Collectively, A Thread To Celebrate Our Kids Athletic Accomplishments (5 Viewers)

[belljr]

Not sure what batting averages are in college softball, but to DH for someone hitting over 0.300 seems... not great.

D3 top in country is like 500. But I'd say 300 is still good. 400 gets you top 250 in the country. So 330-350 = 300 maybe....

Just spitballing there are ~ 119000 players

And to Gally point avg swings greatly lower sample

 

[Todem]

Not sure what batting averages are in college softball, but to DH for someone hitting over 0.300 seems... not great.

It’s asinine.

 

[Chadstroma]

Track Meet for my older son.... being in 6th grade most meets he is going against 7th and sometimes 8th graders. Today was the 5th/6th meet so it was a better gauge against his age group.

Hurdles- 2nd place (beat by a classmate)
100- 1st place
4X100- 1st place (the boys destroyed the competition; they are trying to make the 7th grade sectionals and are very close... my son and our anchor had a horrible hand off to the point of stopping but still had an easy 1st place)
200- 2nd place

Pretty dang good also considering he is the youngest 6th grader on the field.

 

[Chadstroma]

Track for my son... so I was wrong. My son already made sectionals as a 6th grader for 7th grade in hurdles and his 4x1 relay team (all 6th graders). What they are very close to making is actually state for 7th graders as 6th graders in the 4x1. They need to improve like under a second. They have a meet tomorrow and then sectionals to make it.

 

[Anarchy99]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

 

[Chadstroma]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

If NBA isn't on the table which for 99.9% of the kids in college isn't an option and even playing pro overseas is extremely unlikely, my concern would be more about what he is getting out of the college experience than playing time. I mean, there are a ton of factors. Is he fine with the playing time or wants more? What is the reason for the lack of playing time- is it an honest appraisal of his ability or is there something else going on? Is a transfer possible to give him more time? What is the scholarship situation, is he paying the school to play basketball on the bench or are they helping him financially get through college? Is he happy with the school, major and experience or would a change make sense there?

 

[Chadstroma]

Spoke with the HC of one of the better private schools for football in the Chicago area today. He was aware of my son and said he was 'impressed'. It was a good 20 min talk and basically could be wrapped up as he wants him involved in the various camps/clinics to be coached up by him and his staff and due to our financial situation (my wife fighting cancer for 3 years now) would not charge for him to attend them. Have him do shadow days at the school and then as he gets in 8th grade have more conversations and hopefully my son would like to go there. I am not surprised that my son was on his radar but it was nice to hear and get the 'impressed' feedback.

 

[belljr]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

 

[El Floppo]

L6 14u tennis tourney last weekend for Floppinha. kinda like pro tourneys where if you lose, you're essentially out. they guarantee the kids at least 2 matches, so you get a consolation/meaningless match at least.

8am 1st match, about an hour away- early wake up and no time to hit first. floppinha has shown herself to be a notoriously slow starter- last tourney we went to a court and hit for an hour before- and she started much, much better than normal... but no dice unless she was waking up 5:30ish- certainly on the table if she wants to play better, but no dice.

she hasn't played as badly as she did in that 1st match in a long, long time. no serve (a ton of double faults) and a ton of unforced errors- into the net mostly (a big no-no for tennis). opponent was fine- nothing great, but capable. floppinha should be winning 8-3 instead of losing 3-8 as she did. so now, the tourney is essentially over.

frustrating morning watching- but she felt like she played "fine", which was even more frustrating. it's a mental game, tennis- wish she could process and analyze her own matches, let alone sets, games and points and not rely on me to break them down afterwards. I always ask her dispassionately "what did you think of the match" afterwards... which I just found out frustrates her, because she just wants me to tell her what I thought if it instead.

into her consolation match- which was actually the loser of the next round, so the girl won her first match. equivalent or slightly better player than floppinhas first opponent. 8-1, and not really even that close. serves were on point- a couple aces- and everything else was more like how she is capable of playing. not lights out perfect, but closer to her baseline.

I look over, and the girl she lost to and should've beaten had made the finals. other semifinalists were playing next to floppinha's consolation match- she would've easily beaten (unless she played like the first match) both of those girls.

big takeaway for me- she MUST have a long warm up hitting the ball before her first match, regardless of start time.

 

[Todem]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

Agree. If they are having a great college experience and made some life long brotherhood or sisterhood friends playing sports together regardless of playing time…..it’s all good.

For 99.5% of college athletes who do not turn pro, their chosen sport is character building, life lessons. Any future employer (or if they create their own business) that sees former collegiate athlete….moves you to the front of the line. They know you had to be:

1. Disciplined
2. Dependable
3. Able to recover quickly from set backs
4. Able to over come adversity
5. Able to to be a great team player
6. Able to set goals and acheive.

So much good comes from being a college athlete regardless of the gratification of playing time.

Again if your student athlete loves their team, teammates and coaches and is ok with whatever role they earned…..it’s all a win/win in life.

 

[Anarchy99]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

Agree. If they are having a great college experience and made some life long brotherhood or sisterhood friends playing sports together regardless of playing time…..it’s all good.

For 99.5% of college athletes who do not turn pro, their chosen sport is character building, life lessons. Any future employer (or if they create their own business) that sees former collegiate athlete….moves you to the front of the line. They know you had to be:

1. Disciplined
2. Dependable
3. Able to recover quickly from set backs
4. Able to over come adversity
5. Able to to be a great team player
6. Able to set goals and acheive.

So much good comes from being a college athlete regardless of the gratification of playing time.

Again if your student athlete loves their team, teammates and coaches and is ok with whatever role they earned…..it’s all a win/win in life.

With the player I mentioned, it wasn't as holistic or happy go lucky. The player and my son played the same position for years on an AAU team. The coach played the other player a ton against mediocre teams in pool games, and my son played max minutes against top teams in knockout play. The parents of the other player berated the coach relentlessly as he wasn't getting enough exposure. For a big regional tournament, the coach succumbed to the pressure and switched their roles. They ended up getting destroyed (with my son on the bench). Ultimately, we ended up getting asked to leave the team. (We didn't care that much, as there are only 1,000 AAU teams to pick from). This set up battles among HS teams and other AAU teams between the two kids that were teammates for years. That family convinced coaches moving forward to have their kid play as many minutes and take as many shots as possible to pad his stats (both HS and AAU). I remember an article where his HS team ran up the score against a 1-win team so he could score 50 points in a 70-point blowout.

The father was a D-I starter at a Big 10 college and was hell bent on his kid taking the same path. His son was talented as a 3-point shooter, but he wasn't a great ball handler and despite being tall wasn't a great defender. When the son didn't get enough exposure or offers after his senior year in HS, the dad had him play a post-grad year to up his stock and visibility. That didn't get them what they wanted either. The son ended up signing a letter of intent at a D-II school. As already mentioned, that didn't how they expected. I am sure they looked at having him transfer, but there weren't better places that were interested.

I haven't spoken to the parents in a while, but my sense is they convinced their kid he would be a star. I do know the son liked being the primary player on his teams, but he sulked and really wasn't interested in being a role player. I can't speak to whether he loved his college teammates and liked the camaraderie, but my guess is he probably didn't. Last I ran into someone who knew the dad, he mentioned the father said the coach wasn't using his kid right, but he would dominate once they made him a starter (which never happened). I do know that the son would have picked other places to go to college if he was "just a student."

To summarize, it appears that the parents and the kid thought he would be a bigger deal than he was. Whether that got them some scholarship money, who knows. But IMO, the son spent the past 5 years focusing on a basketball dream that may have meant more to the parents than the player . . . and I am not sure the son loved only seeing spotty minutes at the end of blowouts.

 

[Todem]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

Agree. If they are having a great college experience and made some life long brotherhood or sisterhood friends playing sports together regardless of playing time…..it’s all good.

For 99.5% of college athletes who do not turn pro, their chosen sport is character building, life lessons. Any future employer (or if they create their own business) that sees former collegiate athlete….moves you to the front of the line. They know you had to be:

1. Disciplined
2. Dependable
3. Able to recover quickly from set backs
4. Able to over come adversity
5. Able to to be a great team player
6. Able to set goals and acheive.

So much good comes from being a college athlete regardless of the gratification of playing time.

Again if your student athlete loves their team, teammates and coaches and is ok with whatever role they earned…..it’s all a win/win in life.

With the player I mentioned, it wasn't as holistic or happy go lucky. The player and my son played the same position for years on an AAU team. The coach played the other player a ton against mediocre teams in pool games, and my son played max minutes against top teams in knockout play. The parents of the other player berated the coach relentlessly as he wasn't getting enough exposure. For a big regional tournament, the coach succumbed to the pressure and switched their roles. They ended up getting destroyed (with my son on the bench). Ultimately, we ended up getting asked to leave the team. (We didn't care that much, as there are only 1,000 AAU teams to pick from). This set up battles among HS teams and other AAU teams between the two kids that were teammates for years. That family convinced coaches moving forward to have their kid play as many minutes and take as many shots as possible to pad his stats (both HS and AAU). I remember an article where his HS team ran up the score against a 1-win team so he could score 50 points in a 70-point blowout.

The father was a D-I starter at a Big 10 college and was hell bent on his kid taking the same path. His son was talented as a 3-point shooter, but he wasn't a great ball handler and despite being tall wasn't a great defender. When the son didn't get enough exposure or offers after his senior year in HS, the dad had him play a post-grad year to up his stock and visibility. That didn't get them what they wanted either. The son ended up signing a letter of intent at a D-II school. As already mentioned, that didn't how they expected. I am sure they looked at having him transfer, but there weren't better places that were interested.

I haven't spoken to the parents in a while, but my sense is they convinced their kid he would be a star. I do know the son liked being the primary player on his teams, but he sulked and really wasn't interested in being a role player. I can't speak to whether he loved his college teammates and liked the camaraderie, but my guess is he probably didn't. Last I ran into someone who knew the dad, he mentioned the father said the coach wasn't using his kid right, but he would dominate once they made him a starter (which never happened). I do know that the son would have picked other places to go to college if he was "just a student."

To summarize, it appears that the parents and the kid thought he would be a bigger deal than he was. Whether that got them some scholarship money, who knows. But IMO, the son spent the past 5 years focusing on a basketball dream that may have meant more to the parents than the player . . . and I am not sure the son loved only seeing spotty minutes at the end of blowouts.

Welp Karma is a ***** then. His parents sound extremely toxic, and his dad lived vicariously thru his less talented son, set terrible expectations, was not truthful to himself nor his son about where he fit in the college basketball world.

You mentioned none of this color on the post we were responding too.

So yeah….he had it coming. Unfortunately for him that was the path he went on and honestly his parents did him a ton of disservice.

 

[Gally]

I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

I am in this position as we speak. My kid is on partial athletic scholarship (came in as a preferred walk-on and has earned some scholarship money as his freshman year progressed). He is at a D2 school and redahirtrd this year.

As a parent it's frustrating watching the team play and having them struggle. Especially when your kid believes he could help the team do better if he got the chance. But my kid is enjoying his time (even with the frustration of redshirting) and likes his teammates. Add in that it looks like he will finish his freshman year with two semesters of all A's in his classes and I would say it's a very successful year.

Next year will be interesting though with respect to play time. This year as a redshirt it was easy to understand not playing. Next year if he doesn't get the opportunity to show what he can do I am sure it will be a lot worse mentally as a player.

Overall my hope is he gets a shot. Once that happens it's up to him to earn more time. He knows what he has to do so now it's on him to do it. I can't wait to see what happens. However, if he doesn't play much for whatever reason as long as he is enjoying his time (I think he will) its a win. Not many people get the chance to be on a college sports team. It's pretty cool just getting that chance. Something to be bery proud of regardless of how much they play.

 

[Anarchy99]

Welp Karma is a ***** then. His parents sound extremely toxic, and his dad lived vicariously thru his less talented son, set terrible expectations, was not truthful to himself nor his son about where he fit in the college basketball world.

You mentioned none of this color on the post we were responding too.

So yeah….he had it coming. Unfortunately for him that was the path he went on and honestly his parents did him a ton of disservice.

I didn't really want to sound like sour grapes. It's very common for parents to try to get their kids more playing time. In fact, if they didn't, I would wonder why they weren't in the coach's face. Maybe that's just the teams I've been around. In the eyes of parents, little Janie of Johnny is always a future Hall of Famer.

We know a lot of hoopers that had inflated self-worth with aspirations of getting into a high-profile college program. One of them won a state title on our HS team and ended up playing 5 years of HS ball. He turned away college recruiters each year unless they were from a Top 25 program. Of course, no Top 25 school was interested. He ended up at a D-I school with a terrible team and played two seasons averaging 3 points. He then transferred to a local D-II school and played 2 more years (and did better . . . averaging 13 ppg and making the NCAA D-II tourney). But IIRC, he never graduated. I have no idea what he's up to these days . . . lost track of him 7 years ago when he stopped playing. I like success stories as much as the next guy, but I cringe when kids get a chance and don't even finish up their free or discounted education.

 

[Chadstroma]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

It didn't even cross my mind to be disappointed in my kid. I would if I found out they did something to sabotage themself like bad attitude, showing up late, lack of effort etc... but if they just didn't get playing time that isn't something I will upset with my kid in any way.

I generally do not get upset over how things are going with my kids sports. I am not critical of the coaches and the most you will usually get out of me is "I wouldn't have done it that way" or something similar, then followed up by "I am not the coach though so it isn't my call." I make a very concerted effort to figure out what the coach is thinking or trying to accomplish etc from their perspective and I do not have to agree with it.

I do get frustrated when I can't figure it out at all. An example being, two years ago my older son was slated as starting WR, after the first game when it was very evident that they would not be able to throw much- they threw out the offense and went to a run oriented game with only 1 WR being used and mostly did nothing through the games. What I did not get was they didn't use my son almost at all on offense and rarely on defense.... but then every time he was on the field, he lit it up vastly outplaying the MLB ahead of him and by the end of the season was the starting MLB and clearly one of the best players on defense. Through it, I stuck with my "It isn't what I would do if I was the coach" and in this case I would add "I don't get it." which I didn't but I didn't get upset outside of the frustration of it all.

The one time I did get upset was this year's basketball placement for the A and B teams. Which I did voice my displeasure and in my defense, everything I said would happen... happened. To the letter. The A team was a mid level playoff team bounced early in playoffs. Our B team ran the two leagues undefeated. No doubt in my mind that if the two I think should have been on A were on A then A would have made a good run as a top 3 seed and gone deep, if not championship season. But I made my opinions known and then got in line and coached the team.

 

[Chadstroma]

Here's an outcome that I am not sure about. I caught up with the post-HS career of one of the kids my son played with and against in basketball for 10 years. He ended up playing a post-graduate year at a prep school and then 4 years at a D-II college as a bench player. He averaged 8 minutes of playing time in 80 games averaging a little over 1 ppg. I'm guessing he may have gotten some sort of scholarship for his freshman year, but his playing time actually dipped over the years and generally only played in garbage time. Not sure how the scholarship stuff works, maybe others can chime in as to what the chances were that this kid got a free ride

Back in the day, I loved watching my kid play, but that's 5 years devoted to basketball that I'm not sure I would have been thrilled with in terms of role and playing time. How would you feel if your kid ended up in a similar situation (let's set the parameters at a partial scholarship at a D-II school with limited playing time and never starting)? I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

Wouldn't be disappointed in my child at all. I'm not at practices or know the full story. Maybe that money really enabled them to attend. The only time I get "upset" if it's completely obvious a kid should not be on the floor/field when you know they shouldn't be . But that is with the coach. .

If they love being on the team and that's all that matters

Agree. If they are having a great college experience and made some life long brotherhood or sisterhood friends playing sports together regardless of playing time…..it’s all good.

For 99.5% of college athletes who do not turn pro, their chosen sport is character building, life lessons. Any future employer (or if they create their own business) that sees former collegiate athlete….moves you to the front of the line. They know you had to be:

1. Disciplined
2. Dependable
3. Able to recover quickly from set backs
4. Able to over come adversity
5. Able to to be a great team player
6. Able to set goals and acheive.

So much good comes from being a college athlete regardless of the gratification of playing time.

Again if your student athlete loves their team, teammates and coaches and is ok with whatever role they earned…..it’s all a win/win in life.

With the player I mentioned, it wasn't as holistic or happy go lucky. The player and my son played the same position for years on an AAU team. The coach played the other player a ton against mediocre teams in pool games, and my son played max minutes against top teams in knockout play. The parents of the other player berated the coach relentlessly as he wasn't getting enough exposure. For a big regional tournament, the coach succumbed to the pressure and switched their roles. They ended up getting destroyed (with my son on the bench). Ultimately, we ended up getting asked to leave the team. (We didn't care that much, as there are only 1,000 AAU teams to pick from). This set up battles among HS teams and other AAU teams between the two kids that were teammates for years. That family convinced coaches moving forward to have their kid play as many minutes and take as many shots as possible to pad his stats (both HS and AAU). I remember an article where his HS team ran up the score against a 1-win team so he could score 50 points in a 70-point blowout.

The father was a D-I starter at a Big 10 college and was hell bent on his kid taking the same path. His son was talented as a 3-point shooter, but he wasn't a great ball handler and despite being tall wasn't a great defender. When the son didn't get enough exposure or offers after his senior year in HS, the dad had him play a post-grad year to up his stock and visibility. That didn't get them what they wanted either. The son ended up signing a letter of intent at a D-II school. As already mentioned, that didn't how they expected. I am sure they looked at having him transfer, but there weren't better places that were interested.

I haven't spoken to the parents in a while, but my sense is they convinced their kid he would be a star. I do know the son liked being the primary player on his teams, but he sulked and really wasn't interested in being a role player. I can't speak to whether he loved his college teammates and liked the camaraderie, but my guess is he probably didn't. Last I ran into someone who knew the dad, he mentioned the father said the coach wasn't using his kid right, but he would dominate once they made him a starter (which never happened). I do know that the son would have picked other places to go to college if he was "just a student."

To summarize, it appears that the parents and the kid thought he would be a bigger deal than he was. Whether that got them some scholarship money, who knows. But IMO, the son spent the past 5 years focusing on a basketball dream that may have meant more to the parents than the player . . . and I am not sure the son loved only seeing spotty minutes at the end of blowouts.

Sounds like the parents did not help him in any way, shape or form.

My little guy (9 years old) told me (out of the blue) that a parents responsibility to their kids are the following three things:
1) Keep them safe
2) Tell them the truth
3) Teach them how to succeed in life

Sounds like my son could have told them a thing or two about being good parents.

 

[Chadstroma]

I get it, we all love are kids and would support them no matter what, but would you feel some sense of disappointment with your kid not getting much playing time?

I am in this position as we speak. My kid is on partial athletic scholarship (came in as a preferred walk-on and has earned some scholarship money as his freshman year progressed). He is at a D2 school and redahirtrd this year.

As a parent it's frustrating watching the team play and having them struggle. Especially when your kid believes he could help the team do better if he got the chance. But my kid is enjoying his time (even with the frustration of redshirting) and likes his teammates. Add in that it looks like he will finish his freshman year with two semesters of all A's in his classes and I would say it's a very successful year.

Next year will be interesting though with respect to play time. This year as a redshirt it was easy to understand not playing. Next year if he doesn't get the opportunity to show what he can do I am sure it will be a lot worse mentally as a player.

Overall my hope is he gets a shot. Once that happens it's up to him to earn more time. He knows what he has to do so now it's on him to do it. I can't wait to see what happens. However, if he doesn't play much for whatever reason as long as he is enjoying his time (I think he will) its a win. Not many people get the chance to be on a college sports team. It's pretty cool just getting that chance. Something to be bery proud of regardless of how much they play.

It is hard for players who were the team stud or important player on their teams all growing up to being low man on totem poll. I just watched "Shooting Guards" yesterday and Jarvaris Crittenton talked a lot about that and it was positioned as kind of the spark that lead to his downward spiral. For most kids, it isn't about eventually being in a drive by and killing someone but finding resiliency and keeping their confidence.

 

[Anarchy99]

I do get frustrated when I can't figure it out at all. An example being, two years ago my older son was slated as starting WR, after the first game when it was very evident that they would not be able to throw much- they threw out the offense and went to a run oriented game with only 1 WR being used and mostly did nothing through the games.

My son went through something similar when he played. He could catch anything. He was always strong and tall, and lots of coaches from various teams and camps said the same thing. The problem was, they never had anyone that could throw the ball anywhere near a receiver, so they hardly passed. He was awesome at RB (breakaway speed and actually stiff-armed defenders), but plays when he didn't get the ball went nowhere.

Two things happened that made sense but didn't help him much. 1) since he was one of the few kids that could block, they made a fullback and had him lead block for inferior RBs. They had several big plays with him knocking 3-4 kids on their backsides leading the way. Not many kids could block multiple defenders on the same play. 2) since he could knock kids to the ground, they started to develop a passing game with him staying in to protect the QB. He did that for a while, but ultimately, he started chirping at the coach that he didn't want to just block all game long. He wasn't wrong that he was their best RB and their best WR, and he couldn't understand why they could suddenly pass but not have him being the one to catch the ball.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, as they stopped having him block . . . by switching him to defense full time. He didn't love playing defense, even though he was a really good DB. As he got older, he ended up playing defense full time and WR part time. My fondest memory was a game where they played a much better inner-city team that should have killed them. He had a length of the field receiving TD, a length of the field kick return TD, and a length of the field INT TD. Ultimately, he decided to concentrate on basketball, but I sort of wish he kept at football, as he could have been a beast at WR. He ended up a workout warrior and the same height and weight as Randy Moss (although clearly nowhere near as fast).

 

[Chadstroma]

Welp Karma is a ***** then. His parents sound extremely toxic, and his dad lived vicariously thru his less talented son, set terrible expectations, was not truthful to himself nor his son about where he fit in the college basketball world.

You mentioned none of this color on the post we were responding too.

So yeah….he had it coming. Unfortunately for him that was the path he went on and honestly his parents did him a ton of disservice.

I didn't really want to sound like sour grapes. It's very common for parents to try to get their kids more playing time. In fact, if they didn't, I would wonder why they weren't in the coach's face. Maybe that's just the teams I've been around. In the eyes of parents, little Janie of Johnny is always a future Hall of Famer.

We know a lot of hoopers that had inflated self-worth with aspirations of getting into a high-profile college program. One of them won a state title on our HS team and ended up playing 5 years of HS ball. He turned away college recruiters each year unless they were from a Top 25 program. Of course, no Top 25 school was interested. He ended up at a D-I school with a terrible team and played two seasons averaging 3 points. He then transferred to a local D-II school and played 2 more years (and did better . . . averaging 13 ppg and making the NCAA D-II tourney). But IIRC, he never graduated. I have no idea what he's up to these days . . . lost track of him 7 years ago when he stopped playing. I like success stories as much as the next guy, but I cringe when kids get a chance and don't even finish up their free or discounted education.

I teach my kids to advocate for themselves and to do most of their advocating by their effort and actions. I think getting in the coach's face hurts them long term in terms of them being able to navigate things themselves as a life lesson. I rather them focus on merit overcoming and to be honest with themselves to have a good self awareness and be able to appraise themselves with accuracy.

When they are really young... does it really matter how much playing time they get? And as they get older, I need to be stepping back and allowing them to have agency over themselves. If they stumble and fall then that is a life lesson that hopefully I can help them understand. That is how I view my role as a parent when it comes to playing time. I mentioned the football situation above, I never talked to he coached about it. My message to my son was to outwork everyone else on the team at practices and put everything you got into every snap you get- earn it so it is undeniable.

 

[Anarchy99]

I teach my kids to advocate for themselves and to do most of their advocating by their effort and actions. I think getting in the coach's face hurts them long term in terms of them being able to navigate things themselves as a life lesson. I rather them focus on merit overcoming and to be honest with themselves to have a good self awareness and be able to appraise themselves with accuracy.

When they are really young... does it really matter how much playing time they get? And as they get older, I need to be stepping back and allowing them to have agency over themselves. If they stumble and fall then that is a life lesson that hopefully I can help them understand. That is how I view my role as a parent when it comes to playing time. I mentioned the football situation above, I never talked to he coached about it. My message to my son was to outwork everyone else on the team at practices and put everything you got into every snap you get- earn it so it is undeniable.

As a long-time coach, I generally stayed away from coaches of teams I wasn't involved with. I kept it short and sweet . . . how's my kid doing and is there anything you want him to work on? I'd been done in two minutes. I offered no opinion of any coaching decisions, no suggestions on what they should do differently, and no requests of playing time. Once in a while one of them would ask for my opinion, but I would not offer anything unless I was asked.

 

[TheWalkmen]

My 8yo turned this game ending double play a few weeks ago. He turned another one since and is also crushing the ball at the plate.

https://youtu.be/flykCdBPWQo?si=Gz6Mg2pvoXTQhfP8

At the plate: https://youtu.be/37td0kfosms?si=0gC57zlBMRkeGRQh

At the plate again: https://youtu.be/Ncboo4jC8jw?si=URU8uPcCtwInSnjf

 

[nirad3]

My son (12) is wrapping up his fourth (or maybe fifth?) season of flag football. This kid refused to do the "normal" kid sports as a tyke (AYSO soccer, little league baseball, etc.) and his first foray into youth sports was a pretty uneventful shot at playing basketball (he agreed to play only if I coached his team). But a few months after hoops wrapped up, he asked me if he could try flag football, to which I answered a hearty YES!

He started out as the most un-athletic kid on the field with no knowledge of what was going on. But man, has he improved.

Yesterday at practice, I heard his coach say in a pre-practice "huddle" that he was "one of the best flag pullers in the league". Right as practice was wrapping up and the kids were saying their goodbyes for the day, he said "Dad, I gotta tell you something". So while we were on the car ride home, he told me that his coach said that, not knowing that I heard in real time. I'm pretty sure it was just the coach trying to pump him up, but my son's excitement about that statement made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

We play another very good team tomorrow night for a chance to play in the championship game.

 

[El Floppo]

My son (12) is wrapping up his fourth (or maybe fifth?) season of flag football. This kid refused to do the "normal" kid sports as a tyke (AYSO soccer, little league baseball, etc.) and his first foray into youth sports was a pretty uneventful shot at playing basketball (he agreed to play only if I coached his team). But a few months after hoops wrapped up, he asked me if he could try flag football, to which I answered a hearty YES!

He started out as the most un-athletic kid on the field with no knowledge of what was going on. But man, has he improved.

Yesterday at practice, I heard his coach say in a pre-practice "huddle" that he was "one of the best flag pullers in the league". Right as practice was wrapping up and the kids were saying their goodbyes for the day, he said "Dad, I gotta tell you something". So while we were on the car ride home, he told me that his coach said that, not knowing that I heard in real time. I'm pretty sure it was just the coach trying to pump him up, but my son's excitement about that statement made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

We play another very good team tomorrow night for a chance to play in the championship game.

not a euphemism

 

[Chadstroma]

I do get frustrated when I can't figure it out at all. An example being, two years ago my older son was slated as starting WR, after the first game when it was very evident that they would not be able to throw much- they threw out the offense and went to a run oriented game with only 1 WR being used and mostly did nothing through the games.

My son went through something similar when he played. He could catch anything. He was always strong and tall, and lots of coaches from various teams and camps said the same thing. The problem was, they never had anyone that could throw the ball anywhere near a receiver, so they hardly passed. He was awesome at RB (breakaway speed and actually stiff-armed defenders), but plays when he didn't get the ball went nowhere.

Two things happened that made sense but didn't help him much. 1) since he was one of the few kids that could block, they made a fullback and had him lead block for inferior RBs. They had several big plays with him knocking 3-4 kids on their backsides leading the way. Not many kids could block multiple defenders on the same play. 2) since he could knock kids to the ground, they started to develop a passing game with him staying in to protect the QB. He did that for a while, but ultimately, he started chirping at the coach that he didn't want to just block all game long. He wasn't wrong that he was their best RB and their best WR, and he couldn't understand why they could suddenly pass but not have him being the one to catch the ball.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, as they stopped having him block . . . by switching him to defense full time. He didn't love playing defense, even though he was a really good DB. As he got older, he ended up playing defense full time and WR part time. My fondest memory was a game where they played a much better inner-city team that should have killed them. He had a length of the field receiving TD, a length of the field kick return TD, and a length of the field INT TD. Ultimately, he decided to concentrate on basketball, but I sort of wish he kept at football, as he could have been a beast at WR. He ended up a workout warrior and the same height and weight as Randy Moss (although clearly nowhere near as fast).

This year was kind of opposite...from the previous. He was slated to be starting RB and OLB. He didn't make weight for the season so had to play with a hand in the dirt (offensive or defensive lines). He played DT/DE all season long. They could have put him on the Oline and he would have been the best Olineman but I think they were hoping he would make weight for playoffs and didn't want to shuffle the line if that was the case. He along with his teammate who is basically a stronger, faster, taller, bigger clone of my son dominated the games on the line together. Teams would focus on his teammate and leave my son one on one and no one in the league can consistently block my son one on one. Our defense was the best in the league by far and it was lead by those two.

For playoffs, he made weight and they put him in at RB. He also played a little WR and then on defense mostly OLB/MLB but some DE too. He had 1 rushing TD in the first round of playoffs, 2 rushing and 1 receiving TD in the second and in the championship he didn't get in the end zone but he had over 100 yards rushing for the game (every time they rotated him out of the offensive, the offense would stall) and still made plays on defense and special teams.

As for the blocking multiple kids... I was hoping and praying that they would put the bigger, faster, clone of my son in on the offensive line at guard and then pull him to be a lead blocker for my son. They actually did it previous in the season one game and it worked without my son.

This next year, I am not hoping that that bigger, faster clone will make weight and be RB for our team. If he is- then we will win some games. If he gets past the first line, he will be gone. There is no one in the league in the secondary that has a prayer to stop him and no one on the line big enough to stop him will be fast enough to catch him. Our line will likely be subpar though so he will have to do a ton of work. No idea where my son will play. Kind of the curse of being able to, without exaggeration, play every position on defense or offense is that you don't know where you will end up. For the last four years he has either practices or played in a game every position on defense and offense with the one exception being center.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sectionals today... they BARELY missed State qualification. They ended second place (first place automatically qualifies) and .9 away from the time standard. The only all 6th grader team in the field. All other teams had at least two 7th graders and most had all 7th graders. They should clean up next year and the following. My son was one of only two 6th graders to make sectionals. He ended up in 7th place.

Our school did a clean sweep out of the 15 team sectionals, 1st in boys/girls for both 7th and 8th.

My niece, an 8th grader, broke her own school record (set last meet) in hurdles and made state in a couple of events.

 

[belljr]

Not sure I posted before but belljrs team wasn't very good. However, one highlight, they were down 11-0 going into the 5th (mercy inning)....put up a few runs and team wins 12-11.....

Game 2 7-7 going into ITB...other team puts up a 5 spot. 2 outs 12-12 now runner on third. Belljr hits the walk off single.

Have a great video I'll have to post later

 

[SWC]

my god its hard to brag about someone here and keep it anonymous lol take that to the bank brohans

 

[Chadstroma]

My sons got in the water for the first meet after having to basically drop out of last season with my wife going through treatment and too much going on.

My older son seemingly didn't miss a beat. Swept his events (50 free, 50 fly, medley relay and free relay) for 1st place. He cut time in all.

200 Medley Relay- his fly split was 31.31 which would have been enough for making State if it was an event swim. The team cut 1.72.
50 Free- he cut 1.44 and made Regionals.
50 Fly- he cut .98. He already had Regionals from his time two seasons ago but is now .58 from a State time.
200 Free Relay- the team cut 1.31.

He is 4.04 away from the club record for 50 fly for 12U, he has this season plus two more to get it as he turns 12 in August. I am trying to get him motivated to work towards it beyond just going to practice. He seemed amped up to go for it but I am not sure he will spend the extra time to work towards it. I wish he would understand how good he would be at pretty much everything he does if he just spent some time working on it outside of practices.

 

[Nigel]

Another tough season for my son's college lax team, no playoffs/tournament berth - brutal. He did receive a lot of year-end individual recognition (DPOY, Team MVP, All New England, All-League, HM All-American) though. Starving for some team success, he has one more go at it next year/his senior year.

I'd long assumed college would be the end of the road for him in competitive team sports but look like he'll be in the PLL (lax's pro league) draft mix. There's 8 teams scattered around the country (4 round draft early May), season runs June through Labor Day, one game per weekend. Not a full time gig by any means (does not pay nearly enough), most guys either coach on the side or have arrangements with their "day job" employers to take Fridays off during the season. He has no interest in coaching so will depend on whether the job he lands will accommodate it and frankly whether he's interested in giving up his summer weekends to do so. Of course he could **** the bed and not get a look at all but as of now he's inside the top 30 on the 2026 Draft "way-too-early" Big Board and the biased dad in me expects his stock to rise with more team success next year.

 

[Chadstroma]

Another tough season for my son's college lax team, no playoffs/tournament berth - brutal. He did receive a lot of year-end individual recognition (DPOY, Team MVP, All New England, All-League, HM All-American) though. Starving for some team success, he has one more go at it next year/his senior year.

I'd long assumed college would be the end of the road for him in competitive team sports but look like he'll be in the PLL (lax's pro league) draft mix. There's 8 teams scattered around the country (4 round draft early May), season runs June through Labor Day, one game per weekend. Not a full time gig by any means (does not pay nearly enough), most guys either coach on the side or have arrangements with their "day job" employers to take Fridays off during the season. He has no interest in coaching so will depend on whether the job he lands will accommodate it and frankly whether he's interested in giving up his summer weekends to do so. Of course he could **** the bed and not get a look at all but as of now he's inside the top 30 on the 2026 Draft "way-too-early" Big Board and the biased dad in me expects his stock to rise with more team success next year.

That is awesome. I can understand the frustration of not winning though.

 

[El Floppo]

Another tough season for my son's college lax team, no playoffs/tournament berth - brutal. He did receive a lot of year-end individual recognition (DPOY, Team MVP, All New England, All-League, HM All-American) though. Starving for some team success, he has one more go at it next year/his senior year.

I'd long assumed college would be the end of the road for him in competitive team sports but look like he'll be in the PLL (lax's pro league) draft mix. There's 8 teams scattered around the country (4 round draft early May), season runs June through Labor Day, one game per weekend. Not a full time gig by any means (does not pay nearly enough), most guys either coach on the side or have arrangements with their "day job" employers to take Fridays off during the season. He has no interest in coaching so will depend on whether the job he lands will accommodate it and frankly whether he's interested in giving up his summer weekends to do so. Of course he could **** the bed and not get a look at all but as of now he's inside the top 30 on the 2026 Draft "way-too-early" Big Board and the biased dad in me expects his stock to rise with more team success next year.

All of that is amazing! (Other than the team not making the post season).

I may or may not have made it, but my main life regret is not making a proper go of it to try to play pro soccer overseas after college. Lots of peers did, with varying success.

Tell your son, floppo from the Internet says to go for it at all costs! He can always get a job and career later.

 

[Chadstroma]

Another tough season for my son's college lax team, no playoffs/tournament berth - brutal. He did receive a lot of year-end individual recognition (DPOY, Team MVP, All New England, All-League, HM All-American) though. Starving for some team success, he has one more go at it next year/his senior year.

I'd long assumed college would be the end of the road for him in competitive team sports but look like he'll be in the PLL (lax's pro league) draft mix. There's 8 teams scattered around the country (4 round draft early May), season runs June through Labor Day, one game per weekend. Not a full time gig by any means (does not pay nearly enough), most guys either coach on the side or have arrangements with their "day job" employers to take Fridays off during the season. He has no interest in coaching so will depend on whether the job he lands will accommodate it and frankly whether he's interested in giving up his summer weekends to do so. Of course he could **** the bed and not get a look at all but as of now he's inside the top 30 on the 2026 Draft "way-too-early" Big Board and the biased dad in me expects his stock to rise with more team success next year.

All of that is amazing! (Other than the team not making the post season).

I may or may not have made it, but my main life regret is not making a proper go of it to try to play pro soccer overseas after college. Lots of peers did, with varying success.

Tell your son, floppo from the Internet says to go for it at all costs! He can always get a job and career later.

I had a friend go and play Volleyball in Europe for a while. I mean, you are young... get paid for playing a sport you love.... travel..... what are the downsides? Unless you are continuing school to be a Doctor or something where a delay in it really becomes a major obstacle, heck, go do it for a couple of years if you can.

 

[The Z Machine]

Another tough season for my son's college lax team, no playoffs/tournament berth - brutal. He did receive a lot of year-end individual recognition (DPOY, Team MVP, All New England, All-League, HM All-American) though. Starving for some team success, he has one more go at it next year/his senior year.

I'd long assumed college would be the end of the road for him in competitive team sports but look like he'll be in the PLL (lax's pro league) draft mix. There's 8 teams scattered around the country (4 round draft early May), season runs June through Labor Day, one game per weekend. Not a full time gig by any means (does not pay nearly enough), most guys either coach on the side or have arrangements with their "day job" employers to take Fridays off during the season. He has no interest in coaching so will depend on whether the job he lands will accommodate it and frankly whether he's interested in giving up his summer weekends to do so. Of course he could **** the bed and not get a look at all but as of now he's inside the top 30 on the 2026 Draft "way-too-early" Big Board and the biased dad in me expects his stock to rise with more team success next year.

Wow. Impressive that he might get a look at turning pro. Very cool and I wish him luck.