North Dakota Preps

anyway you put it, travel ball, summer league, team camps, whatever....its nothing but good for a team and they can only improve.  if the kids are serious about being good ball players its all good and no bad

I'm sorry, it's not all good......there's bad in everything.....even travel ball......extra time on the court, working to improve, exposure if you're a kid from a team not on the state radar......that's what's good........parent/kid attitudes and interference seem to be in direct line with the increase in travel teams.......a coach wants their players to get on the court more, most will help them in any way, but how many coaches in a small, dark area in their heart hate traveling teams cuz of a lot of the headaches?  probably more that you think....

luvmy3gbb1wr wrote:I'm sorry, it's not all good......there's bad in everything.....even travel ball......extra time on the court, working to improve, exposure if you're a kid from a team not on the state radar......that's what's good........parent/kid attitudes and interference seem to be in direct line with the increase in travel teams.......a coach wants their players to get on the court more, most will help them in any way, but how many coaches in a small, dark area in their heart hate traveling teams cuz of a lot of the headaches?  probably more that you think....

luv, it sound your pretty salty about traveling teams.  I'm reall sorry for this...  For the most part travel teams are a good thing for the kids, if the parents stay out of the team.  And no, I'm not a coach, and don't want to be on either.  When a team is formed, and the kids get along with each other, and the parents get behind the coach and help him with the kids, how can that be a bad thing...  I've seen travel teams where it's one big family with 9 different families within this unit.  I'm sorry you had a bad experience w/your son/daughters team.  But when parents put aside their pride and let the kids play and the coach coach...  look out, you can have a great thing.  But then again every kid has to want to play and be on the team and not their parents wanting them to play...

You're right there is bad in everything if you look hard enough,... you may even find that needle in the haystack!

HeisAlive wrote:

luvmy3gbb1wr wrote:I'm sorry, it's not all good......there's bad in everything.....even travel ball......extra time on the court, working to improve, exposure if you're a kid from a team not on the state radar......that's what's good........parent/kid attitudes and interference seem to be in direct line with the increase in travel teams.......a coach wants their players to get on the court more, most will help them in any way, but how many coaches in a small, dark area in their heart hate traveling teams cuz of a lot of the headaches?  probably more that you think....

luv, it sound your pretty salty about traveling teams.  I'm reall sorry for this...  For the most part travel teams are a good thing for the kids, if the parents stay out of the team.  And no, I'm not a coach, and don't want to be on either.  When a team is formed, and the kids get along with each other, and the parents get behind the coach and help him with the kids, how can that be a bad thing...  I've seen travel teams where it's one big family with 9 different families within this unit.  I'm sorry you had a bad experience w/your son/daughters team.  But when parents put aside their pride and let the kids play and the coach coach...  look out, you can have a great thing.  But then again every kid has to want to play and be on the team and not their parents wanting them to play...

You're right there is bad in everything if you look hard enough,... you may even find that needle in the haystack!

I think luv looks for the bad in everything... Like I said, get a good coach and parents that will stay out of it and it's the best thing for you.

i don't look for the bad in everything.....geez, do you always overreact to someone's comment.......your view of the travel ball is all good is wrong too......do you coach? have you been on the bad side of it? i have been coaching for 25 years......i love it when kids want to be better and work to get there......i love it when they have chance to do that with a good team and coach.......oh and no, my kids have had great experiences with most of their travel ball......but i'm not going to sit there and deny the truth either........

luvmy3gbb1wr wrote:i don't look for the bad in everything.....geez, do you always overreact to someone's comment.......your view of the travel ball is all good is wrong too......do you coach? have you been on the bad side of it? i have been coaching for 25 years......i love it when kids want to be better and work to get there......i love it when they have chance to do that with a good team and coach.......oh and no, my kids have had great experiences with most of their travel ball......but i'm not going to sit there and deny the truth either........

Nope I haven't been on the bad side because I was fortunate to have a great coach and great teammates. I played from 4th-9th grade and never had one bad experience. I'm not really sure what bad experience you could have, IF, like I said, you have a good coach.

its not usually the coach, there's some, don't get me wrong.......like i said earlier in this blog, i watched a 7th grader tell an excellent coach she was going to do something the traveling coach's way b/c it was better just b/c it came from the traveling coach.......and its the parents............traveling ball parents...........11:00, midnight phone calls cuz little johnny didn't make a certain team, but he was on a traveling team so he has to be better than others, deserves to be.......parent complaining that johnny scored this much on traveling team yet he's not getting the ball enough to show what he can do......scorekeepers can't be doing their job right cuz johnny had this many points/rebs, etc, i was in the stands counting........

When a kid or his parents used to say  "johnny was on a traveling team"  I used to think great, wonderful, major asset........but, especially in the last 5 years, a parent says that, and my first thought is "oh boy, here we go" because it is not a rarity anymore that those parents are going to interfere......

court time is essential, the more the better; practice, hard work, the time put into -----i'm all for it, i'll help all i can.......just leave the attitudes and parents at home

luvmy3gbb1wr wrote:its not usually the coach, there's some, don't get me wrong.......like i said earlier in this blog, i watched a 7th grader tell an excellent coach she was going to do something the traveling coach's way b/c it was better just b/c it came from the traveling coach.......and its the parents............traveling ball parents...........11:00, midnight phone calls cuz little johnny didn't make a certain team, but he was on a traveling team so he has to be better than others, deserves to be.......parent complaining that johnny scored this much on traveling team yet he's not getting the ball enough to show what he can do......scorekeepers can't be doing their job right cuz johnny had this many points/rebs, etc, i was in the stands counting........

When a kid or his parents used to say  "johnny was on a traveling team"  I used to think great, wonderful, major asset........but, especially in the last 5 years, a parent says that, and my first thought is "oh boy, here we go" because it is not a rarity anymore that those parents are going to interfere......

court time is essential, the more the better; practice, hard work, the time put into -----i'm all for it, i'll help all i can.......just leave the attitudes and parents at home

I agree with you on this 100%. But is it the "traveling teams" fault or is it the parents? Parents do that with anything, not just traveling teams. On your point of a 7th grader telling a coach he's going to do it this way cause his coach said. For the most part everything should be the same except for little things. But I'll go to a camp and my coach (who at the camp was Don Meyer who is I think top 5 in career wins at the college level) tells me to jump foward 6 inches when I shoot. I get back home and my high school coach (who happens to be probably one of the top 5 best coaches in the history of ND) tells me to jump straight up and straight down. Who do I listen to, my coach. The coach I play for. I get what you are trying to say but those little adjustments and different styles can be picked up in everything, not just traveling teams.

I was on a traveling team 3-8th grade and my dad was my coach, but as soon as I got to high school when he didn't coach me anymore I knew I had to listen to my coach I have now...especially during a game, I mean when I get home sure I'll ask my dad about certain things I did during the game because usually parents are watching their kids, where as coaches see the whole game and usually not just one player...so I think if you are fortunate to have a parent that knows the game very well all you can do is benefit from it.

play_d_shoot3 wrote:I was on a traveling team 3-8th grade and my dad was my coach, but as soon as I got to high school when he didn't coach me anymore I knew I had to listen to my coach I have now...especially during a game, I mean when I get home sure I'll ask my dad about certain things I did during the game because usually parents are watching their kids, where as coaches see the whole game and usually not just one player...so I think if you are fortunate to have a parent that knows the game very well all you can do is benefit from it.

Amen to that...

I've been on traveling teams where parents are really involved it not cool but travel ball during summer is all in all good and fun I kinda found it more fun because I can try different things and maybe work a whole game on one thing w/ nothing really at stake

I still think Travel Ball only helps players.  They get the attention and exposure needed.  It is sad when "Negative" Parents get involved.  I mean, let the coach, coach his/her team.  I love when parents get involved and rotate "Team Moms/Dads" for the weekend.  The did this in MN when I coached AAU girls.  They bought power-aid or Gator-aid, they provided snacks between games also.  Those are the parents that I love that get involved.

I think playing on a traveling team gives the players a good chance to get to know eachother and to work on their team chemistry. It also keeps kids playing basketball even though it is the offseason. I think travel ball is a very good thing.

I was very thankful my son had a traveling team in grade school and jr. high.  It was a chance for him to play against competition because when his school team played other school teams his team always beat the other teams by 20 - 50 points.  That includes his 9th grade year and JV years too.  He had no school losses for any game he played until this year his senior year.  He and his teammates had little experience learning how to play to come from behind  except through the traveling team experience.  The traveling team experiene helped them learn competitivenss and just not sit back and say we're so good we don't have to work at this.  His school has a seniors play first on Varsity  unless your are a big guy  you get little Varsity experience until you are a senior.  And then people wonder why they win all the time  when they're younger but still can't get out of the first round of regionals most of the time. 

There is a team from Minot from 5th-8th grade they were State Champs... The Dickinson teams can take them tho

BBALL1456 wrote:There is a team from Minot from 5th-8th grade they were State Champs... The Dickinson teams can take them tho

BBALL ...  I've seen this Dickinson team once and that was their 7th grade year.  They beat MInot that game but I've never seen this "Dickinson" team in any other tourneys in Bismarck or anywhere this MInot team has played.    or aren't they enetering any Bismarck/Fargo tourneys...  The Minot team, I know has played over 70 tourney games in the last 2 years.  I know they have several good players and I've seen the one player this past summer, he's a very good 3 shooter, but that's a pretty bold statement since this Dickinson team never played  for the state champs... or did they??

I think theres good and bad like you guys said with the parents, some of them take it way to seriously and think their kid is the next LeBron James when they are 4th graders and they completely go crazy for this stuff. I didnt start playing on traveling teams til' probably 6th grade. I think getting your kids started early is good with sports, but parents shouldnt force them into playing them like some of them do today, the kid should have a choice. My parents have never forced me to play any sport ever, they gave me 2 options. 1. You can go out and play as hard as you can, dont complain and have fun, or 2. You dont have to play at all if you dont want to. I think if a kid is introduced to a sport on his own, by seeing someone else doing it and becoming inspired by it, instead of having a parent show them, then they enjoy it 100 % more because its something that they did, not something they did for their parents. I remember watching games on tv then going out and trying to do what those guys did without having anybody around to tell me what to do. Another thing is that kids should start traveling teams when they are mature enough to tell if they have a future in it. 4th grade is a little rediculous sometimes to be starting up a team already. I didnt start playing AAU til i was a sophomore and its helped me out alot and ive learned alot because i was mature enough to handle the coaching, some kids cant handle that type of pressure early on and then they are miserable when they play a sport the rest of their career and get burnt out. I agree with I.A. too that it provides exposure for kids, especially kids growing up in this state where not too many larger schools look at players, it gets kids out there and exposed and gives them more opportunities.

I think travel ball is a great think for kids. If it's done the right way. I've seen where a team wins a lot of tourney's when they are 4th, 5th or 6th grade level. Then a team that didn't win many or any comes on and wins as 7th and 8th graders. That's because the first team had a kid that was more mature early on and the coach rode that kid to wins. The problem is the coach didn't teach that kid or the other kids the game. And they didn't develope as players. The coach of the second team on the other hand took the time to teach his players the game. It takes a while for them to turn into a team but when they do they go on to have much more success.

teamball wrote:I think travel ball is a great think for kids. If it's done the right way. I've seen where a team wins a lot of tourney's when they are 4th, 5th or 6th grade level. Then a team that didn't win many or any comes on and wins as 7th and 8th graders. That's because the first team had a kid that was more mature early on and the coach rode that kid to wins. The problem is the coach didn't teach that kid or the other kids the game. And they didn't develope as players. The coach of the second team on the other hand took the time to teach his players the game. It takes a while for them to turn into a team but when they do they go on to have much more success.

Agree with that 100%, coaches get so wrapped up in winning, they just feed the ball to the 6'1'' 6th grader, but then as time goes on and that kid doesnt grow and everyone else they used to play against gets bigger and stronger, they cant handle the losing. Thats when it doesnt get fun for kids anymore.

baller01 wrote:

balla45 wrote:Here is my take on traveling teams.  Every underclassmen who plays jv or varsity in the west (freshman and sophomore) played on a traveling team.  Thorton, Govig, and Jacobs were all on the same team along with Deyle and Joliffe who play jv.  The really good kids from Dickinson and that kid from Trinity play on jv or varsity.  All the sophomores from St. Mary's were on the same traveling teams.

Not all of them. Some of them were on the Bismarck Blaze, and some were on my team the Bismarck Tarheels.

For those of you that know the rivals that became over the past 4 years or so, look at the teams. Bismarck Blaze, Bismarck Rimrattlers, Bismarck Tarheels, and the Mandan Bulls. Them were the good 'ol days. Gotta love traveling basketball.

dang right Traveling teams were the best! haha I kinna miss them!

Tu-Big wrote:

teamball wrote:I think travel ball is a great think for kids. If it's done the right way. I've seen where a team wins a lot of tourney's when they are 4th, 5th or 6th grade level. Then a team that didn't win many or any comes on and wins as 7th and 8th graders. That's because the first team had a kid that was more mature early on and the coach rode that kid to wins. The problem is the coach didn't teach that kid or the other kids the game. And they didn't develope as players. The coach of the second team on the other hand took the time to teach his players the game. It takes a while for them to turn into a team but when they do they go on to have much more success.

Agree with that 100%, coaches get so wrapped up in winning, they just feed the ball to the 6'1'' 6th grader, but then as time goes on and that kid doesnt grow and everyone else they used to play against gets bigger and stronger, they cant handle the losing. Thats when it doesnt get fun for kids anymore.

yea there was a kid from Shiloh like that that graduated a year or 2 ago.  in 6th grade he could go out and score 40 if he wanted to but when high school ball came around he saw the court but didnt score at all

baseball wrote:

Tu-Big wrote:

teamball wrote:I think travel ball is a great think for kids. If it's done the right way. I've seen where a team wins a lot of tourney's when they are 4th, 5th or 6th grade level. Then a team that didn't win many or any comes on and wins as 7th and 8th graders. That's because the first team had a kid that was more mature early on and the coach rode that kid to wins. The problem is the coach didn't teach that kid or the other kids the game. And they didn't develope as players. The coach of the second team on the other hand took the time to teach his players the game. It takes a while for them to turn into a team but when they do they go on to have much more success.

Agree with that 100%, coaches get so wrapped up in winning, they just feed the ball to the 6'1'' 6th grader, but then as time goes on and that kid doesnt grow and everyone else they used to play against gets bigger and stronger, they cant handle the losing. Thats when it doesnt get fun for kids anymore.

yea there was a kid from Shiloh like that that graduated a year or 2 ago.  in 6th grade he could go out and score 40 if he wanted to but when high school ball came around he saw the court but didnt score at all

I can't really think of your talking about it is interesting though because I'm sure there is but I can't seem to recall a player who was amazing in 6th grade but sucked in HS at shiloh I would hate to name names for the sake of the player though but I'm thinking of all the players who graduated in the past 2 years I can't think of anyone