Club sports - basketball?

[newyearae]

Trying to decide if our son should start club basketball or not. Our kids haven't done club sports yet. He's almost 13, in 7th grade. Loves basketball. Led his school team in scoring. Is a starter on the feeder team for the local high school. He's being "recruited" for a couple of club teams. If your kid did/didn't do club sports, how did you decide?

It's expensive. Time commitment. It would mean he probably wouldn't be able to do the golf team this spring/summer, which he also loves. He's on the fence, wants to do both but we don't think it's possible. He does love basketball though and thinks club would be fun. We're (husband, me, and son) afraid if he doesn't do the club route, he will get "left behind" and not be able to play on the high school team. Some kids have been doing club b-ball since 4th grade. Year-round!

How do you decide this?! I played club/travel basketball back in the day and didn't enjoy it. I think my negative experience is coloring my decision. I got burnt out. I did get a college scholarship though (not that we're expecting this for him at all).

There's so much to say about kids sports...weigh in with your thoughts. We are leaning toward doing it, but still on the fence.

[nicolewi]

I am probably not the one to ask b/c I hate the whole club sports concept, but have also not had to be in a tough position of making a decision, b/c none of my kids have gotten really into any sports as of yet.

That said, I'd put it off another year if possible b/c
1. I don't think he will fall that far behind in one year (but I could be wrong); he will still be playing
2. saves $$
3. can still do golf! Which he also enjoys and is really more of a lifetime sport and may actually have MORE future opportunities associated with it in terms of scholarships, caddy jobs, etc.
4. way less pressure and time
5. he's on the fence anyway

[newyearae]

Jan 10, 2023 15:11:44 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

I am probably not the one to ask b/c I hate the whole club sports concept, but have also not had to be in a tough position of making a decision, b/c none of my kids have gotten really into any sports as of yet.

That said, I'd put it off another year if possible b/c
1. I don't think he will fall that far behind in one year (but I could be wrong); he will still be playing
2. saves $$
3. can still do golf! Which he also enjoys and is really more of a lifetime sport and may actually have MORE future opportunities associated with it in terms of scholarships, caddy jobs, etc.
4. way less pressure and time
5. he's on the fence anyway

Thank you for your thoughts!! I also hate the whole club sports thing. It's such a privileged thing around here.

[waverly]

My daughter is doing club soccer (10). I was against club, but she really wanted to do it, and she loves it. However, it is female led by one of the mom's and she only coaches this age group. Her husband coaches the son's age group, but he is younger so it is rec and maybe winter league. So it is pretty small "club" and low drama. All the parents and kids are nice. Also, we can pay on a season by season basis, so if we do want to take winter or spring off I think we could do so, and then still come back for the other seasons.


My son who is older has not done club yet. He is 12, and he did play on the middle school basketball team. His ball handling skills were not less than the ones that played club, so I think he did fine that way. Plus if your son is leading his team in scoring and in the feeder team, I think he would be fine skill wise without club.

I personally prefer an athlete that is multi season, but my daughter never did another sport. She did dance for 2.5 years, and a 1 week basketball camp. So it doesn't knock out any other sports for her. My son does soccer, flag football and basketball, so it made sense to hold off.

That being said, he wants to try out for club soccer, but I will wait until the current basketball season is over with.

I tried to hold off as long as possible. I definitely think kids that start club at 6/7 burn out. But I also don't anticipate that my kids will play HS sports since it is very competitive. So maybe that middle school age is the better age to start club. Club for my 10 year old is pretty laid back especially the winter season, and she likes it, so for now, it is not a concern.

[InBetweenDays]

DD has played travel lacrosse since 7th grade. She LOVES the sport so we've followed her lead as long as she can balance it with her other school, sports, and activity commitments. It hasn't prevented her from playing rec and high school soccer or high school bowling. But she did decide to take this fall off because of her school load and several AP classes.

Is there someone you can talk to about the time commitment and how it may overlap or conflict with golf or other activities? When you sign up for club basketball, is it for an entire year? Or a season? (the nice thing about travel lacrosse is they have separate seasons for summer and fall/winter and then they're off for spring since that is when rec/high school play. So you're not locked in to a full year).

I'd do a bit more research, and then if he's interested and you think you can make it work I'd go for it. He can always play club for a year/season and then decide not to do it again if it's too much.

[starburst604]

DD is only 2nd grade but sports are crazy around here and most athletes are in club by 4th or 5th grade. So, I fully expect we'll be having this conversation in a couple of years about basketball/hockey/soccer, all of which she LOVES and is talented at. H had an interesting convo with a friend of his whose son just got a nice college scholarship for track. He said try to avoid the club sports until as close to high school as possible because he saw so many kids get burnt out in a sport by the time they hit high school. His son played 3 sports, non-club, until 9th grade which is when he first started track and fell in love with it. Of course, he has 5 kids so they have to spread their resources wisely which probably factored into that. Another friend has a HS freshman who played most of the high school soccer season this year with an ankle injury and she refused to take time off to heal because she knows she'd lose her position. I HATE that for kids.

H played college basketball on a scholarship and DD most definitely has his talent and passion for sports. Their love of sports is such a big part of their relationship. I get the feeling this is something we will lock horns over in the next few years because she'll probably get "recruited" for these clubs, will want to do it and of course H will love it. I'm going to insist on conditions though - only club for one sport, her grades have to stay up and she will NOT play through injuries. If she starts feeling tired or burnt out, she stops or takes a break.

I'm personally a fan of organized group/team activities for kids - for H it was sports and for me it was dance and drama. We both really got a lot out of it growing up and treasure those memories. DD is clearly a sports kid and I'm good with that as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Thank God we only have one kid though lol.

[tarajane]

I will be avoiding club sports as much as possible for my boys. From what I've seen, playing multiple sports is better long term.

My oldest is 9 and he does basketball, baseball, and flag football. He'll continue to do that for now even though he could play on a travel baseball team.

[redpenmama]

He's definitely at that age where many kids are picking a club sport and focusing all of their time on that. If he wants to play high school basketball and this is the route to do that, I'd be inclined to do the club team if basketball is his thing.

I also think it's kid-specific. Is your son up for/aware of the time commitment? My oldest (6th grade) does competitive dance. She's there 6 days a week and it consumes all of her free time, but she absolutely loves it and never complains about going. My son is a pretty solid soccer player and we've been getting told by coaches and even refs in our rec league that he "needs" to be on a club team, but he's a homebody, likes playing with neighborhood friends after school, and doesn't want to spend the weekend traveling to soccer games. So, we aren't doing it.

It's definitely a tough call because these sports are such a time/financial commitment, so I'd explore all of the details about it before making the decision.

[niq]

I'm like you, I worry about burnout, crowding out other activities, and time commitment. I would do summer programs and at least wait until 8th grade for something during the school year. But this is very kid- and family- specific.

I am also just down on club/travel teams, since it seems de-emphasizes school sports and ends up reducing the total number of kids doing youth sports (same goes for stuff like Math Teams where I'm more familiar with the specifics).

V is in 4th grade, and this is our first year of doing rec league basketball, which is just one practice and one game per week. The middle schools here practice 2-3x/week and then have games on weekends.

[osulori]

Based on the info you provided, I would at least let him try out for the teams that have contacted/"recruited" him and (if there are any) other travel basketball teams that he may be interested in. Or see if any of the teams have "open house" or "open practice" type days. This will let him get a feel for the team's environment, the other kids, the coaches, etc. You may find he doesn't get a great vibe from one team but really likes the feel of another. If you haven't yet, I would also reach out to either the coach or someone in club leadership for that age group/level to ask about the possibility of being able to manage golf team commitments with potential travel basketball commitments. From what I've seen of our (so far limited) experience with club soccer and other peoples' experiences with club sports for different sports and levels around here, some clubs are willing to work with families on other commitments and others are not.

My 9.5 year old has done club soccer for just about 2 years now and so far, he loves it. But a big part of that is the team that he's with and the coaches he's had-his team is all just great kids (and great parents too, thank god!) and his coaches have been amazing. He also does rec baseball, flag football, and basketball (but may not be doing basketball this winter because the league filled up so damn fast and closed before I could get him signed up). Some clubs have a lot more "optional" training in the offseason than others, thankfully ours doesn't and what's listed as optional truly is optional. It blows my mind when I hear about kids he knows being in multiple club sports at the same time-soccer and baseball or soccer and hockey are the common ones here. Both baseball and hockey have a "you can play other sports but ours needs to be your #1 priority all the time) mentality which I am not a fan of.

[egishere]

I would let him try out because of his age. If he was younger I would say no. I feel like where we live its only the kids on the club teams that are making the teams in hs for soccer, basketball etc which is unfortunate.

DS played club soccer when he was 8- was recruited. Covid ended the spring season and he decided he didn't want to continue with the club team in the fall. He was already burnt out on it and loves to do multiple sports. It was intense with the multiple practices a week, always the pressure to do extra $$ training/camps, the coach was pretty mean and it just seemed like a lot for 8 yr olds. He did the rec plus team the next year and that was good. Now he says he's done with soccer which makes me sad because he does have talent. He just wants to focus on football, also plays flag fb and basketball.

[lilac05]

I think if he’s on the fence and concerned about missing golf, I wouldn’t do it.

Club sports are such a huge commitment, and they’re often a great way to burn kids out on a sport.

[erbear]

I was very very very anti-club / travel sports for a bunch of reasons (including time, money, crazy parents, not wanting to support such inequity) but this year, my kids (13 and 11) really wanted to play soccer so we agreed. We found a club that wasn't insane with time or money, and they love it. The kids are super nice, and both kids now have a different group of friends. 

[bdubs419]

My two boys play club soccer. It is a pretty big commitment but they LOVE it. They both started at a very young age (6 for one and 7 for the other I think?) and no burn out here. It has really provided them with great opportunities to increase their skills/become better players, make great friends and has greatly increased their self confidence. Seeing their progress is really cool as a parent. I am not one of those people who thinks my kid is gonna become a professional athlete someday, but the “pros” for us vastly outweigh any “cons” of it.

They participate in a lot of tournaments and sometimes have to travel quite a bit. They have so much fun with their teams when they stay in hotels, go out to restaurants etc with them.

I think club sports are great for some kids and not for others. My kids are just natural “sports kids” so it works for us. They are basically bouncing off the walls in my house when they have breaks from sports. Gets their energy out and they can compete at a higher level that satisfies them.

[madringal]

My daughter has been on the club swim team since she was 5. We do it bc she loves it and always has. She’s 14 now, freshman, varsity swimmer, and hasn’t missed a season in almost 10 years. Swim is year around so it’s a huge time commitment, but she loves it. Her true passion for training and improving is why we continue club swimming.