home crowd support, and we were able to withstand the first few minutes and settle down into our game. My daughter gets so jacked for these games, and she was flying off the bench for her line changes and causing havoc with her forecheck, creating turnovers, taking away time and space, doing what she does best. We get a 1st period power play goal to go up 1-0, but the game is a long way from being over. About 7 minutes into the 2nd period we get a second goal..nothing fancy, just crashing the net, being in the right spot, and doing the little things it takes to win a tough game, giving us a 2-0 lead. With about a minute and a half to go through, the rival team throws one in from the blue line, goalie can’t find it through a maze of bodies, it hits a stick or skate and deflects into the net, and our lead is down to 2-1 going into the 3rd. At this point my fitbit wants to know if I’m hiking a mountain, and I take it off. The 3rd period is just a battle…two rival teams going at it for 17 minutes of a winner takes all donnybrook. With just under 3 and a half minutes to go our captain takes a penalty, and now we are short-handed for 2 minutes in a one-goal game. The girls keep their composure and kill it off to 6 seconds remaining in the penalty, and 1:23 remaining on the game clock. Rival team pulls their goalie for a faceoff in our defensive end, and will have effectively 10 seconds of 6 on 4 advantage until our player can get back in the play after exiting the box. I didn’t see this until I watched the video of the game later, but my daughter was on the bench by the door, and right before this faceoff she sat down on the bench, and then just stared straight ahead at the door..she couldn’t even bring herself to watch, it meant so much to her. With about 45 seconds to go, our D got control of the puck, brought it out to the red line, passed it off to a winger, and she put it into the empty net to seal the win and the state championship. The buzzer sounds, the girls pour over the bench and race to the goalie to celebrate, hugs all around, etc. Just so happy for them to get their revenge, get the state title they always wanted, and now get to go onto Nationals. As the team started skating away from the group hugs to go shake hands, I noticed my daughter hang back a little, put her stick on her thighs, and bend over at the waist letting it all sink in and gather herself a bit. Have to admit that made me tear up a bit, knowing she wanted this so bad, and seeing her and the team achieve it. She has one good friend that she has made on the rival team, and after the team and official handshakes as both teams were lining up on their blue lines for the presentations, her and her friend stopped in the middle of the ice and my daughter gave her a huge hug.
Not only proud of her success on the ice, but moreso proud of the person that she has become on this journey. She may be a beast on the ice, but her warmth and empathy just draws people to her. Can’t wait to watch her play college hockey in the Fall.
(for all those who made it this far, I both apologize and am grateful. George R.R. Martin should hire me to finish his dragon books.)
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Sounds like the new team got supercharged with the infusion of the girls from the old team. Congrats to her for a great season and for the proud Daddy.... now start on that last book for the Fire and Ice series ASAP
Just had the awards banquet for my son's high school soccer team - he's a senior and hanging up the gloves competitively speaking
Walked away with 3 awards -
Definitely a very proud dad moment and a heck of a way to wrap up a career.
Walked away with 3 awards -
- Defensive Player of the Year - this is a team award
- 1st Team All League - voted on by the league coaches
- League Defensive Player of the Year - voted on by the league coaches, and was apparently a unanimous vote
Definitely a very proud dad moment and a heck of a way to wrap up a career.
Skipdog77
Footballguy
That's awesome..congrats!
gump
Footballguy
My 7 yo boy just got the invite to go back (2nd trip) to the Sandhills of NC for the US Kids Golf World Championship...this summer at Pinehurst.
Getting a little teary eyed thinking of what he has done to get here...but above all he just loves everything about the game, whether working thru a 100 ball bucket, playing games with his friends, or competing at the highest level. Here's a quick video of the event:
youtu.be
Getting a little teary eyed thinking of what he has done to get here...but above all he just loves everything about the game, whether working thru a 100 ball bucket, playing games with his friends, or competing at the highest level. Here's a quick video of the event:
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be
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Well a day after pulling out a signature win for the program, Todem Jr’s team got no hit by the #5 ranked team in D3.
Rough day for the team. My son had a quiet day at the plate going 0-3 with one barrel (as did the entire team).
I can see his coach waived the flag at 7-1 when he unloaded all the Development Pitchers like lambs to a slaughter. He was going to preserve his pen for this weekends series vs the 18th ranked team in the nation and a conference rival.
Final score was 14-1 mercy ruled after 7.
Todem Jr made some great plays in LF again battling a stiff 20 MPH wind blowing out right to left.
Morning lift and BP today and back at it tomorrow.
Rough day for the team. My son had a quiet day at the plate going 0-3 with one barrel (as did the entire team).
I can see his coach waived the flag at 7-1 when he unloaded all the Development Pitchers like lambs to a slaughter. He was going to preserve his pen for this weekends series vs the 18th ranked team in the nation and a conference rival.
Final score was 14-1 mercy ruled after 7.
Todem Jr made some great plays in LF again battling a stiff 20 MPH wind blowing out right to left.
Morning lift and BP today and back at it tomorrow.
How was the pitcher? Was he that good or was it just one of those days that happens sometimes?
Gally Jr got another chance at pitching live AB's. This time he wasn't scheduled to go but the coach approached him and asked if he was ready to go and of course he said yes.
This time he faced a few starters and some of their best hitters. Here were the AB's:
Said he was feeling good and has life on the FB. He thinks velo is going up because he got a lot of FB's by the batters.....more than he usually does. I could tell by his excitement that he is feeling it and liking his progression. Listening to him describe his approach to each batter and what is plan of attack was impressive. I asked if the coaches every go over these outings to talk about sequencing/set up etc to see what his thought process is or to go over approaches and he said no. That is disappointing to me. If I was the pitching coach I would be on these guys after their outing to see their process and get their mindset to see where I need to coach them up. But to each their own.
He also mentioned that the freshman that has been starting on the mound once a series (seems to be their #3 guy) was told he wasn't starting this up coming weekend. A starter wasn't announced and the coach told him it wasn't a demotion he just wanted to see him in a different role. Gally Jr didn't think he was getting the call but he said things seem to be moving around a bit. He wasn't expecting anything to change with him but he was happy with his outings to make it hard on the coaches.
Also, the other freshman got an inning this past weekend (his second inning in 22 games) and got blown up for 4 runs (3 earned) in 1 inning. The game was 17-3 (they were winning) in the 8th inning so it was mop up duty but wasn't a good outing. Gally Jr described his outing as "all over the place".
This time he faced a few starters and some of their best hitters. Here were the AB's:
- 1st Batter (a back up middle infielder but plays some): First pitch FB on the hands for a weak pop up to center
- 2nd Batter (starting lead off batter): Got ahead 0-2 with a FB and cutter. Wasted a pitch to see if he would chase. Change up that was meant to be outer side diving down& away to LH hitter but he missed his spot and it ended up being a front door inner black at the knees. Crossed catcher up (expecting down and away) and called a ball. He said it was a great pitch and location even though he missed his spot and since the catcher had to reach across to receive it was called a ball. Next pitch 3-2 CB that he just left up. Walk
- 3rd Batter (played last few games and hitting well): Blew two FB's by him up in the zone (Gally Jr said he is a really good low ball hitter so he was trying to work up in the zone). On the 2nd swing and miss the runner was stealing but the batter fell across the plate and coaches called batter interference for the out and send runner back.
- 4th Batter (starter last year as a junior/Occasional DH this year): Cutter that was off the plate but called a strike (catcher said make up call for the 2-2 pitch that was missed on previous batter). Change on the outer 3rd that batter tried to pull and hit it right off the end cap for a dribbler to the 1st baseman for out #3
- 5th batter (same as the 1st batter): struck him out on a FB that he blew by him
- 6th batter (same as 2nd): Struck him out on an an up and in FB perfectly located
- 7th batter (same as 3rd): Weak pop up.
Said he was feeling good and has life on the FB. He thinks velo is going up because he got a lot of FB's by the batters.....more than he usually does. I could tell by his excitement that he is feeling it and liking his progression. Listening to him describe his approach to each batter and what is plan of attack was impressive. I asked if the coaches every go over these outings to talk about sequencing/set up etc to see what his thought process is or to go over approaches and he said no. That is disappointing to me. If I was the pitching coach I would be on these guys after their outing to see their process and get their mindset to see where I need to coach them up. But to each their own.
He also mentioned that the freshman that has been starting on the mound once a series (seems to be their #3 guy) was told he wasn't starting this up coming weekend. A starter wasn't announced and the coach told him it wasn't a demotion he just wanted to see him in a different role. Gally Jr didn't think he was getting the call but he said things seem to be moving around a bit. He wasn't expecting anything to change with him but he was happy with his outings to make it hard on the coaches.
Also, the other freshman got an inning this past weekend (his second inning in 22 games) and got blown up for 4 runs (3 earned) in 1 inning. The game was 17-3 (they were winning) in the 8th inning so it was mop up duty but wasn't a good outing. Gally Jr described his outing as "all over the place".
Anarchy99
Footballguy
It was the 5th anniversary of the night that will live in infamy the other night (Rody Gobert COVID positive and the NBA stopped, Tom Hanks COVID positive, COVID elevated to pandemic status, Trump travel ban issued, stock market tanked, etc.). It was also the last time our son got to play in an official basketball game. I watched the highlights of that game for the first time in years. It's not hyperbole to say that EVERYONE's lives changed after that.
As far as the game went, our son was double- and triple-teamed with regularity. I had forgotten how many assists he had that game, and he had a lot of other great passes to open guys that shots didn't fall. He only scored 12 points but had to have been close to a triple double. Twelve points doesn't sound like much, but the game ended 41-39 . . . so everything is relative.
His team tried their best to give the game away, as they were up by 10 points with under 5 minutes to go and allowed the other team to tie in the last minute. He went football mode, lowered his shoulder and drove to the rim, got mugged, and made his free throws. It was a frenzy after that, as the other team got 3 or 4 good looks to win or tie but couldn't get a bucket and everyone went into a state of euphoria (it was a home game).
Watching it at this point was very surreal. Haven't really seen any of the players, coaches, parents, or spectators since. It seems like a lifetime ago in an alternate universe. No one knew what was coming next. My son never went back to high school, our other son never went back to college, my wife never went back to work at her office, and we were just days away from the "15 days to slow the spread" press conference. Somehow, we all survived . . . but the post-COVID world is way different.
As far as the game went, our son was double- and triple-teamed with regularity. I had forgotten how many assists he had that game, and he had a lot of other great passes to open guys that shots didn't fall. He only scored 12 points but had to have been close to a triple double. Twelve points doesn't sound like much, but the game ended 41-39 . . . so everything is relative.
His team tried their best to give the game away, as they were up by 10 points with under 5 minutes to go and allowed the other team to tie in the last minute. He went football mode, lowered his shoulder and drove to the rim, got mugged, and made his free throws. It was a frenzy after that, as the other team got 3 or 4 good looks to win or tie but couldn't get a bucket and everyone went into a state of euphoria (it was a home game).
Watching it at this point was very surreal. Haven't really seen any of the players, coaches, parents, or spectators since. It seems like a lifetime ago in an alternate universe. No one knew what was coming next. My son never went back to high school, our other son never went back to college, my wife never went back to work at her office, and we were just days away from the "15 days to slow the spread" press conference. Somehow, we all survived . . . but the post-COVID world is way different.
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