NY RANT; BEWARE, GRAMMAR SCHOOL PARENTS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

…I HAVE A RANT TODAY.. After an early morning shooting session this Saturday , I ran into a dad and his daughter who is a 6th grader I asked how was he and his daughter doing. I had not seen them since leaving the Hoop Group. That dad said they were fine and they were on their way to their new team’s game. He explained “I needed to get her on a good team”. I knew right away how this young lady was going to end up in a few years. It’s an only story with new faces. Parents of grammar school kids believing that games and winning matter more than development. Then blame everyone in the end.

The list of kids in grammar school that play AAU grows everyday. The importance of winning games becomes more important daily. There are teams that actually do not share time in grammar school. There are teams traveling across the country to play games. They need competition they say… that’s nonsense. They are teams that force kids to pick a sport. They’re doing this with 10 and 12 year old kids. It’s more proof of how things continue to spiral out of control. Why do parents put up with this you ask? Because of social media and attention. It gives a family some sort of status. As a college coach said “IT’S A SIGN OF HOW CRAZY PARENTS HAVE BECOME”

Make no mistake it’s a parent issue when a kid is in grammar school and is jumping from team to team in 4th, 5th and 6th grade. It’s usually a kid with a little more talent and size than their peers. It’s usually a kid who wants to play with their friends and control the team or have daddy the coach. But one fact I know is this, rarely do the best grammar school players end up as the best players in high school. But try telling a parent this. NOOOO, their kid is different. The same kid who can’t keep a commitment or even show up to training consistently. There is always a catch, they want a special deal, can’t afford to pay, can’t get a ride. Folks the drama starts early and you know exactly who these kids are… the only thing is when they get to high school they try to hide the past…

Instead of teaching kids how to train properly. How to be accountable, how to build a relationship with coaches and teammates, how to respect the game. We have kids changing teams in the middle of a season, repeat in the middle of the season. Not teaching them to fight through adversity or learn not every coach will be a great one. In fact most grammar school coaches at every level are downright bad! This is a perfect excuse often. for kids and parents to move on, dam the other kids, other parents and coaches. We have parents complaining about shots, what position a player plays. These are the parents of kids who underachieve and rarely reach their potential. These kids go to the top high schools often to start (they like the hype) and transfer. They move on to schools that allow them to PLAY FREELY… meaning get stats, big stats and win fake awards from well meaning folks in the media. Then go pay for college or play at the lowest level of college basketball if their lucky. This is clearly a problem and it’s the reason our game continues to slide backwards. What use to be a fun age for sports is now stressful. Now it’s Parents yelling in the stands. Kids crying and most importantly feeling the pressure to perform as a 4th and 5th and 6th grader… IT’S TOTALLY NUTS.

Now do not kid yourself, like everything else. The AAU folks don’t care. They will take a talented player at any time and place. This is never changing, teaching kids right from wrong is outdated. A kid wants to quit a team in the middle of the season, no problem. A kid wants to play on 3 different teams, no problem. A kid wants special treatment, no problem. It’s all part of a new generation of kids who will fail to reach their potential.. and you can’t blame it on COVID THIS TIME.

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