February Sports Update

[mae0111]

New month, new updates??  Go...

[mustardseed2007]

We bought DS cleats for baseball. Which was when DH found out I had signed DS up for baseball. He didn't audibly complain but I know he's not excited.

Incidentally we got them from academy and saw 3 kids we know from the neighborhood, all gearing up for serious league 4 times per week baseball. Bless them.

[covergirl82]

DS had his first basketball tournament yesterday. They played 2 games on Saturday morning and lost both. The second game they played against the "A" team of the travel league they're in (DS's team is the "B" team), but in general, they had fun playing against friends. (There is a group of friends that DS is in that have players on each team.)

Sunday his team played 3 games - 9:00, noon, and 3:00, so it was an all day deal. The second game was intense at the end. One of DS's teammates hit a 3-point buzzer-beater to tie the game. They played a one minute OT and each team scored another 2 points. Then they played a second one minute OT and one of DS's teammates hit a 2-point buzzer-beater shot to win the game. They lost the other two games, but over all, he had a pretty good time.

The rest of the month he has basketball games one night a week (Thursdays) and two practices.

DD has taken a break for the Jan-Feb session of gymnastics, but decided she wants to do it again, so I need to call to sign her up for the Mar-Apr session.

[mae0111]

I finally signed DD1 up for softball. I'd planned to sign her up in just one town (H - where school is), but digging in, it's really not a good program. Up until this coming season, their divisions were K-1-2; 3-4-5; 6-7-8. In the K-1-2 division, the were hitting off of tees. DD1 hasn't hit off of a tee since kindergarten, and by the end of 2nd grade, she was hitting relatively fast pitches. Now they changed the divisions to K-1; 2-3; 4-5; and 6-7-8. So DD1 will be back to playing with kids that have never hit a pitched ball.

So... At her request, I signed her up in our hometown (B) as well. H plays on Mon and Wed, B plays one day during the week and Saturday. If we have conflicts, I'll let DD1 decide. I reached out to one of the directors of both leagues to see if DD1 can be placed with friends. If she gets thrown on a crap team in B, we will walk away. But she wanted to have a chance to play at a higher level.

I'm not coaching for a million reasons. DH's travel makes it hard for me to keep and eye on DD2 while DD1 is playing. Last year a couple of parents helped me out while I coached. Since I'm a pariah in B and don't know anyone in H, I won't have help this year. B is a huge complex with 5 games happening at once, so she can't really wander around. Last year, our field was right next to a small paved area where she could safely ride her scooter within my view. This year we'll be on a different field with nothing nearby. Too hard. Also, DD1 needs to take instruction from someone else for a while.

Finally, I signed DD2 up for tennis again. She played for a while, and we stopped when she got really into soccer. She doesn't want to play spring soccer this year, and asked to try tennis again.

[madringal]

Another weekend, another swim meet:

DD1 (10yo) -her practice group is at peak yardage for the season, so we didn't expect much in the way of time drops this weekend. Especially after a week of no real practices bc of the weather. We were right. No one in her group improved much but they all held really close to their best times. DD did have a small drop in her 50 Free which puts her relay closer to the State cut. They will start a taper pretty soon to get them ready for Divisionals and State.

DD2 (7 yo)- swam her very first swim meet of the season! Oh my word, I was a nervous wreck. She was too. Shes only been on the team for about 2 months but this was an 8U meet so it was a great intro for her. She came in dead last in 2 events and DQ'd on her third - but she had so much fun! Her favorite part was swimming on a relay. Big sis was able to be down on deck with her cheering her on. Now that her first meet nerves are out of the way, she is ready for more! She will have one more chance to swim this season at our Conference meet in 2 weeks.

[waverly]

I need to figure out spring. DS has said no to church baseball because he thinks 2 nights a week with only 1 day in between is too much.

I am sad because I loved it last year, although it was a lot.

The rec baseball league is 1 night a week plus Sat games, I think. Might even be more than that, and I don't want to be tied up on Saturdays in the summer. Last year we were gone at least 5 weekends. So baseball might not be in the cards for us this year. Not sure what to do with him then, just take a break until fall soccer? From March- August seems like a long time, but maybe not.

[186momx]

DD did her backbend kick-over Friday night at open gym. Nat her favorite optional gymnast who also works for the gym has been helping DD at open gym. She basically told her to forget everything she knew about backbends and they would start from scratch. She placed her hands and head in a different position so no matter what DD's hands will hit the floor first. I asked afterwards why they don't teach that during class and she said she didn't know but by doing it this way it will make later skills easier to master. DD doesn't have the confidence to do it without some one standing right next to her so I hope her coaches tonight will accommodate that. Nat blew her knew beginning of December so her gymnastic career is over so she is working on training to be the new level 3 coach. Rumor is pre-team kids will be officially moved to level 3 in March so maybe DD will move to pre-team then?

[madringal]

Feb 4, 2019 13:38:57 GMT -5 186momx said:

DD did her backbend kick-over Friday night at open gym. Nat her favorite optional gymnast who also works for the gym has been helping DD at open gym. She basically told her to forget everything she knew about backbends and they would start from scratch. She placed her hands and head in a different position so no matter what DD's hands will hit the floor first. I asked afterwards why they don't teach that during class and she said she didn't know but by doing it this way it will make later skills easier to master. DD doesn't have the confidence to do it without some one standing right next to her so I hope her coaches tonight will accommodate that. Nat blew her knew beginning of December so her gymnastic career is over so she is working on training to be the new level 3 coach. Rumor is pre-team kids will be officially moved to level 3 in March so maybe DD will move to pre-team then?

So my 7 year old had the hardest time getting her back bends too and then her little BFF came over a few months ago and showed her a trick she learned in cheer.  She told her to stand with her feet apart and to make a diamond with her hand.  So that her two thumbs were touching each other and her two pointer fingers were touching each other.  And then keep that diamond as you go up and back with the arms and have your eyes follow the diamond all the way back. Poof! Instant back bend and shes never been able to not do it since! Crazy!

[186momx]

madringal, that was basically what they did but instead of the diamond she had to glue her elbows to her ears. As long as her elbows were touching her ears her hands will land first. We had our backbend over the summer and landed on our head and she has been scared to do it sense. She hasn't needed a spot physically she just needs the spot mentally. Nat also told her this was the first step to her back handspring which she really wants to learn.

[callmekd]

DD1 is loving gymnastics and swimming. she also has dance after school 1x week. she's no longer doing Irish dance and I'm ok with it as it was a big commitment.

DD2 and DS1 are also taking gymnastics and swimming which requires that both me and my H are there because it's a kid/parent class.

[abs]

DD is done and over martial arts. Honestly I've been over it since week 1 but she made a commitment and needs to finish out the school year. We pay through May whether she goes or not. I'm unsure how to handle this one because as I said I don't particularly enjoy going twice a week either!!

Soccer starts back up next week. We lost one of our coaches and two long time teammates so we will see how it goes. I expect 9 million schedule changes with the never ending rain. Regardless I am looking forward to seeing her out on the field again! I think after this season we will need to find another option for her.

DD wants to start swim lessons again and possibly do swim team this summer. I'm not sure about that one...

[xctsclrx]

So I signed DD and DS up for swim lessons this month. DD is with the parent, but DS is actually going to be in real swim lessons. My goal for him is to be able to swim before summer starts so I only have to worry about one non-swimmer at my MILs. We shall see.

I also signed DS up for soccer this spring. This will be the first time he has done sports. Hopefully it goes as well as 4 year olds can go.

[mustardseed2007]

abs, can you go once per week for a while to give yourselves a breather?

We enjoy karate but when we signed up the dojo owner said that she recommends that once a month you skip unless your kid is just loving it b/c twice a week is definitely a lot for little kids (mine started when he had just turned 6).

For us the only time we skip is if I get off work late and can't get him there...and then it normally involves doing something to make it up to him because he gets mad since he does love it. But if ya'll are over it, missing a few sessions is not going to kill anything and might make her enjoy the other sessions more? Or you might find you love missing it so much that you don't want to go through may, lol.

[waverly]

Per DS's request I just went from the cute little coach pitch church league to Park district baseball (not coach pitch). Hold me- I'm scared.

ETA- Does anyone have any sort of canned responses to parents who disagree with events and activities that you take the kids to?  Everyone has opinions.

So far I have gone with not telling people what we are doing ha ha, but eventually they will figure some of it out.  They have expressed dissatisfaction with the baseball league (but not because they are mean because that would be a deal breaker for me and other parents like them) and flag football and strangely the breakfast with Santa event.  But eventually my philosophy of flying under the radar will stop working. 

[madringal]

This past weekend was our swim conference championships. It was a LOOOONG weekend at the pool, but such a great meet!

My 7 year old finished her season with new best times and she did so good for only having been on the team for 2 months! We're so proud her and how much she progressed in such a short period of time. She'll go back to 2 days a week of gymnastics now. And then swim will start again for her in April.

My 10 year old KILLED it! Our team sets State relay teams based off this meet, and she secured her spot on one of her relays. She's going to State! Her other relay doesn't have their cut yet, but they are really close so they still have a few more chances to get it. She also had some really great time drops that bring her really close to individual state cuts. Divisionals is in 2 weeks, so she's got some time to keep practicing to get to that time.

[mae0111]

DD1 had a basketball scrimmage on Sunday because there weren’t enough kids to make a full team. She got out on a team with kids that didn’t know her, so wouldn’t pass to her. So she stole the ball 3 times for a breakaway (made 2 layups and passed off the 3rd), then made a great baseline shot. So they started including her. It’s been great to see her gain so much confidence this year.

I’ve also been taking her to a hitting clinic for softball. She’s really getting a lot of power behind her swings. Which is good, because the poor kid inherited my speed and she needs to hit the ball a mile to make it to first base.

DD2 started tennis again. She really seems to like it! I wanted to sign her up for spring soccer, but the only option was co-Ed with the same group that she didn’t like playing with in the fall. Next year ussungke sex, so we will jump in then.

[traveltheworld]

We signed DS for spring soccer with the club league - it's twise a week for 2 months and costs $325, which seems like a lot. There's the option of signing DD up too - their practices would be at the same time, but I don't know if the money is worth it for a 4 year old. The other option would be doing community league for $110, but it would be on a different day.

[mae0111]

Feb 19, 2019 9:41:22 GMT -5 traveltheworld said:

We signed DS for spring soccer with the club league - it's twise a week for 2 months and costs $325, which seems like a lot. There's the option of signing DD up too - their practices would be at the same time, but I don't know if the money is worth it for a 4 year old. The other option would be doing community league for $110, but it would be on a different day.

I suppose it depends on the cost of your time. I would kill to have both kids in one activity at the same time. It would be worth the money to me. Because they both have to go to the activity most of the time, so the other one is just sitting around waiting. So dragging both kids to 2 activities on 2 different days and having one sit and whine that they’re bored while the other runs around... I’d rather not. Combine that!

[covergirl82]

DH registered DS for little league. DS is going to coach with two other dads from DS's travel baseball team, so I'm glad he will know a few kids on his team this year. (DS signed up as a coach last year without any assistants, and then drafted a team of kids of which DS knew no one.) One of the dads is a physical therapist. I'm always happy/relieved when there is someone who is some sort of trained medical professional at the games.

DD is signed up for the next session of gymnastics, which is March - April. I'm glad she wanted to sign up again. It's good for her to do one extracurricular activity that is physically active.

Other than that, DS is doing basketball, which goes through the 3rd week of March.

[covergirl82]

DH registered DS for little league. DH is going to coach with two other dads from DS's travel baseball team, so I'm glad he will know a few kids on his team this year. (DS signed up as a coach last year without any assistants, and then drafted a team of kids of which DS knew no one.) One of the dads is a physical therapist. I'm always happy/relieved when there is someone who is some sort of trained medical professional at the games.

DD is signed up for the next session of gymnastics, which is March - April. I'm glad she wanted to sign up again. It's good for her to do one extracurricular activity that is physically active.

Other than that, DS is doing basketball, which goes through the 3rd week of March.

[2chatter]

Both younger kids returned to sports. Both scored goals at soccer. Both were fine. Whew!

DD’s ankle hurt after volleyball. Why? They lost a game so they ran for the hour practice. WTF. I learned from that DD won’t bother to attend practice after losses. I bought her ankle supporting cleats and didn’t have her brace because volleyball isn’t running and pre-injury practices were super stationary. I’m normally all for conditioning but that’s kind of BS.

[covergirl82]

2chatter, a whole hour of running is crazy. And does it even help them be better players? No. I wouldn't send my kid to that practice either.

[2chatter]

covergirl82 - I am so never that mom, so that’s good to hear. Oldest was assistant coaching the team and it sounds like without her the practices have sucked. I asked oldest if she’s up to writing up some of the drills she and the girls liked so I can send them to the other coaches. Maybe they are running to fill time?