May Extracurriculars and Sports

[mommyatty]

I know it’s early, but I didn’t see an April thread, so figured I would start May early.

DD loved being a field hockey goalie yesterday and rocked it. She got to train all day yesterday with the US Women’s Nation Masters Team goalie, who used to be the US Women’s Olympic team goalie. She was appropriately aggressive, and had a good, solid save during the team scrimmage, and all the parents cheered hard for her. Then she went back to being a field player during the club vs club match up, and she was much more aggressive and seemed to have a better idea of where to be on the field.

DS got to swim a ton yesterday at the hotel pool. And he enjoyed watching his sister for a little while. He was kind of upset when we told him there’s no boys field hockey where we live because he wanted to play too. So we might let him try ice hockey. 

DS also wants to try playing violin at school. He loved piano and was pretty good at it, so maybe he will like it. We just got the sign up request for his school.

[dglvrk2]

mommyatty, your daughter's experience with field hockey sounds fantastic!

My Ds are both playing softball through June. DD1 has 2-3 practices per week and 1-2 games each Saturday. DD2 plays for a younger division. Only one practice and one game per week. Of course, the the Ds' teams have practices on different days. Games are the same day, but in different locations. Sometimes their times overlap. Other times they don't.

DD1 will continue with club volleyball for the next four weeks. She also has a few band performances in May.

I'd like to get DD2 playing piano again. We quit last year. She didn't have a good experience and I attribute a lot of it to the teacher. Other teachers in our town could very well be better matches for her. She really wants to try playing trumpet. However, H and I think it better she wait until she could play in a band (sixth grade here; she's in fourth grade right now). This seems more engaging than learning an instrument that is usually part of a band on her own.

[callmekd]

DD2 and DS1 are playing baseball and soccer. They have golf lessons and hockey starting in June.

DD1 has 1 more dance competition and a dance recital and then nationals. Her studio is closing in June so we are also looking for a new place to dance.

[waverly]

I think I’ve been too busy to make a post for April.

May is going to be super busy. We have 2 tournament weekends, end of the school year stuff, band concerts. Just hold on until Memorial weekend basically.

Pray for me lol.

[campermom]

DD is in rec lacrosse.
DS travel baseball.
Little DS would normally be in karate 2 times a week which takes a backseat in spring, and would normally be in rec baseball.
His IOP therapies are 9 hours a week after school so he will no longer go to practice. He can make it to games on the weekend. He could actually karate Friday nights if I wanted, if I have anything left.
My parents and sister are getting my kids to sports while I focus on his therapies.

DD will have a band concert.

[erbear]

DD2 (7th grade) is finally playing on a soccer team with good players. It's so fun to watch her not have to be the everything, and bonus, they win games too so this is amazing. She's having so much fun. She's also playing lacrosse at school and she's really good. She's got 10 goals in 3 games and was asked to play on the high school team next year.

DD1 is in a bit of a tough place with soccer. Her club team folded, so she's trying out for another one. It's way more intense (tournaments, practice twice a week) and not close to us (30 minute drive at inconvenient times) but we agreed to let her try to see what happens. I a little bit hope she doesn't make it but she does want to play so...sigh. She started lacrosse this year and somehow is a starter on the varsity, lol. It's fun.

[sdlaura]

This Saturday is the last day of rec softball. DD’s all-star softball tryouts are this week, but her coach from the spring ‘select’ team told the girls he’s not cutting anyone from that team, so that definitely takes some pressure off. All-star softball is a tournament every weekend starting the weekend of 5/10 until early July. DD’s Flag football playoffs start soon, and her team has only lost one game this season, so hopefully they go far. There are like 3 more school basketball games left and then a play-off.

The baseball playoffs for DS1 start this week. DS2 is young enough that there’s no playoff in his baseball division - just like 5 more games for the season. He’s still doing arena soccer on Saturdays too.

Me and a few moms are trying to figure out flag football for the summer. We have like 4 girls who want to do the summer league but the spring coach isn’t coaching over the summer. So one mom emailed the league to see if there was any coach who needed half a girls 5th/6th grade team. DD really likes flag football and wants to try out for the middle school team in the fall.

[librarychica]

I have to admit that I was a full adult before I knew what field hockey was and I’m still shaky on what lacrosse is.

DD1 has been taking dance this year as a middle school elective and has really taken to it. Her student choreography is being featured at a performance tomorrow night and she’s really excited. She is also trying out for the dance team in a couple of weeks for next year. I hope she makes it.

DD2 and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Y pool, helping her remember how to swim. We have some travel in late May/early June and she has some practice to do, but once we are back she plans to take the swim test for the developmental swim team. I’ve no doubt she will be allowed to join. She also has a piano concert in a week and has been enjoying piano, but her teacher is so flaky that I think I’ll be in the market for a new one after this concert.

[sandandsea]

We added middle school track into the mix this season with soccer and racing. The good thing is track is right afterschool and the most laid back season of anything ever. They only have 2 meets and like 160 kids on the track team so they try to get everyone to do an event at the meets. Ds is doing 2 events so he’s happy but of course it’s the 3:30 and 7pm events so we will be there all night. Everyone at the MS says track is so fun and I see why now. It’s totally chill and zero pressure which is so unlike every other sport around here! Such a nice vibe! Also since it’s only 2 meets, I took those afternoons off so I can go support him.

[twinmomma]

Theater season is over for all the kids, so that frees up a ton of after school time for all of them. DD2 decided to re-join swim team for the spring/summer session, so she will have that practice 3x a week. She and I both agree that she should enjoy it a lot more this time around. When she was on the team before, it meant she went straight from school, to after care, to practice, and didn't get home until like 7 PM. Now that she can bus home, she'll get a couple hours of downtime at home before heading to the hour long practice in the evening. She loved the swimming and team part of it, but the schedule was just too much for her. I think she's going to do much better this time around.

DD1 is starting color guard back up. It's just a short after school club, but she absolutely loved it in the fall and is really excited to get to do it again. I keep telling her it's a great activity to stick with and will bring a lot of fun opportunities once she gets to high school. Our town takes performing arts very seriously and has a pretty competitive color guard team that travels to competitions and parades a lot.

DS is just chilling at home, per usual. lol We did convince mom to let him sign up for a couple of half day sports summer camps, but she's refusing to do anything else because it throws off her schedule. DH might sign him up anyway and just bring him on our days during the week at least. He's still investigating options.

[mae0111]

DD1 is playing softball for her school team and for rec. She is the only 8th grader on her middle school team - 3 other 8th graders were pulled up to varsity, and a 4th, seemingly upset that she didn't get pulled up to varsity, quit. DD1 doesn't mind - she knows a lot of the kids from being the only 8th grader on the B team for field hockey, and the coaches have her playing 1st base. Her rec team is great! Her coaches are 3 young women in their early 20's with no kids on the team and a love of softball. They take a team every year and really work hard to develop the players. I love that it's not a parent coaching - there is no favoritism and everyone gets a shot. This division is 7th-12th grade, so DD1 is on the younger end for sure. But she's doing well and having fun. School team is done in mid-May, rec goes until mid-June.

DD2 is playing soccer for rec travel (playing against local towns) and club. Her teams are... not good. DD2 had 3 games over the weekend. Her teams scored a combined total of... ONE GOAL. DD2 scored that goal. She had a great weekend of play, and it doesn't seem to matter how she does in her games - she just never gets a good placement. On one hand, I feel like her rec travel is a total waste of time with several kids that either don't like soccer, or don't want to be part of a team - no passing, stealing the ball from teammates, etc. But on the other hand, she gets a TON of playing time on rec, but only plays about 1/2 of her games for club because there are too many kids on the roster.

DD2 is also doing the school play this spring. Most of the rehearsals are during a school-wide study hall block, so that makes it easier from a coordination perspective. She's part of the ensemble for the musical, so lower pressure for sure, which is good for her. I'm so proud that she's putting herself out there and trying new things!

[mommyatty]

Apr 28, 2024 20:28:32 GMT -5 librarychica said:

I have to admit that I was a full adult before I knew what field hockey was and I’m still shaky on what lacrosse is.

I didn’t know what a field hockey stick looked like until we went to buy DD her first one. Now last night I shelled out $500 for half a set of goalie gear for DD because her school pads were incomplete and DH was slightly grossed out by her wearing a helmet she had to share. So basically we are going to use the school’s leg pads and foot pads but bought upper body, head, and pelvic protectors. For a sport I knew nothing about until November. But it’s super fun! I’m kind of jealous I never got to try playing it.

[madringal]

God help us we are back in full swing for spring sports.

DD1 is in her summer long course swim season. She qualified for a really cool opportunity to swim in the Olympic Trials pool next month, the weekend before trials. She is so excited! We have tickets to the first three days of Trials too, so it Is going to be a super fun week! So she is back to training full time and working to claim her first few Futures cut at this meet.

DD2 started back to diving. Not sure when her meets are yet, but she is just happy to be back to training.

DD3 is back in the pool too. She swims her very first LC meet this weekend and is excited! She is working to move up a training level, so hopefully that happens for her here soon.

[186momx]

It is up-skill season for gymnastics. This week a bunch of the girls will be moving timeslots and the pre-team kids are moving to level 3 team practices so it will be an interesting week. DD is working to get her back tucks and her kip/squat-on connected and then she will have all of her level 5 skills locked in. The problem is getting help on the back tuck. Head coach that she does privates with told her she wanted her doing 20 per practice between the 3 events that need that skill and she did 2 on Thursday, zero on Friday and this week is a who knows what. We have another private on Wednesday and head coach isn't going to be happy when DD has made no progress on her back tuck. This is actually why DD asked to keep doing privates when head coach didn't think it was necessary.

[mae0111]

UGH... the seeding just came out for DD2's memorial day tournament. All of the teams that they normally play against... and lose against... are all seeded in a bracket below DD2's team. So they're going to get destroyed in every game over the weekend. I hope it's a mistake.

I'm so frustrated with this club for so many reasons, but DD2 wants to stay there. Several people have discussed leaving, but I don't know if anyone will follow through.

[sdlaura]

mae0111 I’m impressed that you already got tournament seeding for a few weeks from now! We are lucky to get that info on a Monday or Tuesday before our tournaments start on a Friday. It always feels like DD gets crappy seeding too - but the Memorial Day tournament is hosted by our league, so we end up better placed for that one

[sandandsea]

This is how chill middle school track is. Ds had his first track meet and he knows he won his races and that his school won all three boys grades and 2 of the girls grades but has no idea what time he got or how fast anyone was. So……yay!?!

[erbear]

I texted the coach of the team DD1 was trying out for today to say that she couldn’t come to a 5th tryout practice and to please let us know what they decided either way. I don’t think this was the team for her anyway but I really am not here for finding a different team 😭

That said, a couple of her current (folding) team went to a different club and the coach asked her to come to practice. Who knows at this point how it will work out.

Can I talk about me for a second? I coach the middle school lacrosse team at school — I have never played before but they needed someone and I’m good with kids. The team has not won a game in 4 years. They routinely get beat 10-12 to 0. This year, they have won two games, and lost two by a goal. They got blown out of one game but they are getting so much better!

[librarychica]

erbear, 5 practices?! Seriously, to quote my late grandma, “sh*t or get off the pot.”

Congrats on your lacrosse team’s success!

[librarychica]

DD2 and I were swimming at our Y last night at the same time one of the competitive swim (they have two levels of developmental swim with optional meets and then the more serious competition swim team) were practicing and I have to say, I was very impressed with the coaches. They gave tips to the swimmers (all about high school age I’d guess), instructions and exercises, and no one was yelling.

I have always been kind of hesitant to have my kids in sports. I did swim for a season in high school and it was kind of a terrible experience. I am a strong swimmer and spent a ton of time swimming in rivers and springs as a kid, and my parents taught me freestyle and backstroke, but grew up in a town without a pool and had no experience with competition, so maybe they should not have let me on the team but it was a JV team and our town didn’t have a swimming pool! The girls’ coach yelled constantly and I don’t recall her once giving any tips on how to make the improvements she was yelling about.

Anyway, seeing the coach-kid interaction made me much more comfortable supporting DD2’s interest in the sport. Also her proper strokes are coming along well (I went and got some instruction years later so I do know how to teach the kids now) and with all these practice laps we’ve been doing we are going to both be in better shape by the time June rolls around.

[madringal]

librarychica, I love hearing this. I had a very similar experience on my HS team. I joined thinking "I am a strong swimmer, this will be fun". Having no idea that kids have been swimming competitively since they were 5! My coach was awful, screamed at us all the whole time. I only swam my freshman year.

Now, DH is an assistant coach to my DD1s HS team and I love watching how he engages and interacts with the kids. It's so positive and constructive. Like, no one is scared Coach Rich is going to freak out at them at any moment. What a novelty!

[186momx]

Is it too early to ask the gymnastics gym what summer practice schedule is going to look like? DD is too old for camps, but she is interested in taking a couple classes (language and art). I don't want to sign her up as they run 6 weeks once a week if it is going to conflict with practices.

[waverly]

186momx, I don't think it's too early to ask, but I feel like recently a lot of my politely worded emails are just going unanswered. Hope you have better results than me.

[mae0111]

I'm getting more frustrated by the second with DD2's soccer club. Her coach sent an email yesterday saying that they might have to forfeit their game on Sunday because he has 3 other games scheduled AT THE SAME TIME at a field 45 mins away, and no one will fill in for him (because... MOTHER'S DAY and the game is at 10:15am when everyone is at brunch). I told him I'd coach if he gave me a detailed plan - roster, sub times and positions. I am not winging it with an 18-person roster for a 9v9 game. Indoor was a lot different - much fewer kids, subbing on the fly, so I just tried to time the shifts and keep everyone as equal as possible, shifting positions around.

Then we have a terrible seed for this team for a Memorial Day tournament. This tournament is 90 mins away without holiday traffic, 2-2.5 hrs away with traffic. Luckily it's 20 mins from our beach house, but everyone else is paying $$$ to stay at a hotel with a 2 night minimum. They are going to get killed in every game.

But the other big issue is that, because he's coaching FOUR teams, he has a conflict with literally EVERY SINGLE GAME in the tournament. So it's entirely possible that he doesn't coach ONE GAME for DD2. Instead, he'll have a coach that doesn't know the team, the players, or the positions coaching, and all of the 10/11 year old girls are going to pester and annoy to get in, and they're going to forget to play kids. It's happened before, and it sucks. SO... because I'm an idiot, I offered to coach when needed for that tournament as well.

All of the other coaches will be paid for their time. I will not.

[186momx]

mae0111, that sounds like a load of crap. How can 1 coach be head coach for 4 teams at once? I would not be happy paying all the $$$ for the paid coach to not coach during games because he spread himself to thin.

[mommyatty]

DD had her first practice with her club’s goalie coach, who is also her school’s field hockey coach. She did really well. And she felt so very proud. She had the biggest smile on her face after practice and during her scrimmage. She had a bunch of really solid saves and got lots of pats on her helmet and stick bumps from her teammates and coaches. It feels like she’s finally found her thing.

DS rocked his ninja class last week. There is a cargo net he has to climb across sideways that he has never been willing or able to do that until last week when he did it twice! So exciting!

[mae0111]

Ugh

Dd2 had a club game. She played really well in the first half, and scored the only goal of the half! She played for 15 out of 30 mins in the half, which is about average for her.

She started the second half, and he pulled her after 5 mins for no real reason… and benched her for the rest of the half. He put her back in with 5 mins left, only because someone got hurt. He wasn’t planning to sub her back in. He also pulled their starting GK and put in the 2nd string goalie. She let 3 goals in, so they lost 3-1

Go DD2 has played in 3 games in the past week and a half, her teams have combined to score 2 goals… and she scored both of them. And she’s still sitting on the bench.

My friend is trying to get her pulled up to the next age group so she can play with a better coach with his DD. I think it’s probably the right move for her. This isn’t working. We could find another club, but I just don’t feel like I can add any sort of commute to our lives, and this club is the only one in our town.

[madringal]

186momx, I don't think so. We have had our summer swim practice schedule for about 2 weeks now, for both my high schooler and 8 year old.

[186momx]

Finally got summer schedule and it sucks: Tu/Th/F 3:30-7 DD has such a hard time motivating herself to go to practice when she sits at home all day.

Head coach is out for the next 3 weeks due to surgery, so DD isn't getting her private lessons and OMG she has lost all of her confidence and is beating herself up like crazy after practice. It has only been a week. It just shows me that coaches really do have an effect on how kids learn/handle/perform.