March Sports/hobbies/extra curriculars

[186momx]

What does everyone have going on?  Are spring sports starting yet?

[186momx]

Only the state gymnastics meet left which is the weekend of 3/15. I will be so happy to be done with competitions and all the extra team togetherness. DD is planning on asking the head coach if she could practice with the optional group a couple days during spring break. She needs an emotional and mental break from her teammates. She doesn't want a break from gymnastics, but she needs a break from the drama/mean girl behavior.

Our gym is hosting xcel state the first weekend of April. I got the lead volunteer spot for awards. Proceeds from this meet go to the volunteer's kids team funds which can be used for comp leos, supplies, meet/coaches fees, and travel. Last year my family as my siblings helped me out by being me made $1200 so I had no expenses this comp season and have a little leftover to pay this year's coaches fees.

[sdlaura]

Rec Baseball is driving me a bit nuts because two of our boys are playing, and games can be on any day of the week - usually two per week per kid. Our daughter is on two softball teams but rec softball only has games on Saturday and the ‘select’ softball team typically only has games on Sundays. She has flag football games Friday night. And DD school basketball starts soon and those games are Friday afternoons. DS2 also plays arena soccer on Saturday mornings. DS2 has gymnastics class Monday afternoons and DS3 does swim at preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A nice thing now for DD is that she can take herself to some practices. She stays after school for basketball practice Mondays then walks home. Then a couple hours later she bikes to football practice in the neighborhood. It’s giving me a preview of when she goes to middle school next year and most sports will just be at school after school and she’ll walk home - that will be nice!

We have a 2-week spring break the last week of March and first week of April and sports mostly stop then so we just need to make it a few weeks till a break

[waverly]

Basketball is done!!

I think there are 3 more indoor soccer games after this weekend. I’m not sure when we start outdoor soccer.

I need to look at my schedule and try to plan something with my friend when sports are on hiatus.

[campermom]

We have a ton is sports coming up this season but the high school baseball team tryouts are currently happening and it’s so competitive! We don’t know if he will make it. We find out Monday. There’s no back up plan, track doesn’t allow kids to come there as a second choice. His travel team begins play after high school finishes.

[erbear]

DD2’s play was this weekend. It was…a bit odd — the theater teacher is very much an art should speak person, so he remixed Romeo and Juliet and hamlet — R&J was a queer love story set in present day (lots of pointed messaging at parents to love the kid you have) and hamlet centered on his (her in this case) mental health. It was very good, and I was so happy to see DD on stage since she’s never done anything like this before (she’s not a risk taker and this was a huge risk) but it’s so much time and I’m glad it’s over.

Both kids are playing school lacrosse this spring. DD1 (9th grade) has never played before but all the soccer girls are playing so she is too. I’m sure she’ll have fun.

Club soccer continues to be a shitshow. Tryouts in a couple of weeks. I can’t even.

[mommyatty]

DD has a couple of weeks off from field hockey. Then she wants to try being a goalie, so I need to see if her school will let her borrow the middle school goalie equipment. I don’t want to buy $1000 in equipment (you read that right. A thousand dollars. American. Really.) if she isn’t going to stick with the position.

DS continues to do ninja classes. He did so well today! We got there really early, and he was bored. So I showed him the monthly report they send, where you get 2 stars if you’ve mastered a skill, 1 star if you’re making good progress toward mastery, and no stars if you haven’t tried it or aren’t anywhere near getting it yet. It totally motivated him, which shocked me! His coach told the kids to do a certain kind of jump over an obstacle and he raised his hand and said, “I already mastered that one. Can I do (the harder one) instead? I need to master that one!” His coach was so freaking proud of him. He was absolutely focused on mastering new skills today. Who knew? I thought the idea he was being “judged” would make him stop trying.

[mae0111]

DD2 had another indoor game and omg her team was such a mess tonight. I lost count of the score… I think they lost 5-1? Dd2 had the assist on the only goal… she took it up the left side and then centered it perfectly for her teammate, who drilled it home. She was so proud. But as a whole, her team was just dreadful. No one stayed in position. Their defenders scored on their own goal. The GK was calling for the ball and the defenders were ignoring them. The strikers kept playing too far back so no one was there for the passes.

I hope they can get it together for the next game, but I caught a glimpse of the team they’re playing next week and they are HUGE. One kid was easily 5’10”. These are supposed to be 6th graders MAX - dd2’s team is 4th and 5th - and last week they were 7th graders. There is a big size difference between 4th and 7th! They are just going to keep getting shelled for the next few weeks by much older kids, I guess. Oh well! And I’m coaching again next week. Yikes.

[madringal]

HS swim is done for DD1, but she has two club meet left. Senior State is this coming weekend and Speedo Sectionals is later this month. WE just got back from 5 days at Disney and she isn't tapering for Senior State, so we don't expect much in terms of time drops. But hoping she places well enough to make top 16 and move on to finals.

Speedo Sectionals will be her first National Team meet ever, so it's mostly just a learning experience. She does get 4 individual events and 2-3 relays so it will be great experience.Feeling Super grateful that DH took on the coaching gig, because the team will cover our hotel, mileage, and his meals.

DD1 has her swim banquet tonight - she earned 3 all conference titles, and is up for All American in 2 events. It was a great HS season.

DD2 starts MS track after spring break later this month, diving picks up again next month.

DD3 is done with swim team until mid April.

[soccermama]

campermom, did you guys find out about the baseball tryouts yet? I hope he made it!! Trying out for school sports is so stressful & its super competitive where I live as well!

I don't think it was like that when I was in HS.

[soccermama]

DD has a few more weeks of "travel" volleyball left, so it will be done by end of this month. And that is all good by me, ha! It really has been a good experience, she has grown so much this season and she still loves it. She will take a little break tho, until school summer workouts start.

DS soccer season has already started, they tied their first game last Sat. 2-2. He will have games every weekend until early May. He was also cast in his school's production of "Wonka" and has practices 2 mornings a week until May.

[k3am]

Soccer starts next week. The universe was kind and DS has practice on Tuesday, when a friend will take DD to skating most nights, and Friday night, when we don't have skating. I was worried it would overlap with DD's skating, but thankfully it doesn't. And even better, DS's Tuesday practice is at the school RIGHT by our house. As in.. we can walk there in 3-5 minutes. THANK YOU UNIVERSE!!

[mae0111]

k3am - we also got the soccer schedule. The good news is that the field is right next to DD2’s school. The bad news is that the coach scheduled practice to start before DD2 actually gets out of school. So that should be interesting.

Her club coach sent me a separate note to say how awesome DD2 has been playing, and even better, how great her attitude has been. He said he’s really impressed with her development as a player and her maturity as a kid. This is great news since she was benched for a game in the fall for acting goofy on the sidelines.

[campermom]

Mar 6, 2024 11:51:17 GMT -5 soccermama said:

campermom, did you guys find out about the baseball tryouts yet? I hope he made it!! Trying out for school sports is so stressful & it’s super competitive where I live as well!

I don't think it was like that when I was in HS.

He did not make it.

[librarychica]

DD2 is learning the Jurassic Park theme song (simplified) for the school talent show. She’s been a bit of a pill with H. I finally told her today she is not ready, she can either practice or not, but we are not going to manage her time nor will I be taking her to tryouts and volunteering at rehearsals if she doesn’t step up and do her part. I know she can do this — she has a talent for instruments — but I can’t and won’t do it for her.

DD1 has been in a slump since the great track debacle. I’ve also told her she needs to find something to do this summer. Anything. Letting her leave martial arts was a mistake, I think. But maybe it was a necessary, middle school growing mistake? Idk. She is performing in a dance showcase with some other kids from her school beginning dance elective. She does love that class so I’m hoping she will be able to do more of it next year and the teacher (who teaches to supplement her art) won’t run away from the middle schoolers and decide she’d rather not teach, lol.

[186momx]

Well, we got DD's timeslot for the state meet. 4pm warmups Saturday and the location 3+ hours north of us depending on traffic. If we are lucky, we will be done and left the event center by 8:30-9pm. I'm now looking at hotels/motels for us to crash at because I don't want to deal with the drive home.

[erbear]

I’ve started looking for a new soccer club for DD1 and holy hell is this a pita.

[mae0111]

erbear - it was not a fun process, but the end result was worth it. What I found that all soccer clubs have in common? They are totally disorganized. I could make a million dollars starting a business that runs admin for soccer clubs. They’re all a mess.

[waverly]

mae0111 , we are in 2 soccer clubs one for DD and one for DS. DD's club is basically the mom and dad played soccer and coached rec. They incorporated so that they could play winter soccer. They could coach rec in spring but the teams are more sparse. The mom is very organized, and they only coach 2 teams.  Thie son and daughter.  They rotate their daughter like any other player so it hasn't been a problem for us.  

DS's club sends 1 email a week and that is about it. No one knows anything that is going on. Not quite total chaos but not organized by any means. Lots of last minute added practices, no one knows who is on what team. 2 years were together at the first 2-3 games and then split, not sure how if they had or had not scheduled the older year games.

[erbear]

Mar 7, 2024 19:17:55 GMT -5 mae0111 said:

erbear - it was not a fun process, but the end result was worth it. What I found that all soccer clubs have in common? They are totally disorganized. I could make a million dollars starting a business that runs admin for soccer clubs. They’re all a mess.

Seriously. I'm overwhelmed. I just want to find a club of nice kids and nice parents, with a coach who makes it fun and players get better, that is a step up from her current team but not a full time job for 15 year olds. There are at least 50 clubs in a 10 mile radius of my house. 

[waverly]

Mar 8, 2024 11:23:47 GMT -5 erbear said:

Mar 7, 2024 19:17:55 GMT -5 mae0111 said:

erbear - it was not a fun process, but the end result was worth it. What I found that all soccer clubs have in common? They are totally disorganized. I could make a million dollars starting a business that runs admin for soccer clubs. They’re all a mess.

Seriously. I'm overwhelmed. I just want to find a club of nice kids and nice parents, with a coach who makes it fun and players get better, that is a step up from her current team but not a full time job for 15 year olds. There are at least 50 clubs in a 10 mile radius of my house. 

All our clubs are about the same in terms of commitment.  2 practices a week with a weekend game for Spring and Fall.  1 practice a week with a weekend game for indoor.  DD is on 2 indoor teams, so she has 2 games a weekend.

DD's team recruited girls to try out from the school.  I love that most of them go to school together and live in the same community. 

The owners of DS's club would teach the rec coaches, so that is how DS and DH heard about them.  They are kind of a far drive which I hate, but DH does a lot of the driving.  I'd prefer something closer, but he does have 2 kids from his school on the team.  Indoor practice was closer by which is great.  

[waverly]

I posted about the Girl Scout camp out in other threads, but I just wanted to say it was SO MUCH BETTER than last time.

They weren't nearly as bossy this time. They did not schedule as many activities. I did not stay the night which helped, DD ended up staying. They said for those that did stay the night they had 2 coffee pots instead of 1.

Last time, the mom organizers got there the night before and slept there, this time only one of them did. So when we arrived at the first camp out they were very cliquey. This time the cliqiness was a lot less, and they were nicer. Now, I am wondering if the one was really gruff and short because she was sick last time.

Last time she was managing her son's social life from afar in a very strange way (hiding down the path to exclude his other friend, my son). This time, she was much more in the moment and probably figures they all have their own phones and can manage their own social lives.  It just seemed a lot more laid back and less overly managed.  

It almost makes us want to stay in Girl Scouts. 

[sdlaura]

DD had a tournament yesterday with her competitive softball team (this is the town league "select" team, after we moved back from the travel team this past January). The tournament had been delayed 3 times due to wet fields after we had rain, but yesterday was beautiful. The coach's daughter is a catcher, so when we moved back to this league and she made this team (mostly with girls older than her), everyone was skeptical that DD would ever get to play catcher (her main position) on this team. That concern was put to rest pretty fast because this coach does play here there sometimes.

But anyway, yesterday coach's daughter was at the games but wasn't feeling well, so DD caught for both games, which were back to back. So she played 3+ hours and had more playing time yesterday than any of her teammates, since there was a different pitcher in each game. DD loved it and did great. In his coach's talk at the end, the coach said that yesterday was the best he's ever seen her catch, so that was really sweet. He was her first rec coach back in 8U when she first started playing, and he's seen her play a bunch since then because she was often on one of his daughter's teams, but DD hasn't played for him again till this team. So I know his comments made her feel really good.

[mae0111]

DD2 had a soccer tournament over the weekend. The kids had fun off the field and all came super decked out for St Patrick's Day. The host club is named after a city in Ireland so everyone was in the spirit for sure! They didn't perform super well - went 0-1-2 after winning the whole thing last year, so that was a bummer.

I've mentioned before that the roster for this team is too big - 18 players for a 9v9 team. But we only had 12 kids for the tournament, so DD2 thought she'd be getting some good playing time. It was Ok in the first game on Saturday. But it was very reduced on Sunday, and we don't understand why. He even brought up 2 kids from the younger team (including his DD) and they played more than DD2. I could see her on the bench - she wasn't messing around or causing trouble. She said that she thinks that the coach forgot about her.

So now I'm annoyed. I understand that some kids will play more, but she's better than a lot of the other kids that had more time. I've heard a number of other people complaining about the coach lately, and I've always just come back to "too many kids on the team". But he didn't have too many kids this weekend! I know that it's not easy to coach, but it's LITERALLY your JOB (and it is a paid position, not volunteer) to NOT FORGET about the kids on the bench. If you need an assistant to remind you of the time, GET ONE.

DD2 asked me to email him to see if there's something she should be doing differently or anything she needs to practice to get more playing time. He tells the kids that if they ask to play or to play certain positions, he'll bench them - so she doesn't want to talk to him.

Ugh.

[mommyatty]

mae0111, I think your DD2’s questions show a remarkable level of maturity and coach-ability. And her coach sounds like an ass. If he had 3-4 subs, he had zero reason to call up other kids, and I would call him out for that.

DD had her first outdoor field hockey practice Sunday, and she looked really solid! She needs to get more power, but frankly to do that, she’s going to need to put on weight, which is an issue for her. She eats like a farm hand but is 5’5 and just hit 100 lbs. Also, her coach is going to bring the goalie gear for her to try being a goalie. She may hate it, but I have a feeling she’s going to enjoy it.

[186momx]

DD had an amazing state meet over the weekend. 4 PRs, took 3rd on beam, 8th on bars and all-around. The best part of the meet was when she did the math and realized she score a 35.2 all-around score. Her reaction was priceless, and I would compare it to the college gymnasts' reactions to getting a 10. The head coach gave her a goal of a 35AA so that there was no question she could move to level 5. Her one coach said all her hard work finally paid off at the right time.

[186momx]

mommyatty, check out Chelsie Memmel on Instagram. She does 10 minute core/cardio workouts on Tuesdays. They might help her with toning muscles and gaining some power.

mae0111, Is this the same coach that benched her due to behavior. If yes then I would email asking if DD didn't play much over the weekend due to behavior and if what she needs to do/show to fix it and to please give you a heads up in the future so you can address it now vs a week later.

[waverly]

DD and DS both finished up indoor club soccer. They both got 2nd in their division, but DD got a trophy and DS did not. Same facility, technically different leagues.  Did DS's coach not realize they were second and didn't pick up the trophies? Will they get them later? No one knows, and the coach never responds to texts or emails, so I'd have to email the club admin.

[mae0111]

So I emailed the coach… and his response was “Oops! Sorry! I didn’t realize that I forgot to sub her in. She’s great! No issues!”

So I’m relieved and super pissed off at the same time. It’s your JOB to manage the roster!

But I think DD2 felt better knowing it was just an oversight.

I did forget to add that the coach kind of got into it with a parent during the first game. The dad was screaming at the kids - started with just his DD, and eventually yelled at everyone. He did speak yo DD2, but it was pretty innocent - told her to mark up against another player she didn’t see. But a lot of yelling at other kids and the team in general. Coach told him to be quiet or leave. So maybe he was rattled?? Who knows. Hopefully he does better next time.

[traveltheworld]

We have to make a decision for dd's gymnastics for next year and I'm not sure what to do. Dd likes it, but doesn't love it. She'll be moving to level 3 next year, and it'll be 9.5 hours of training a week, which seems like a lot for a sport she doesn't love.

We told DD she just has to do one physical activity - it could be something low key, like once a week. But she can't think of anything else she likes - she has a long list of activities she has tried and rejected - soccer, hockey, swimming, tennis, badminton, golf, dance and acro. So I'm out of ideas. She can't think of anything either. I've also offered for her to do gymnastics on a more casual basis, but she doesn't want to do that either.

Again, it just seems silly to commit to 9.5 hours of gymnastics because she can't pick another physical activity. Thoughts / suggestions?