Youth Sports "Coaches": Snakes on a Plain
Continuing on with the theme from last night's post, which described the debacle that allowed Portsmouth, NH to have a chance to advance to the LL World Series...
Several years back I had a brief but illuminating conversation with the father of a young athlete here in Portland. It occurred at a volunteer job I held for...oh....about two weeks (but that's another story). The father was going on about how our young needed to be taught that "only the strong survive" and "hard work leads to results" and other such superficial tap. I had to ask him where he was going with this and he said that his son was playing baseball at the highest levels of Portland youth sports (the fact that there have been only a handful of pro athletes from the great state of Maine means nothing to deluded parents). I discerned that his son had been part of a draft for his Little League or Babe Ruth group (I forget which). These drafts are so foul to my eyes that I simply had to ask him how he felt about children as young as 9 or 10 being traded like pieces of meat and once again he went on about how kids need to be tough. And that (Oh, thank God for this) thankfully his son was talented and one of the higher picks.
Now I have, and have always had, less athletic ability than anyone else interested in these things that I know of. I was cut from my freshman basketball team in high school and never tried out again. There are other tales of woe that I will not include in order to prevent my complete embarrassment. So I am coming from the other side of the equation: the kid who gets cut, the kid who gets picked last or close to it. When I played badminton with two "friends" when I was about 12 they referred to me as "the handicap" since whosever side I played on seemed to lose, as I ......sucked.
Anyway, I sort of confronted this proud papa, contending that ultra competitive drafts and youth leagues do more to hurt our nation's younsters in their athletic development than help. Both in terms of performance and, most especially in my eyes, enjoyment by the kids.
Let's take a quick look at some of the USA's greatest athletes:
Bill Russell: The greatest team sport athlete in America's glorious history, barely played in high school. It was only at an All Star game post senior year that the coach of the University of San Francisco noticed a 6-8 kid with some quickness and shotblocking ability. Otherwise, Russell would have worked in a factory. The rest is history: 2 NCAA championships, 1 Olympic gold medal, and more NBA rings than fingers (11 out of 13, woulda been 12 if not for a sprained ankle).
Bob Cousy, one of the five greatest point guards and known as "Mr. Basketball" during his wonderful career: Did not make his high school varsity until a senior. Was not even wanted by Red Auerbach following a great career at Holy Cross.
More recently?
How about Michael Jordan? Didn't become a national name until he was 17, following his junior year in high school, at a University of North Carolina camp where he was noticed by one of Dean Smith's assistants. Again, the rest is history.
Pat Ewing and Hakeen Abdul Olajuwon: both grew up in poor nations (Jamaica and Nigeria) playing youth soccer in anonymity. Ewing moved to Cambridge, MA at about 10 and The Dream arrived at the University of Houston as a freshman. Both were NOT subject to AAU ball and the summertime meatmarket which has been, IMO, largely the reason the US has lost its formerly wide competitive advantage over the rest of the world. While players in Europe and South America are working on skills (like shooting a midrange jumper!!), American players are trying to get on ESPN's Streetball crap shows. That is NOT competitive basketball, that is showtime (small s).
DWade, Carmelo and King James: James has been a national name since he was a soph in hs. Melo has been huge for a while as well. Wade? A top notch recruit for Marquette, but not considered in the class of the top players coming out of high school. And now who has the ring? Wade. Melo has the Final Four wins. And James? Not so much. Not to criticize the King because he plays for the Cavs, but they have a lot of work to do before competing for a title. And Drew Gooden ain't gonna be starting on a championship team, IMO (aside there). Just shows you that Wade's maturity can in part be attributed to NOT being a big name when he was 15.
Returning to that Portland parent, he worked at a social services job that probably paid him less than $40K a year. Now if you're of the mindset that "only the strong survive", should you really be manning a help line for homeless, mentally ill, immigrants, etc? And if "winning is all that matters", does $40K a year say a lot for your ability to win? I would think that most halfway intelligent folk who think money is the be all and end all (not saying he felt this way) would be embarrassed to be making 40k per annum.
Wonder how his son is doing now, five or six years later? High school varsity? Maybe. Maybe not. College scholarship? Perhaps.
Memories that will last a lifetime? Certainly.
Several years back I had a brief but illuminating conversation with the father of a young athlete here in Portland. It occurred at a volunteer job I held for...oh....about two weeks (but that's another story). The father was going on about how our young needed to be taught that "only the strong survive" and "hard work leads to results" and other such superficial tap. I had to ask him where he was going with this and he said that his son was playing baseball at the highest levels of Portland youth sports (the fact that there have been only a handful of pro athletes from the great state of Maine means nothing to deluded parents). I discerned that his son had been part of a draft for his Little League or Babe Ruth group (I forget which). These drafts are so foul to my eyes that I simply had to ask him how he felt about children as young as 9 or 10 being traded like pieces of meat and once again he went on about how kids need to be tough. And that (Oh, thank God for this) thankfully his son was talented and one of the higher picks.
Now I have, and have always had, less athletic ability than anyone else interested in these things that I know of. I was cut from my freshman basketball team in high school and never tried out again. There are other tales of woe that I will not include in order to prevent my complete embarrassment. So I am coming from the other side of the equation: the kid who gets cut, the kid who gets picked last or close to it. When I played badminton with two "friends" when I was about 12 they referred to me as "the handicap" since whosever side I played on seemed to lose, as I ......sucked.
Anyway, I sort of confronted this proud papa, contending that ultra competitive drafts and youth leagues do more to hurt our nation's younsters in their athletic development than help. Both in terms of performance and, most especially in my eyes, enjoyment by the kids.
Let's take a quick look at some of the USA's greatest athletes:
Bill Russell: The greatest team sport athlete in America's glorious history, barely played in high school. It was only at an All Star game post senior year that the coach of the University of San Francisco noticed a 6-8 kid with some quickness and shotblocking ability. Otherwise, Russell would have worked in a factory. The rest is history: 2 NCAA championships, 1 Olympic gold medal, and more NBA rings than fingers (11 out of 13, woulda been 12 if not for a sprained ankle).
Bob Cousy, one of the five greatest point guards and known as "Mr. Basketball" during his wonderful career: Did not make his high school varsity until a senior. Was not even wanted by Red Auerbach following a great career at Holy Cross.
More recently?
How about Michael Jordan? Didn't become a national name until he was 17, following his junior year in high school, at a University of North Carolina camp where he was noticed by one of Dean Smith's assistants. Again, the rest is history.
Pat Ewing and Hakeen Abdul Olajuwon: both grew up in poor nations (Jamaica and Nigeria) playing youth soccer in anonymity. Ewing moved to Cambridge, MA at about 10 and The Dream arrived at the University of Houston as a freshman. Both were NOT subject to AAU ball and the summertime meatmarket which has been, IMO, largely the reason the US has lost its formerly wide competitive advantage over the rest of the world. While players in Europe and South America are working on skills (like shooting a midrange jumper!!), American players are trying to get on ESPN's Streetball crap shows. That is NOT competitive basketball, that is showtime (small s).
DWade, Carmelo and King James: James has been a national name since he was a soph in hs. Melo has been huge for a while as well. Wade? A top notch recruit for Marquette, but not considered in the class of the top players coming out of high school. And now who has the ring? Wade. Melo has the Final Four wins. And James? Not so much. Not to criticize the King because he plays for the Cavs, but they have a lot of work to do before competing for a title. And Drew Gooden ain't gonna be starting on a championship team, IMO (aside there). Just shows you that Wade's maturity can in part be attributed to NOT being a big name when he was 15.
Returning to that Portland parent, he worked at a social services job that probably paid him less than $40K a year. Now if you're of the mindset that "only the strong survive", should you really be manning a help line for homeless, mentally ill, immigrants, etc? And if "winning is all that matters", does $40K a year say a lot for your ability to win? I would think that most halfway intelligent folk who think money is the be all and end all (not saying he felt this way) would be embarrassed to be making 40k per annum.
Wonder how his son is doing now, five or six years later? High school varsity? Maybe. Maybe not. College scholarship? Perhaps.
Memories that will last a lifetime? Certainly.
posted by joe sweeney at 6:42 AM
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