I enjoyed reading your article. The travel teams can be successful. In addition, a coach must make sure those same kids play on the same team throughout the year. I coached high school for three years at a high school. All the players for the upcoming season participated. My players and team got better over a summer worth of travel ball. We also practiced three times a week. If you want to be good as a team, you have to play during the offseason.
Thank you for the response. Playing for your high school summer team is totally different than playing for a travel team at 8, 9, and 10. I understand your point with your high school team, but it also discourages them from being 2 or 3 sport athletes as well. High school sports were not developed to be a job year round. Kids should be aloud to choose what sports they want to practice in the summer when they have time off from school. I was a high school coach for 17 years and never required my players to be part of a summer team for the school. We also had great success in the programs I coached without that summer practice time together. Good coaches can bring that talent out during the allotted time given through the state athletic associations. You don’t have to play as a team during the off-season, one has to work on the fundamentals of the game they are weak in. That usually can’t be done in a game setting. Thanks again for your comments.
HI Dr. Simmermacher
I enjoyed reading your article. The travel teams can be successful. In addition, a coach must make sure those same kids play on the same team throughout the year. I coached high school for three years at a high school. All the players for the upcoming season participated. My players and team got better over a summer worth of travel ball. We also practiced three times a week. If you want to be good as a team, you have to play during the offseason.
Shawn,
Thank you for the response. Playing for your high school summer team is totally different than playing for a travel team at 8, 9, and 10. I understand your point with your high school team, but it also discourages them from being 2 or 3 sport athletes as well. High school sports were not developed to be a job year round. Kids should be aloud to choose what sports they want to practice in the summer when they have time off from school. I was a high school coach for 17 years and never required my players to be part of a summer team for the school. We also had great success in the programs I coached without that summer practice time together. Good coaches can bring that talent out during the allotted time given through the state athletic associations. You don’t have to play as a team during the off-season, one has to work on the fundamentals of the game they are weak in. That usually can’t be done in a game setting. Thanks again for your comments.