Re: Lake braddock girls basketball
Posted by:
interesting, really?
()
Date: January 16, 2013 03:45AM
I am not sure of the points you intend to make, interesting.
Lake Braddock's team and others like it are not very good? The quality of teams vary but the "bigger" outer suburban schools in large metro areas throughout the country have decent, but not necessarily great teams. This was true in the 70's when my outlying Chicago suburban team (and other schools in my conference) traipsed down to the city to get positively clobbered by city teams, and generally speaking, it is true today (although there are Division 1 suburban top talents from time to time). Playing against a team of guys who could dunk with a knee in my throat persuaded me quickly to focus on another sport which I pursued on scholarship at the Division 1 level. I don't think you are pointing out anything new to the sport virtually anywhere. Suburban public teams tend to be decent to good, but not great.
The difference today is the rise of AAU teams. But you think this is a positive? Yes, these teams are great for recruiters and the hype machine, but the AAU experience is far from positive in my view. Playing multiple games in a short time period only encourages lousy, lackluster defensive play, and helps further a star mentality in players which does not help them. It dilutes the high school programs as well and is not compatible with rigorous academic demands, either. And the AAU teams certainly do not help towards a balanced high school experience. It used to be that the high school state tournaments in many states was one of the best athletic and social experiences of the year. AAU ball, and the phenomenon of kids playing at basketball academies has changed all of that. And you cannot persuade me that AAU ball and the over the top basketball academies make for better pro ranks. The number of talents who can truly play at this level is small. They will get the attention and development in any circumstance.
Given this backdrop, I think it is important that boys and girls have a good, in fact, even a great high school team experience. This means a lot of things - including making certain kids learn to cope on their own with issues of coaching, playing time, and team dynamics without running to Mom and Dad (Mom and Dad should only be involved if there are serious conduct issues by the coach). I cringe when I see parents getting involved in coaching matters, as it really doesn't help the kids, who if they intend to get anything from high school sports, should learn to fight their own battles. Any AD worth his salt, though, should put a very mature and together leader in as a varsity basketball coach. The head football coach and basketball coach in a suburban town is, like it or not, an authority figure and a leader of a significan source of local entertainment. I would absolutely expect a varsity coach to be measured by demonstrated maturity and leadership skills. What can the parents do if they don't see this kind of leadership? Not much. One of the hazards of a huge county school system is that the principals and superintendent ranks often don't live in the local high school community. In a small district or town, the pressures on a principal and AD to hire top notch, mature people for basketball and football is much greater - the community is involved. It is, at the end of the day, however, only high school sports.