This is an example of why being a teacher really sucks...

[codeorama]

Elessar, great post.  In baseball, the "Showcase" teams are a money making scam.  Parents are conned into thinking that if they pay the money, their kids will be exposed to the right people and they will get a scholarship.  My brother and I have been fighting that.  We teach the skills that will help them, but the bottom line is that when you go to a showcase tournament, if you don't have the specifics they are looking for (6.8 60 time or faster, RHP 90 on the gun, LHP 88), you have have only shown them that you are not what they want.  Parents are falling for this left and right.  They pay big money.  The sad thing is that each of these showcase teams have 2 or 3 kids that ARE everything the scouts/colleges are looking for and they don't pay a dime.  The money is made off the kids that have no shot, but the dream is being sold to the parents.

 

Baseball usually only offers partial scholarships as well.  In all the years I've coached, I've only had 2 players get FULL rides. One to UVA and the other to LSU, but he was drafted and is playing for the Yankees in the minors now.

[mcsluggo]

.....

And it doesn't make one crotchety or a curmudgeon to say that kids today have a hyper inflated self opinion fueled by over active insecure parents. It just makes you right.

....

 

actually... it does!

 

and every single generation of curmudgeons, stretching back into the smoky mists of unrecorded history has made the same curmudgeonly comments,  wrapped in whatever new technology that they didn't have as a kid.

 

 

now, get off my damned lawn, before i call the cops.

[SkinsHokieFan]

 

Many kids would be better off learning how to work on cars at a young age.

 

And plumbing  

 

I hope when I do have kids, I am able to have an entrepreneurial spirit in them by age 15/16. In this country in particular, you gotta be able to sell something to succeed. If you own your business you are in great shape

[Forehead]

hmmmm.   I actually think that children today are for the most part more obedient and well behaved than when i was a kid... i am CERTAIN that more is expected of them at school (in terms of workload).

 

You and I grew up in the same area.  I've considered the possibility of moving back because the school system is far superior to where we live now (my kids are 4 and 2, so we have a little while). Do you feel like your kid(s) are under more pressure than they can handle?

[Zguy28]

A kid asks for a cell phone and you want to give 'em a walkie-talkie?  In 2014, lol.

My kid didn't ask for anything. He has an iPod Touch but we wanted to be able to reach him when he is out and about in the neighborhood with the other boys. He doesn't really care about whether its cool or not, he's not a narcissist like the kids being described here.

[Forehead]

if you don't have the specifics they are looking for (6.8 60 time or faster, RHP 90 on the gun, LHP 88), you have have only shown them that you are not what they want.  Parents are falling for this left and right.  They pay big money. 

 

As a former player, umpire, and occasional coach, I think it's also sad that parents think every kid can achieve this level.  Fact is, any kid that throws that hard is throwing that hard because of a combination of factors...natural ability, proper training (both throwing as well as doing core and leg workouts) and desire.  Going to a showcase isn't going to make you throw any harder.  You can max out your potential in the gym and practicing in your backyard if you have willing parents/friends.  Maybe one specialized coach if you want to perfect your form or learn another pitch, but beyond that?

 

I pitched for years.  If my son wants to play, I'll be able to give him the basics of form, drive, training, and three or four pitch grips.  I'll be damned if I shell out much extra money unless he shows a bunch of desire on his own.

[mcsluggo]

You and I grew up in the same area.  I've considered the possibility of moving back because the school system is far superior to where we live now (my kids are 4 and 2, so we have a little while). Do you feel like your kid(s) are under more pressure than they can handle?

 

not at all.  but they are under more pressure than I was at their age in the same school system.   They have more homework, and have less time to run around the neighborhood and terrorize the curmudgeons... but they have the same ups and downs of pressure that kids have always had.  my oldest is going into Jr High next year... THAT is when the "pressure" hits the fan, although much of that is not academic.  (I remember 7th and 8th grades as basically the lowest point in my whole life--- but a lot of that is just contrast to how nice grades 1-6 seemed) 

 

there is plenty of room for high achievers here, and they can move into tracks that impose academic pressure, but much of that pressure is self (or family) encouraged.  

[Forehead]

Yeah, you and I are in the same boat, I remember spending a whole lot of time screwing around.  And Longfellow was the worst, no question.  That's such an awkward time of life.

[dfitzo53]

Yeah, you and I are in the same boat, I remember spending a whole lot of time screwing around.  And Longfellow was the worst, no question.  That's such an awkward time of life.

Dude, I didn't realize you went to Longfellow.

 

But yeah, middle school is generally a sucky period.  Odd that I became a middle school teacher.

[Elessar78]

Let me assure you, I'm not spending, nor willing to, that kind of $ on anything. No matter how good my child is at something.

I'm just pointing out, there are scholarships available for that particular skill-set. And with much less competition than soccer or other traditional sports.

You post does point out how totally ridiculous this all has become. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent on sports by parents hoping their kid is the next in line for a deal from Nike.

My wife teaches dance at a rec dept. And people look down on it because it's Rec. Nevermind their product is better than a lot of studios we've seen.

Many kids would be better off learning how to work on cars at a young age.

I was in the same boat as your wife doing it as a volunteer. The difference was the seriousness of the "students". In "rec" or "travel" (in reality just glorified "rec") players think practicing on your own is optional, attending practice is optional, playing hard is optional. Our club functions more as a non-profit—don't get me wrong, we try to be excellent in everything we do, but the staff gets paid (not a lot) and then the rest of the tuitions get reinvested back into things that benefit players. Part of their tution goes toward our own, private indoor facility (nice thing here up north as it's winter 6 months a year), free speed and agility training with a professional trainer, speakers, etc. 

 

Parents have become insane about what youth sports is. 

[Elessar78]

Elessar, great post.  In baseball, the "Showcase" teams are a money making scam.  Parents are conned into thinking that if they pay the money, their kids will be exposed to the right people and they will get a scholarship.  My brother and I have been fighting that.  We teach the skills that will help them, but the bottom line is that when you go to a showcase tournament, if you don't have the specifics they are looking for (6.8 60 time or faster, RHP 90 on the gun, LHP 88), you have have only shown them that you are not what they want.  Parents are falling for this left and right.  They pay big money.  The sad thing is that each of these showcase teams have 2 or 3 kids that ARE everything the scouts/colleges are looking for and they don't pay a dime.  The money is made off the kids that have no shot, but the dream is being sold to the parents.

 

Baseball usually only offers partial scholarships as well.  In all the years I've coached, I've only had 2 players get FULL rides. One to UVA and the other to LSU, but he was drafted and is playing for the Yankees in the minors now.

We're absolutely skills focused at our club as well. I don't know if it's the same as in baseball where Dominicans are more fundamentally sound than American kids as Brazilian kids are vs American kids in soccer. The same is true here about special players—they don't pay a dime (not at our club, we do means testing via tax returns and pay stubs if families are pleading poverty) and the rest of the players subsidize their tuition. 

 

Another thing many parents of kids who have potential to play in college don't know: GRADES MATTER.

 

Athletic scholarship money is very limited, hence the partials. But Academic scholarships are more plentiful. The bar isn't really very high—a B average will qualify a student athlete for academic scholarship monies as well. 

[Dan T.]

The other thing that seems to be changing about youth sports is that, too early, kids are being pressured to drop other sports and to focus on one sport year round. Otherwise, they fall behind in skill level. That's another trend that seems unfortunate to me. 

---

 

My kid didn't ask for anything. He has an iPod Touch but we wanted to be able to reach him when he is out and about in the neighborhood with the other boys. He doesn't really care about whether its cool or not, he's not a narcissist like the kids being described here.

 

I got a little snarky about the walkie-talkie suggestion a page or two back, but it does sound like a decent solution for your son and you. Our family had a set right before cell-phones became ubiquitous that we used when caravanning on road trips, at the beach, at amusement parks, etc.

 

[Bliz]

 

 

To your second point, my wife wants to put the four year old in dance. Really? The kid dances around when you put music on, she enjoys that. Why do I need to pay someone to teach her how to do that at this age. Yes, an age will come when formal dance lessons will be necessary, right now MOST little girls twirl around when they hear music. They enjoy doing just that. WHY do they need to be taught how to do that better?

 

We had my older one in dance classes at 4-5.  Not for the training how to dance better.  We did it because it was a fun activity, she made new friends, and at the end of the class they did a couple routines at a recital, which she got a huge kick out of.  I think there's also something to be gained from working as a group toward learning routines for the recital.  But we did it mostly because it was fun.

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

We had my older one in dance classes at 4-5.  Not for the training how to dance better.  We did it because it was a fun activity, she made new friends, and at the end of the class they did a couple routines at a recital, which she got a huge kick out of.  I think there's also something to be gained from working as a group toward learning routines for the recital.  But we did it mostly because it was fun.

Same with our daughter at age 5, she loves dance class and she gets to interact with other girls and work towards the recital, which is in a few weeks.  She started up in the summer last year, actually turned 6 this past March.  Her and two other girls were so tall they moved them up to the 6 yo class when they were five, which I like cause the kids around her were a little more mature and I think that helped her in the long run.

[PleaseBlitz]

Classroom of 25 kids.  This is happening to one (1) of them.  That is 4%.  The takeaway:

 

Parents nowadays are soft.

 

I guess my generation was one of the last to go through the old school way of things.

 

[TheLongshot]

Lombardi,

 

Reading your posts from yesterday, much of that sounds very familiar to me.  I'm the father of an 8 year old boy, bright and ADHD. There is a lot we love about him, but dealing with his ADHD can be trying at times. The stubbornness and the issues he has socially are very challenging for us, and at times we think we are failing him.  We also worry about paying for college, tho we probably have known longer than most since my wife used to have a job with a university association, which exposed her to the data.

 

The good thing over my own personal experience with school is that my son has been accepted into the AAP program here, so unlike myself, he's probably not going to become bored with what he's learning in school and get lazy, and instead will be pushed.  I found it funny during orientation that some empathized making sure upcoming 3rd graders know their multiplication tables, when my son probably has had good knowledge of multiplication for a while.

 

Personally, I think Fairfax County schools have been great.  The teachers have been very good at dealing with my son's issues and he's learned a lot.  We still need to find solutions to his ADHD problems, but that's beyond the scope of public school.

[s0crates]