Summer Summary & Fall Footnotes

Greetings -

It's back to school time again - and that means it is time to reflect on another Summer of fun in the sun and to preview what the Fall might have in store for our young athletes (and their parents.)

Our Summer was a combination of baseball, golf and swimming (often times back-to-back where the cell phone was the only real connection between us) - no time for sleep-away camps at our place. The first part of the summer was the final leg of the baseball season - we finished up with a tournament outside of Houston that was a lot of fun. This season was our first in the select baseball world - and it was quite eye-opening in many different ways. He really enjoyed the season, learned a ton and really developed as a player. The travel was also quite fun (Louisiana, Oklahoma, Houston a couple of times.) If done right, this can be a good deal for the player and the family. I will advise that the 'done right' element is a very tricky thing to capture. The level of competition, the skill of the player, the mindset of the parents and the team as well as the coaching are the high-level moving parts that must be in synch prior to the season in order for things to go smoothly. There are some nutbars out there - watch out.

The most consistent part of my son's Summer was golf. He played in all of the Austin junior tournaments and played 4 or 5 days a week (you could say he caught the golf bug, no doubt.) It is kind of cool to have them be old enough to where you can drop them off at Muny in the morning - give him enough money to eat lunch with but not so much he loses it playing wolf (yes, they gamble just like we do on the links) - and then pick them up in the afternoon. If yours haven't gotten involved with golf - I would encourage you to get them started. It is a game that they can pursue throughout their lives and it is a lot of fun. Frustrating at times, but fun. I will own up here that my son beat me in a round of golf for the first time (the little mullet shot a 79 at La Cantera) - I actually predicted this year would be the year.

With the start of school comes a shift in the sports gears - we are now mostly about football. Middle school football. After 4 years of tackle football in Pop Warner - where the coach/player ratio was around 1/3 - we are now venturing into the 1/25 world of football. The coaches have the impossible task of teaching fundamentals - they have their hands full just trying to put in some base plays. It is somewhat ironic given how popular football is in general, and particularly in Texas at the high school level, that we will effectively take a significant step backwards in terms of skill development for the next two years. Hopefully their passion for the game won't slip into apathy along the way.....

We will look in more detail at fun sports stuff to do/watch in the Fall in the next post. Any thoughts welcomed.

It would be great to hear any sporty stories from to your Summer.

Have fun.
Play hard.
Be safe.

Youth Sports & Parents

This is a topic that is sure to illicit an opinion from just about anyone who has a youth athlete or has otherwise been involved with kids and sports.

I have experienced and observed quite a wide range of parental involvement and behavior with youth sports. Let me start by saying that I have been extensively involved as a coach and as a father - and I can get excited (sometimes too much,) try to win as much as the next guy while having fun and generally try to get my son and any team I have coached to put their best effort on the field when they play. If they win, great - if they don't, then as long as they have prepared to the best of their ability and left it on the field, then they can keep their heads-up.

Most of the craziness I see from parents is with a huge disconnect between the actual abilities of the team, their child and the level of competition and ultimately what life lessons we should be teaching our children through sports: hard work, team work, preparation and resilience are the background for success is most any endeavor in life - sports, academics, work......

Everything rarely goes exactly according to plan in sports, school, work and life. The ability to absorb the setbacks and rise to the challenges is what ultimately determines success. If you aren't making the grades in school - do you think grabbing the math teacher in the hallway and demanding that she explain why your kid isn't performing at the level that you think they should be is going to get the desired result? Or perhaps looking honestly at what is most challenging about the class and addressing those issues might eventually bring about the desired result?

It really is unbelievable to listen/watch some parents and see how much of themselves they have tied to the individual success of their child in a sport and usually the actual winning itself. Don't get me wrong - I coach to win the games we are playing. But I try to make sure the team understands that the work and effort that lead into the contest are where you determine your success on the field.

This is really the first year that I haven't coached most all of my son's teams - so maybe I am just seeing everything from a different perspective on the other side of the fence. But I continue to be amazed at how stupid some adults continue to behave and wonder what kind of example they are setting for their own little prodigy.

Have fun.
Play hard.
Keep your mouth shut ;>

Summer Sports Fun in ATX

I am interested to hear thoughts on summer plans for those too young to have a summer job and too old to be in day care.

We haven't been into the sleep-away camp thing so far. I'm not sure if it is a function of being an only child or what, but shipping my kid off for 2 or 3 weeks to have some bong-toking teenagers look after them in Arkansas doesn't really appeal. I know there are some sports-centric camps and probably some high quality (and expensive) camps that the kids really do enjoy - but I am going to avoid these as long as we can.

So what to do? We go back and forth between the desire to have him stay active without over-doing the fact that summer should be as fun as possible. We aren't too big on the 2+ week vacation thing, either. Part of what makes sense is going to be a function of what they are interested in - and what sports are appropriate for the summer. It is also a fact that as they get older (we are moving from 6th to 7th grade this summer) - the sports options and interests they have can narrow quickly.

Our plan is to finish our baseball season - probably some time in early July. We have several tournaments booked through the end of June and what we do from there will be a function of how we fare in those tournaments. If your athlete is in a rec league - the option of all-star baseball will provide a similar schedule.

This will also be a big summer for golf. My son has a tremendous passion for golf and could be perfectly happy being dropped off at the course every single day (I love that kid.) After playing in several local tournaments last year, he plans to compete in 7-10 local and regional tournaments this summer. If your prodigy has any developing interest in golf, tournament play cannot begin too soon (ok, maybe it can - but around 10-12 yrs old is when they start to get after it.) You won't show up at our high school throwing out a 90 and hoping to make the team.

We are also thinking about a summer fitness/conditioning program that will be a good routine for all sports - but won't limit his ability to play golf or baseball. This will lead into being ready to go for the start of football season - I think middle school ball probably hits the ground running fairly quickly.

We may throw in a couple of sports camps, fishing trips and XBox tournaments at the house to round out a summer of fun. I am also looking into 7 man football leagues (any insight appreciated) to get them ramped up for the fall season.

Have fun.
Be safe.
Play hard.