This is so true & it transcends basketball & is true with all youth sports in this country.

I agree with him. The lack of development of fundamentals in the younger ages is painfully obvious.

It’s not just that. Jr High and High school coaching are really bad, particularly in the inner cities. Players are complaining to their parents at halftime about playing time. And you can bet a bunch of these coaches are just not going to rock the boat with the little money they make.

Geno hit the nail on the head. He usually does.

Youth sports devolved from a fun activity for kids into a money making industry for adults. Team practices & development turned into private instruction & tournaments. Affordable outlets for all turned into tremendously expensive investments for a few.

After having a couple of kids go through it, & if some have young kids & believe they have to play “competitive” to play hs, I’d certainly recommend steering clear as long as possible.

Having coached youth basketball, I'm talking like 11 and 12 year olds, in church league. I can say that teaching them 2-3 zone principles, how to properly pick and roll, and how to drop step in the post will just have them blowing out all their opponents, such a deep lack of team fundamentals at the most basic level of the game.

(03-27-2024 09:37 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Youth sports devolved from a fun activity for kids into a money making industry for adults. Team practices & development turned into private instruction & then tournaments. Affordable outlets for all have turned into tremendously expensive investments for a few.

After having a couple of kids go through it, & if some have young kids & believe they have to play “competitive” to play hs, I’d certainly recommend steering clear as long as possible.

$8 billion industry. The director of the soccer club my kids used to play at makes $250k a year.

(03-27-2024 10:07 AM)Clawson Wrote:  Having coached youth basketball, I'm talking like 11 and 12 year olds, in church league. I can say that teaching them 2-3 zone principles, how to properly pick and roll, and how to drop step in the post will just have them blowing out all their opponents, such a deep lack of team fundamentals at the most basic level of the game.

Every player over 6-8 should learn the basic hook shot in the post. It’s mind boggling hardly anyone shoots it now. Same with using the glass from the side. But some smart ass analyst always says “did he call bank” every time someone does. Like Woody Harrelson said “they’d rather look good and lose”. It’s all about the “skreet cred”. We even have a poster here that preaches it

Careful Geno. Millennials will call you old, then tell you to eat your pudding and go to bed.

(03-28-2024 09:24 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  Careful Geno. Millennials will call you old, then tell you to eat your pudding and go to bed.

Nah, I reserve that for posters who do not understand sarcasm and then go on a rant about youth and the wussifcation of young people and blah blah blah.

One of the best to ever coach talking about the current state of skills and development in youth athletics has my respect and ear. The poster yelling at kids to get off his lawn, not so much...

(03-28-2024 09:49 AM)SeñorTiger Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 09:24 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  Careful Geno. Millennials will call you old, then tell you to eat your pudding and go to bed.

Nah, I reserve that for posters who do not understand sarcasm and then go on a rant about youth and the wussifcation of young people and blah blah blah.

One of the best to ever coach talking about the current state of skills and development in youth athletics has my respect and ear. The poster yelling at kids to get off his lawn, not so much...

lol - I get it.
Each generation has to be careful about drawing the lines.

The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

I talked to an NBA assistnt coch from Ukraine, he explained why Eurpean players are excelling and why soon over half of the players would be European trained.

they are serious about player development over there , we are not

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

My daughter attended a volleyball camp from a former D1 volleyball player. She talked about how they didn't realize she was good at volleyball until high school as she continued to get taller. She said she felt sorry for a lot of the girls playing volleyball so young, because they're in middle school and spending thousands of dollars on club volleyball. Incredibly stressful high pressure situation for these middle-schoolers, and most of them won't play at the D1 level.

(03-28-2024 01:34 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

We got Hurd and Cowboy

(03-28-2024 01:34 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

In soccer down here, all the HS teams are coached by people employed at the various clubs. So you do have to play competitively to play HS.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

(03-29-2024 09:44 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:34 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

We got Hurd and Cowboy

Isn't Kam Jones a Hurd product?

(03-29-2024 11:56 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(03-29-2024 09:44 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:34 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

We got Hurd and Cowboy

Isn't Kam Jones a Hurd product?

I think so. Hurd is basically the only game in town now. He’s got the Jason and John platform every week

(03-29-2024 11:13 PM)fsquid Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:34 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 10:31 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  The biggest problem are the parents. And until they change nothing is going to matter

its a chicken & egg dilemma. The parents are feeling pressure to put their kids into competitive sports because they’re often told they have no shot to play HS sports unless they play youth at a high level.
Very few communities have viable rec leagues where kids can learn the game & compete. We had park commission baseball. Winning the league meant city tournaments & playing for a shot a being a legitimate city champ. These kids play for plastic trophies & a different tournament every weekend. Its meaningless.

In soccer down here, all the HS teams are coached by people employed at the various clubs. So you do have to play competitively to play HS.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

The same is true with baseball. The high schools hold camps and encourage the parents of the more talented kids to find competitive programs, if they have not already, to place their kids. Once they make it to HS & tryout, they are required to fill out what amounts to a resume. The reality is the team is largely determined before the tryouts take place. My kids were fortunate enough to be on the right side, but the reality is not a single kid from a “rec” league earned a roster spot on one of the better programs in the area.