Originally Posted by Anonymous
Shocked to be kicking off this thread. Re tryouts for any AA team, maybe even more so for teams trying to be...buyer beware...Dad coaches promoting son without comsequences (cheap labor), absentee Directors too busy counting the money, flimsy claims about how many of their players now play in college, immediate conflicts with Town teams, new kids added simply to have a bench that never gets used, 15 minute shifts for first line with quick too minute breaks, loudmouth coaches who take the fun out of playing and replace it with fear of making a mistake and being loudly ripped by a coach, helicopter parents who jump when the coach asks how high (or schedules an out of state game on Easter), ugly uniforms, games you would be embarassed to bring grandparents to, parent child "pep talks" that would make psychologists cringe, a weekly competition for who can bring the more expensive food item for the banquet that goes half eaten (because clearly as lax parents we are well off). All for the low, low price of $3,000 and dragging your entire family to these tournaments for the best 9 weeks of weather that we have in the NE. I expect "its not for you, move on". I've moved on. Happily. Blissfully. Never to look backedly. I suggest you calculate how many summers you have between now and when junior heads off to Podunk on the 1/8th ride he earned for all of his sacrifice, and ask yourself if it is worth it. Is your ego that big, your desire for that car sticker and bragging rights that great? Has this cult turned us all into drones feeding the machine? Wake up. Play town, play school, play hoops, play soccer, take a vacation, take your kids to the beach. You are missing out.


If you were that happily and blissfully content you wouldn't have to bash something you just left. it's not for everyone. I'll give you that. but if your kid really loves it, it's all worth it. It would have been nice to get out of town every weekend as a kid. I actually envy mine. In a good way. our beaches are way overrated anyway.