December/January Sports Updates

[186momx]

I know most sports take a break for the month of December.  If yours doesn't what is going on.  What's everyone going to start doing in January 2019!

[waverly]

I think basketball is still our most cringe worthy sport. So I did sign up DS for a mini basketball camp over winter break. It is 2 hours a day for 3 days.

Otherwise, nothing for us at all in December. Mid January then he starts his basketball league.

Oh and DD started dance mid November. She loves it. It is expensive, but she won't do anything else the rest of the year until maybe soccer. The classes are very age appropriate and usually there are 2 teachers per class with only about 6 students. The place itself is a bit run down, but I think the management is pretty good. A friend's wife teaches there, but not that class. So I don't think it will be like the gymnastic studio in town where they didn't pay their lease and closed and did not refund any of the spring session classes (this happened last spring). So basically that gymnastics studio stole a bunch of money.

My friend had tried another studio and didn't recommend it, so I ended up here instead. I really wanted to make the rec center work, but all their classes are like 4pm on a weekday, so that didn't work.

[186momx]

Gymnastics doesn't take breaks but because we are still on rec vs team we have winter break off. DD is doing gym camp at her gym that the optional girls host (level 7-10) as a fundraiser. It is Wed-Fri both next week and the first week of December and is from 8:30-1. DD is really looking forward to it plus the lady that gives her privates is the adult in charge


Gymnastic vent. Remember when I said DD made pre-team and got to move up and we would get the paperwork and official announcement sometime in December. DD and her friend M asked Coach A about it last night as they were the only two girls at practice. Coach A told them that they were going to move up but because the gym lost their level 3 coach, Coach J was helping with level 3 so didn't have time to also run pre-team so they had to postpone the girls moving up. Then Coach A proceeds to tell the girls they need to keep working hard and Coach J will re-test again when they figure out the coaching stuff. Then Coach A takes off because the class is too small and they don't need 2 coaches. Both girls pouted all night and basically didn't give a rats ass. The poor other coach had no idea what was wrong until I told her what I overheard the girls talking to Coach A about. Other coach was like they have every right to pout and basically did fun stuff the last 30 minutes of class. My vent is Coach A never told me or M's dad so here we have been rearranging aftercare and rides and then they didn't have the decency to tell the parents first.

I'm really glad we have break and DD will have fun during camp hanging with the big girls.

[covergirl82]

DD will be taking a break from gymnastics for January and February. She hasn't been very excited about going the past month or so, so we'll reassess when it's time to sign up for the spring session. She's going to give guitar lessons a try.

DS had his first basketball game last week. They actually played 2 games back-to-back, and they won both. This is a new league for us, so we'll see how it goes. I hate the location - it's 30 minutes away on a good weather day, in perfect traffic. But we'll have to drive there during the winter (the last game is March 21), on a weeknight, in rush-hour traffic, which I am not excited about. The hard thing is that ALL his friends play on this league (over 3 different teams), so I'm sure he's going to want to keep doing it. (I told DH last year when a large church was for sale, only 10-15 minutes away, nestled in the perfect spot between about 3 school districts, that we should've tried to get some co-investors to buy it with us and open up an indoor basketball/sports arena so we could have the basketball league play closer to home.)

DS will also have indoor practices starting up in January for the travel baseball team he's on. He did an indoor hitting league (his team got 2nd place) with a few of his teammates in Nov/early Dec, so at least he won't be rusty on swinging when practices start.

[rere]

Last practice tonight for Vball for the year. We start practicing with the travel teams in January. DD has warmed up some, but still is not super pumped. She want to play for the high school, so she doesn't have much choice since a lot of the girls trying out will be doing this. I just want her to make the team and make friends. I never knew how shy she was until you got her in a situation where she knows absolutely no one. She says it's my fault that she is so shy because she has known everyone she knows her entire life. Mkay.

[mae0111]

DD1 is playing basketball in the town where her school is located, and I’m coaching. OMG what a difference!! DD1 was so nervous last year that she only took 4-5 shots all season, and scored once. She scored 8 points just last week! She’s so happy in this league - so confident.

The games are so different. We have 10 kids on the team, so we play two simultaneous 4-on-4 games, so the kids play almost the whole time - 45 mins. More touches, less traffic on the court. The kids LOVE it!!

I’m trying to get her to play softball in this town, not in our home town. She wants to play in our home town because she knows a few kids that play... but most aren’t super nice... ugh...

[librarychica]

I have signed my oldest up for rec soccer as it is the only afterschool activity available at school and she desperately needs more exercise. She is mad at me but I think she will adjust. She just loathes trying new things. My brother got her some sort of soccer kit that rebounds the ball at you so hopefully after some Christmas break play she will be feeling confident. I told her, swim is great and all but it’s good to try a variety of things.

(Also there is no afterschool swim, kid, unless I or someone else drives you there and then hangs around.)

[mae0111]

Having 2 internal conflicts regarding DD1’s sports...

1. Tomorrow there is a basketball shooting contest in our town. It is run each year in memory of my friend’s dad, who founded the league and passed away many years ago. I like to attend and remember him, but last year no one else knew who he was.

It is run by the league that kind of drove us out by stacking my team with mean kids. I think DD1 could win. But it’s full of cliquey people. The kid that won last year cheated with the help of her dad. It was blatant and crappy and all the kids saw it.

I’d love for DD1 to do well as an F-U to the people that screwed her. She doesn’t care if she sees the other kids or not. I can’t decide if I should take her.

2. Softball sign ups started. Once again, she is eligible to play in our town (B) or in her school’s town (H). B’s program is much stronger and very well organized. She will play with 3rd and 4th graders (she’s a 3rd grader). H’s program is 3rd-5th. I’m not confident that it is well organized. The kids are much nicer in H, from what I’ve seen.

B is very competitive. DD1 is good, but I’m not confident that she would make a summer ball team. Her chances are decent because I know the coach well and it’s very political. I don’t know anyone in H, but based on the skill level I’ve seen, she would likely start for the summer ball team if it’s only based on ability. I think you have to play town league in order to play summer ball.

I don’t know what to do. DD1 wants to play in B because she knows kids (even if she doesn’t like them). None of her school friends play softball. We can’t do both - the schedule won’t work.

[callmekd]

DD1 is taking a break from Irish dance. she only participates in about 50% of the class (not sure if she doesn't like it, or she's too tired - it's a 5:30pm-6:30pm class on Mondays or what her deal is, but we are done for now). She still has jazz/ballet on Wednesdays.

Our weekends will now be crazy as all 3 kids will take gymnastics on Saturday mornings (it's a parent/toddler class for the twins) and all 3 will have swimming on Sunday afternoons (also a parent/toddler class for the twins.) I'm not sure how DD1 will handle this - i.e. the rest of us being together while she is in a separate class. She still struggles with us giving the twins attention and feeling left out.

[waverly]

Our basketball camp was cancelled due to errors with their pricing and enrollment issues. They had the price double what it should have been online, so I enrolled in person but I could see why people who didn't realize it wouldn't enroll at all.

DH did take the kids to the gym yesterday where they ran into friends, and they played some basketball there.


mae0111 , I would skip #1. No one remembered him last year- it is the crappy mean league, and I tend to avoid those people even if I want it to be an FU, and your daughter doesn't seem to care if she goes.

DS isn't quite that old, but for baseball we have done the much smaller church league, and I like that. The church league is Tue and Thurs night, so it is kind of a lot during the week, but since it is summer it is awesome to have our weekends free, and we don't have to play in 90 degree heat on Saturdays like the other league. I don't think the kids are nicer, but it seems both better and less organized. Like last year it took forever to get uniforms and play games. However, I actually think that was a plus that they practiced more rather than the other league that basically just went straight to games.

If my ultimate goal is to leave my hometown sports and move everything to school town sports based on the many reasons you have posted here over the years, then I would do H. I don't expect my kids to play sports for any reasons besides exercise, health, teamwork, fun etc. So I am not in the position of picking better teams for skills than other teams because I expect my kid will probably not do travel or play in high school- I may eat those words since my oldest is only in 2nd, but that is my plan for now. Or do B this year because that is what she wants, and explore H for next year.  She is old enough to get a say/ bigger part of the decision as long as these people are nicer than the other league (was it basketball?) that you had to quit.  

[mae0111]

waverly - good points. Part of my struggle with softball is that she really wants to play in B’s league. There was one nice kid on the team last year, and her parents went from super friendly to icing us out once we left the school. I don’t know if she’s going to play this year because they won’t respond to my text. If she’s not going to play, I’m going to push harder for H, I think.

[madringal]

DD1 (10, swimmer) has had a slow start to her season this year. We FINALLY saw some time drops at her last meet. She moved up to the highest practice group a few weeks ago so hoping that will push her to bigger drops at her meet next month. She has been pushed out of both State relay teams at this point, and has some work to do to get back on them. This is her last season as a 10U so she's got some really big time goals she's chasing. But she is whipped. This is a long season, and she practices for 3 hours a day now.

DD2 (6, almost 7) moved up a level in gymnastics. She really likes it and is pretty good, but just doesn't really seem to care about improving. She's just all about having fun. She also wanted to try swim again so we put her on the team and she moved up a level in a week. Again, she's just having fun. She is so naturally athletic, but just doesn't seem to care yet to focus that energy on improving. I imagine she will at some point.

[186momx]

mae0111, I would go with softball in H's league. Personally with all the bad luck you've had in B I would just make a clean break. Did she have fun playing basketball with the kids from school? I can't believe not a single kid who played basketball won't be playing softball and if the league is made up of kids who go to her school then she should give it a go. I wouldn't sign up for B just to play with one kid who is "icing" her at the moment.

madringal, swimming is hard. Everyone plateaus at different times and the extra practice may make her times slower in the short term while her body adjusts to the extra miles. My biggest fear would be her burning out at 10 swimming 9 hours a week and probably way too many yards. Keep an eye on her shoulders. My sister had friends who did this and were burnt out by 13

[madringal]

Dec 28, 2018 13:45:18 GMT -5 186momx said:

madringal , swimming is hard. Everyone plateaus at different times and the extra practice may make her times slower in the short term while her body adjusts to the extra miles. My biggest fear would be her burning out at 10 swimming 9 hours a week and probably way too many yards. Keep an eye on her shoulders. My sister had friends who did this and were burnt out by 13

For sure. My husband and I were both swimmers, so we totally get the burn out aspect.  She freaking loves to swim, like, loves it hard. So we let her.  She practices 3 hours a day, 5 days a week - but there is a good mix of dryland workouts in there, so that helps.  Her last practice group swam 4-5K yards a night.  Her new group has the 10-11 year old at 6-7K which we feel comfortable with.  We have one of the best programs in the state , so we trust her coaches know what they are doing.

[mae0111]

So I *think* that I’ve successfully convinced DD1 to play softball in H (where she goes to school) and not B (where we live). A dad of one of her basketball teammates approached me today, and we somehow got on the topic of softball. He coaches and offered to take DD on his team.

Which brings me to my second point... I’m not coaching next season. DD1 threw a tantrum and started to cry when I pulled her out of the game today. It was her turn to rotate out, and she didn’t want to. So I think she might do better with another coach. I’m sad - I like coaching. This basketball team has been great. It’s a bummer.

Lastly, there is a really cute girl on the basketball team this year. She listens, tries, hustles. She’s not great but tries so, so hard. I love having her on the team. But OMG her father is a pain in the @$$. He screams at her the whole game, and he doesn’t know the rules. So he’s telling her to do stuff that we are telling her not to do... and screams at her when she doesn’t listen to him. And then she gets flustered. I very much would like to scream at him, but instead funnel my energy into encouraging her.

[waverly]

Thank you for being a coach mae0111. I never played sports and don’t know the rules to coach, but even if I did dealing with the parents has got to be a lot!

[186momx]

mae0111, there gets to be a point when it is better to not coach your own kid. Could you start coaching DD2s stuff? I would ask if I could help out during practice or base coach during the game. I think practices are more productive when the kids don't have to wait in line forever.

[mustardseed2007]

DS was still interested in playing baseball as late as Sunday. I told him since we didn't have any plans he needed to go outside and play catch with his dad. Then he told me he didn't want to do it after all because he wasn't good. The pitching makes it hard and he things he'll never get on first (he never did last year).

Now I'm kind of torn. He got really close to getting a hit last year and I think he would have been successful if he had another year. But this year the kids will be better...I know it WILL be hard and he probably WILL be the weakest player on the team. He's right about all of that. I also feel sad he's opting out because he's scared he can't do it.

He's involved in Karate though. And I think if he didn't do baseball, I'd put him back in indoor swimming lessons earlier because he was really starting to enjoy that. I'm not sure what the best course here is.

[waverly]

mustardseed2007, our baseball is coach pitch. They pitch at one kid until the kid gets a hit. That doesn’t mean they get on first but they at least hit the ball and get the chance to try. Gosh sometimes it feels like they have thrown it 30 times for one kid but I think it makes it fair that they all get a chance to hit. This is the church league one and it is ages 7-10. Previous to that is t ball and I think there is a 5/6 group. Not sure if they are tball or coach pitch at 5/6.

[covergirl82]

Sports is back in full swing for DS. Each week he has two basketball practices and a game, plus a practice for his travel baseball team. All are on weeknights, so he gets one night off a week to relax. No games on Saturdays for basketball (except for 2 weekend tournaments - 1 in February and 1 in March), so at least he can rest up on weekends. This schedule will continue through the end of March.

ETA:  Little league registration is already available.  For spring.  I think teams are put together in March, and then practices start the second week of April (right after spring break).  It feels a little early to be thinking about spring sports already.

[mommyatty]

mustardseed2007- sports are supposed to build confidence, teach team work, get the kid some exercise, and teach a new skill or improve a skill. It sounds like baseball is only getting him some exercise. I would let him drop it. But yeah, make sure he is getting exercise with another sport or activity.

On the baseball front, DD will be in machine pitch this year. I’m worried she’s never going to get a hit and will hate it. I don’t think our league does coach pitch. Just machine for a couple of years and then kid pitch. Ugh.

[mustardseed2007]

waverly, we went up too fast for sure. It's coach pitch and you got 6 pitches or 3 strikes, whatever comes first.

He also can't catch at all. Most of the kids couldn't but he made zero progress on that as the year went on.

[phdmomma]

Soccer sign up was supposed to be up the first of the year through the rec league. I emailed them to check what it going on, the are "upgrading forms," and it should be up in a few weeks....um the deadline is Feb 1st?

[divanerd]

Soccer starts in late Feb glad for break. Signed son up for soccer at school.
Still doing Karate now...

[waverly]

mustardseed2007, maybe you did, but it also sounds like their pitching was not quite age appropriate.


Also, not to worry you just throwing it out there that DS had eye tracking issues so hand eye coordination was not there. Once we started doing vision therapy through his OT it got better. It's a simple test for you at home to just see if he can track a pencil back and forth and up and down. Eye movements should be smooth. You can also check his ability to focus on things close to his nose. We still need to work on this exercise and probably I should start doing it soon because of basketball.

[mustardseed2007]

I think we may skip baseball. We've asked "are you sure" so many times I think we scared him off.

[madringal]

We had an incredible swim weekend! DD1 has had such a slow start to her season, but her new training group is exactly what she needed. She absolutely blew her PRs out of the water (pun intended) and dropped HUGE time in 7 of her 8 events this weekend! For now, she is back on a A State relay team, and she is in a really good spot to make 1 or two individual state cuts by the end of the season.

Anyone else have sports updates from the weekend?

[librarychica]

We are two weeks into afterschool soccer and DD1 is really enjoying it, despite all the whining that led up to it. She did come home with a nurse note and a bandage on her side because someone forgot that soccer isn't a tackling sport, lol.

IDK if it counts as a sport, but DD2 started ninja class. Shes 4 and the class is 4-6, but it is definitely more 6 than 4 (maybe because of the afterschool timing). She was basically steamrolled last week so hopefully this week she will be less confused. She liked it, though.

[sandandsea]

We got our comp team soccer schedules and practices start at 4:30. Which means I will have to leave work at 3:30 once a week. Ugh. Seriously. The kids are 7 and most families in our area have two working parents. It’s super annoying. We are going to try it for 6 months and see if it works out. Eventually they’ve said 2-4 practices a week so if they’re all 4:30 we won’t be making them.

Basketball is amazing. It’s just Saturday for 75 minutes in a gym with bleachers. So no hauling chairs, mud, weeknight commitments, etc.

And ds moving up a class in racing. It’s age 7-9 so he will be young and needs more seat time to be competitive. So he and dh are driving to the track to practice almost every weekend.

[waverly]

I’m afraid to get into competitive teams outside of rec. My general rule though is nothing before 5:30pm. Mine are at aftercare so that’s makes it tricky if you do carpool I guess a parent could take the kids and you pick up. But for that work got me I would have already had to pick them up from aftercare which puts me on the same timeline.