the craziness of youth sports these days

[Sliver]

Skiing or snowboarding are the best, IMO.

First of all, they get outside for, like, 8 hours at a time.

Second, they get a degree of independence without nutcase parents barking at them from the sidelines.

Third, it becomes a family activity. We go on snowboard trips all the time and do it with other families, so they get to enjoy a lot of social activities and situations in an awesome environment. And I'm not talking trips with whichever randos happen to be on the team that year like in so many sports. We go on trips with our real friends who ski/snowboard, so we as adults have fun and get to enjoy our 30s/40s with our actual friends, and our kids have super strong bonds with our friends' kids (we camp in the summer with the same crew).

Neither I nor my wife are wired to sit on the sidelines bored out of our skulls for practices, games, etc. I have two speeds - doing something or laying down. I hate sitting somewhere. Could never do hockey. Hated when my kids were in soccer. Love snowboarding. Love being in the mountains. Love watching the kids get awesome and I love knowing they'll be able to go on ski vacations with their friends through their life, then eventually with their kids.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Just ti throw in my two cents.


I've been coaching amateur football now for about 15 years.

/snip

Thanks CC -- your post reminded me of this video that I saw on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1491571505385246727

My kids aren't in sports (and I'm not sure if they will due to interest), but it's good to hear the perspective from actual coaches.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Skiing or snowboarding are the best, IMO.

First of all, they get outside for, like, 8 hours at a time.

Second, they get a degree of independence without nutcase parents barking at them from the sidelines.

Third, it becomes a family activity. We go on snowboard trips all the time and do it with other families, so they get to enjoy a lot of social activities and situations in an awesome environment. And I'm not talking trips with whichever randos happen to be on the team that year like in so many sports. We go on trips with our real friends who ski/snowboard, so we as adults have fun and get to enjoy our 30s/40s with our actual friends, and our kids have super strong bonds with our friends' kids (we camp in the summer with the same crew).

Neither I nor my wife are wired to sit on the sidelines bored out of our skulls for practices, games, etc. I have two speeds - doing something or laying down. I hate sitting somewhere. Could never do hockey. Hated when my kids were in soccer. Love snowboarding. Love being in the mountains. Love watching the kids get awesome and I love knowing they'll be able to go on ski vacations with their friends through their life, then eventually with their kids.

Outdoor activities and family time are great, can't agree more.

But team sports can be incredible for kids. Remember it's not about your experience watching them, it's about their experience becoming a team, sometimes with "randos". I am also one of those people that believe competition is important for teens, and gaining experience winning and especially losing is important for their development.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Pretty much. I live next to a soccer field and I never see kids playing unsupervised without adults. And that’s not hyperbole - I’ve seen it zero times in 10 years.

I am totally ok with kids not rolling around holding their ankle…

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Outdoor activities and family time are great, can't agree more.

But team sports can be incredible for kids. Remember it's not about your experience watching them, it's about their experience becoming a team, sometimes with "randos". I am also one of those people that believe competition is important for teens, and gaining experience winning and especially losing is important for their development.

You don't need team sports for that, though. I got into mountain bike racing an ski racing, and we all rode together all the time. At races, everyone looked out for each other, on and off the course. They are fundamentally an indivdual sport, but the community is there. I never really enjoyed team sports much, so there are good alternatives to that. Biking is something any kid can do without needing to book a court, have parents involved, and be a money pit.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You don't need team sports for that, though. I got into mountain bike racing an ski racing, and we all rode together all the time. At races, everyone looked out for each other, on and off the course. They are fundamentally an indivdual sport, but the community is there. I never really enjoyed team sports much, so there are good alternatives to that. Biking is something any kid can do without needing to book a court, have parents involved, and be a money pit.

How much is a good downhill mountain bike for racing?

I'm gonna say $2000? Honestly I don't know, but I reckon they ain't cheap.

I think that team sport vs individual sport is an unwinnable argument. Some personalities do well in team set ups, some in individual set ups where the out come is the sole result of their actions.

Activity, that is what is important. Get them active so they remain active throughout their lives.

I love that my 18 yr daughter comes and play shinny with my group (other than her trash talking me).

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

How much is a good downhill mountain bike for racing?

I'm gonna say $2000? Honestly I don't know, but I reckon they ain't cheap.

I think that team sport vs individual sport is an unwinnable argument. Some personalities do well in team set ups, some in individual set ups where the out come is the sole result of their actions.

Activity, that is what is important. Get them active so they remain active throughout their lives.

I love that my 18 yr daughter comes and play shinny with my group (other than her trash talking me).

As someone who has dabbled it a bit in mountain biking and road cycling, I'm not really buying the not a money pit part!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

How much is a good downhill mountain bike for racing?

I'm gonna say $2000? Honestly I don't know, but I reckon they ain't cheap.

I think that team sport vs individual sport is an unwinnable argument. Some personalities do well in team set ups, some in individual set ups where the out come is the sole result of their actions.

Activity, that is what is important. Get them active so they remain active throughout their lives.

I love that my 18 yr daughter comes and play shinny with my group (other than her trash talking me).

We used to mostly race cross country, so they were cheaper. Ya, maybe I was little off on being cheap, but I still use the bike as a commuter that I raced on 25 years ago so it can have good value...

[CaptainCrunch]

I think that for me, one of the biggest issues is and its not all, but some of the parents actions in the stands.



From yelling at opposing players, to yelling at the officials, to even yelling at coaches, I've been abused verbally by parents of other teams.



Now as for parents of our players, I'm not a super social person, I will chat quickly with parents if they need to, if they ask for feedback on their kids, the whole what does he need to do, or why don't you utilize my kid more, right to the why are you teaching my kid not to do what I tell him to do. I used to not mind it, but now I've become very short with them, and stay fact based with them. But I dread seeing a parent walking up to me after a practice or game.



Also at some point, parents need to sit back and learn or understand how much work coaches put into coaching. From the amount of money that we pay to the courses. For me at Bantam, its 2 hours of practice a day 3 to 4 days per week. Probably 5 hours on game day. My Sunday is literally 6 hours of film review, game planning and practice plan building.


Oh and the other thing, parents that want to coach their kids. I've had position coaches that were parents of their kids and I have to constantly supervise them to make sure they're not giving their kids more snaps or more teaching. And also I've had parents that have come to me as coaches asking me to adjust my game plan or schemes to favor their kids. So I don't cotton to that anymore. If I have to choose a position coach between a parent of the kid on that side of the ball, and someone else, I know who I'm taking.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Oh and the other thing, parents that want to coach their kids. I've had position coaches that were parents of their kids and I have to constantly supervise them to make sure they're not giving their kids more snaps or more teaching. And also I've had parents that have come to me as coaches asking me to adjust my game plan or schemes to favor their kids. So I don't cotton to that anymore. If I have to choose a position coach between a parent of the kid on that side of the ball, and someone else, I know who I'm taking.

I have coached my kids tonnes and am looking forward to coachin rugby season.

The trick is to not one on one coach you kid.

Those parents that make changes do "highlight their kid" should be told to sit down from coaching.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You don't need team sports for that, though. I got into mountain bike racing an ski racing, and we all rode together all the time. At races, everyone looked out for each other, on and off the course. They are fundamentally an indivdual sport, but the community is there. I never really enjoyed team sports much, so there are good alternatives to that. Biking is something any kid can do without needing to book a court, have parents involved, and be a money pit.

That is a fantastic activity and a great experience. But I do fundamentally believe team sports are an important experience for most kids. I’m not here to say one is better than the other, but for me, team sports teach a lot of very critical things that will help kids develop.

I’m not just talking about the fitness angle which is obviously important. It’s just that so many things in life require being able to function as part of a group, often in a competitive environment. Those that learn how to do that effectively will have a lot of opportunities available to them.

Team sports like basketball and volleyball are low cost and don’t require hovering parents.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

That is a fantastic activity and a great experience. But I do fundamentally believe team sports are an important experience for most kids. I’m not here to say one is better than the other, but for me, team sports teach a lot of very critical things that will help kids develop.

I’m not just talking about the fitness angle which is obviously important. It’s just that so many things in life require being able to function as part of a group, often in a competitive environment. Those that learn how to do that effectively will have a lot of opportunities available to them.

Team sports like basketball and volleyball are low cost and don’t require hovering parents.

One thing you missed is team sports lets you learn to work with and appreciate (in some cases) those people you don't necessarily like. I mean there are lots of people I work with that think I like them.

[CliffFletcher]

If team sports are so good at building character, why (in my experience) are jocks the biggest ######bags at school? They may have a strong sense of loyalty and teamwork with one another, but that seems to come at the cost of being extremely status-conscious and looking down on those who aren’t in their elite group. I don’t recall dudes who were into cross-country running and wrestling sneering at everyone else and bullying dweebs the way hockey and football players did.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

How much is a good downhill mountain bike for racing?

I'm gonna say $2000? Honestly I don't know, but I reckon they ain't cheap.

I think that team sport vs individual sport is an unwinnable argument. Some personalities do well in team set ups, some in individual set ups where the out come is the sole result of their actions.

Activity, that is what is important. Get them active so they remain active throughout their lives.

I love that my 18 yr daughter comes and play shinny with my group (other than her trash talking me).

I work in a shop that sponsors all types of riders and my boss was a nationally ranked rider. We are talking $5000 to 18000 for a quility bike in trail/enduro bike. 4500 and up is just what the average joe needs to pay for a rec bike. to start.3800 to 20,000,000 for a road bike/gravel/ cyclocross race quality bike.

Quility bikes aren't cheap and this year the average cost for a new bike across the whole price spectrum is 550 to 800 bucks even of nothing changes spec wise.

Company's have cut shops orders up to 70%, pre-orders for some products are over 450 days needed in advance now. The distributors are no longer offering terms for orders and no more free shipping on certain mins like there use to be.

You use to be able to find a decent fully for around 3500 but no more.

You could find a decent ok touring bike for around 1800 bucks but that same bike and level of components are now closer to 2600

Trust me it's not the shops doing it. Everything from start to finish in the process went up. We are just the last guys getting screwed in the line .

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

One thing you missed is team sports lets you learn to work with and appreciate (in some cases) those people you don't necessarily like. I mean there are lots of people I work with that think I like them.

I think that's a N American thing, my high school back in the UK was regularly top 5 in London soccer and I doubt we knew who was on the team, no one gave a tinkers.

I suppose the fact that schools weren't in any way part of the Professional scouting area helped, the teams had already pulled their recruits into academies prior to high school, and there was no collage level above either, you were just a good soccer player at high school but it meant nothing more than that.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

I work in a shop that sponsors all types of riders and my boss was a nationally ranked rider. We are talking $5000 to 18000 for a quility bike in trail/enduro bike. 4500 and up is just what the average joe needs to pay for a rec bike. to start.3800 to 20,000,000 for a road bike/gravel/ cyclocross race quality bike.

Quility bikes aren't cheap and this year the average cost for a new bike across the whole price spectrum is 550 to 800 bucks even of nothing changes spec wise.

Company's have cut shops orders up to 70%, pre-orders for some products are over 450 days needed in advance now. The distributors are no longer offering terms for orders and no more free shipping on certain mins like there use to be.

You use to be able to find a decent fully for around 3500 but no more.

You could find a decent ok touring bike for around 1800 bucks but that same bike and level of components are now closer to 2600

Trust me it's not the shops doing it. Everything from start to finish in the process went up. We are just the last guys getting screwed in the line .

The price of bikes in Vancouver boggles my mind, I picked up a lovely 20 year old Titanium Lemond last year in Seattle for around 1600 and my bike shop called me to say some guy wanted to buy it for 2500 when it was having a new cassette installed, I swear I could make a good living buying second hand bikes in Seattle and selling them to hipsters in Vancouver

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

The price of bikes in Vancouver boggles my mind, I picked up a lovely 20 year old Titanium Lemond last year in Seattle for around 1600 and my bike shop called me to say some guy wanted to buy it for 2500 when it was having a new cassette installed, I swear I could make a good living buying second hand bikes in Seattle and selling them to hipsters in Vancouver

Well it's not just van and Seattle. But you did get that lemon wwway under what it is worth.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

We did some gymnastics with my son before covid and he liked it. We are actually going again this weekend for another round of it. Check out the flip factory.

Oh nice. My son does mini ninjas at the Flip Factory on Saturdays. 145-245pm class

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

Well it's not just van and Seattle. But you did get that lemon wwway under what it is worth.

Up here I'd agree but it was pretty much in the same ballpark as similarly rigged Litespeed's and Lynksey's down there, god its a lovely ride, so happy I scored it

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

If team sports are so good at building character, why (in my experience) are jocks the biggest ######bags at school? They may have a strong sense of loyalty and teamwork with one another, but that seems to come at the cost of being extremely status-conscious and looking down on those who aren’t in their elite group. I don’t recall dudes who were into cross-country running and wrestling sneering at everyone else and bullying dweebs the way hockey and football players did.

Potentially because they are children still developing?

I've met #######s across all "sectors" of society.