It isn’t what it was meant to be. Travel sports like AAU, travel soccer, baseball, softball, and volleyball are the perfect example of building specific skill on top of a poor foundation of fundamental skills.
Travel team sports for young, developing players should be about teaching skills, developing game knowledge, and improving function. I see less and less coaching going on with these travel teams and more playing games. Kids are learning to play with poor foundational skill sets.
Granted there are some travel teams that actually spend some quality time on skills development. Good for them! But there are way too many more only focusing on winning the games. They do what they have to by putting kids in positions so the team can win. This doesn’t help the players develop; it just makes the team win.
I have seen top-level junior high and high school basketball players not able to dribble, pass, or shoot a simple layup with their left, or non-dominant, hand. Yet, they are playing 30 to 50 games over the summer with travel sports and never have their limitations addressed.
Travel sports could be a great thing if done in the right context and with intent on improving each athlete’s ability. But, like always, we put playing more games and winning as the top priority.
Here is what I see happening. These kids on travel teams are winning games and developing a false sense of skill level. Then they have to play on a structured school or college program, and their fundamental skills are so limited they fail to meet the success they had on travel teams. This leads to problems, because the player and parents are now wondering why they are not being put in situations to be successful like they did in travel sports.
It all comes back to we want quick fixes, don’t want to work for anything, and expect things to be handed to us when we are unhappy. Sorry! Life doesn’t work that way.
We need to take back our sports and develop our athletes the correct way. I know travel sports are the way to be “seen,” but give me a break. If you can play you will get noticed.
I would much rather take an athlete and limit their off-season game play (still allow them to play, but not as much), and develop their skills to the point they are dangerously serious athletes.
The only way this will ever work is if it is a nationwide effort to change the focus of travel sports to an advanced form of developing athletes.
The response I usually get when I bring this up is, “Kids don’t have to choose to be on a travel team.” That is correct, but the kids that do choose are the ones that we are talking about. These kids lose out on becoming better players, and just because they are on a winning team does not mean they are good.
We are so in love with the flash and the glamour that we have ignored the foundation of improvement and development.
Yours in Speed,
Lee
Great post Lee,
We see this a lot with youth soccer as well. While playing the game can be the best teacher, to an extent, many kids play far too much soccer, thus leaving the skill sets neglected. Then when it comes time to work on skills, it’s now boring because all they want to do is scrimmage, hardly recognizing that there has to be a constant building foundation of the game, movement patterns, strength, agility, etc.
Summer, fall, indoor and spring soccer… all year around kids play. Many just don’t make the time to grow personally/athletically to make that important impact on the future of their game.
We are working through our program to change the face of AAU basketball. We don’t send our 14U on travel tournaments year round. We practice and drill our kids in the fundamentals of offense and defense. They only play in local tournaments. We conduct individual and team workouts. We emphasize academic achievement and good character. For more information here is a recent article from the MD Gazette Newspaper.
Select company is best basketball on offer:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/08112010/silvspo91047_32534.php
Lee,
I really appreciate your passion. I was watching an old school soccer video last night (VHS), I can\’t think of the exact name but it was something like Coever (sp ?) 123 Drills. I think he was an English soccer coach. I was looking for skills to teach my daughters and sons soccer teams. Anyway, he was having kids at the age of 5-6 working on simple ball handling skills. Touching the ball with all parts of the feet. The young kids were performing these drills in a stationary position. Just wonderfully simple ball handling skills that progressed to movement with the older kids, or as skill dictated. The beauty of these simple skills is that they have a progression, and in that progression you see the top
soccer stars using them at various points in the game.
I do not think that parents and or kids realize that the simple skills, executed perfectly, make you good.
I am going to implement these simple ball touch drills today at practice.
Thanks Lee, keep up the good work.
Brad
Hi Lee, I rarely ever comment on things that I read on the web like this , but your letter is so true and to the point that I felt compelled to give you a “shout-out” in agreement. The travel team/club sports opportunities are truly being wasted in more situations than not, and for just the reasons that you listed. Much of this is the fault of coaches with screwed-up priorities, but also parents who really don’t take the time to understand the importance of developing good fundamental skill sets in whatever sport their child may be participating. I don’t know how to correct this problem, but it really is a big problem.
you are so right Lee…I coach both houseleague and select baseball, and my focus is always on proper technique and skill development..as well as sportsmanship, team building, and FUN. Win ?
Yes, we like to win, but we take our losses as winning opportunities for growth. I view such losses as others wins and we take those lessons to our workouts and practices for our betterment.
Youth athletics offers a wonderful opportunity to not only develop sport specific skills but also relevant and important Life skills. Fair? Not always. I tell my athletes that “fair” is a place where livestock competes for ribbons. Not here. “Here” is where we turn kids into thoughtful, helpful, community minded people and better athletes, by hard work and attention to detail.
Good for you for always telling it as it is Lee.
Many coaches should read on and dwell on your words.
I am copying this article into my facebook notes : )
Yours in Sport
Jacy Flynn
http://www.thedragonslair.ca
Ontario
Wow, Well said Lee! Not to mention the lack of coordination developed by playing the same sport all year long.
Well said.
You are so right Lee!! I had this problem 12 yrs ago!!It truly gives kids a false sense of who they are and thier capablities. AAU is a money maker, out of control!!!!
I just got back from the AAU Junior Olympics in Virginia Beach and couldn\’t disagree with you more. My son has been wrestling since the age of 4. He started going on traveling wrestling teams when he entered high school. He learned all his skills, when he was in grade & middle school. In wrestling, any kind of summer wrestling a kid can do, is beneficial to him or her. There are alot of college coaches that attend these events, so it does help to wrestle well at these contests and if you\’re on a winning team, it does help. Maybe wrestling is different than other sports but any time you can get on the mat outside of the season, will help you during y, some win &our season. I strongly encourage kids to join thses teams. Winning and losing is part of the sport world. Don\’t baby athletes.
Great points by everyone. I think what is difficult to do is to seperate personal experiences and look at the big picture. If kids at a young age are winning and but not really getting better it shows up as dysfunction later.
Kim, good for you. You definitely read into my comments what you wanted and didn’t see the big points. I am mainly speaking of young kids not older high school kids who have developed their skills. If kids don’t have a lot of skill and are simply playing in games or matches it is simply for show and have little benefit. It seems as though your son is being taught.
Yes, winning is great. We certainly don’t want to teach them to lose! we should teach our kids to strive to be successful- success doesn’t always mean winning though. You also have to be able to seperate the ages of these athletes you are PUSHING winning on. Young developing kids can be destroyed if winning is the only priority- yet low talent and skill level hasn’t allowed them to win much. Then you have older athletes that SHOULD have had developed their talent and skill with proper training and they should be focused on competing to win and being successful. My concern with your approach is if you don’t win is it always a failure??? Good coaches and parents see the success through all the fog surrounding a loss.
Sounds like you and your son are doing well. Good luck with the college coaches recruiting your son. Oh yeah, hope he has a fun and enjoyable high school career as well.
Like a saying, ” sometimes your best may not be good enough, but players must strive to be at best all the time.” To be your best a player must be introduced to a perfect practice not a perfect game, It is best to practice more and play less otherwise the purpose will eventually be defeated.
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