04/23/24
August 23, 2005
School Teams: Not sure exactly where this writer is going with this but it appears to me they are highlighting something that is pretty cut and dry. Your kid sucks, he's cut....
posted by Stealth_72 to soccer at 08:15 AM - 15 comments
It isn't necesarily that the kids getting cut suck. Like the coach said some players cut could start on other teams. With some fo the girls softball teams around where my daughter played club ball. You could take the girls cut and make a team that might qualify for state. In many cases the JV teams played in the same tournaments as the Varsity and placed higher than many varisites. It sometimes has to do with being in a town or district where there is just a plethora of talent better than the kid even though the kids cut are excellent players.
posted by scottypup at 09:29 AM on August 23, 2005
"I'm probably going to come out again next year. Getting cut hurts pretty bad, but that's what it takes. There's nothing harder than making your high school team." Sounds like the kid who got cut actually has a pretty good perspective for a teenager.
posted by holden at 09:40 AM on August 23, 2005
This is a great read, which is ironic, since Stealth doesn't seem to have been a fan of it. I love this fact: Of the 48 players competing for about 22 spots, only Olsson had been cut the previous year and chosen to return. "Kids who get cut as freshmen almost never come back," said Stan Malm, coach of the junior varsity team. "Nobody wants that pain twice." Sounds like Olsson would make most high school teams on attitude and work ethic alone. I think the trait that keeps him coming back to tryouts will probably be more valuable in his life than the soccer skills he would have developed on the team.
posted by rcade at 10:06 AM on August 23, 2005
This is a very interesting story. In my part of the country there are only a few schools who have to have "tryouts" for sports teams. In many of the smallers schools, its the the other way aound. They are scrambling for kids to play. In fact you'll see kids from larger schools "open enfolling" into smaller schools just for the chance to play. Kids are allowed to enroll into nieghboring schools for a variety of reasons, accedemic or activity wise. nice link.
posted by daddisamm at 11:07 AM on August 23, 2005
Since my school was so small, kids from other schools did exacly as daddisamm said, they played for us. As for Olsson, the rejection must sting, but it will only want him to be even more successful. I am sure with his work ethic by the time he is a senior he will be one of the best. Sometimes you have to fall first before you win. I actually feel bad for the coaches who have to face the kid and parents afterwords and try to explain their choices.
posted by tina at 11:20 AM on August 23, 2005
The rules of the game haven't changed. Expectations have, to a large degree -- people who send their kids to camps and get them in year-round play expect that their kid will make the team. Yeah, I think most people don't consider the soccer camp they sent Junior too only stays in business if plenty of other area kids attend as well. This would seem to be another area where our growing sense of entitlement is a problem (e.g., "I paid $2,000 for soccer camp, who are you to keep my kid off the team?").
posted by yerfatma at 11:54 AM on August 23, 2005
first of all, i think that parents put wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much emphasis on their kids' "athletic careers" It really bothers me that coaches have to "have proof" that junior sucks. This kid however should at least brought on the team as an alternative player because it sounds like he gets what it means to be competetive. Maybe with his size he should try out for goalie.. Just my thoughts
posted by MNJ1193 at 12:32 PM on August 23, 2005
Sounds like he'd be a heckuva a target forward to me.
posted by trox at 02:07 PM on August 23, 2005
He can move...that's what two of my teammates did when they were moved down to JV (not even cut). I think that if he can't make JV, go on and enjoy soccer with some other club team. So much sacrifice...for this. It sucks out the fun.
posted by sangu at 05:18 PM on August 23, 2005
Kid runs a 6.1 40? What, did he walk it? As a terrible offensive lineman in high school, I could at least bring in a 5.4. I went to a high school that didn't cut anyone, so kids (like me) who could just stick it out, made the team. We didn't expect to play, we were just glad to be there. I'm amazed that this kid is working so hard to make the JV. Good for him, but I think at some point, you have to say that camps, personal trainers, and all the money spent probably aren't worth it. I know how great it is to be on a team in high school, and how much that means, but you're not even gunning for the varsity.
posted by Bonkers at 10:09 AM on August 24, 2005
Whoa, that's slow. I was perhaps the slowest runner on our high school lacrosse team and I still pulled a 5.6 on a freshly twisted knee.
posted by yerfatma at 10:47 AM on August 24, 2005
A 6.1? No wonder he can't make the team, that's horrible. Even Stephen Hawking can run the 40 in six flat or less.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:10 PM on August 24, 2005
A 6.1 40 is slower than Paris Hilton taking her SATs. The Arctic Ice shelf moves faster. The Campaign Finance Reform bill is moving faster through Congress. I could go on.
posted by chicobangs at 05:23 PM on August 24, 2005
Just remember, the last thing in Pandora's Box was hope.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 09:38 PM on August 24, 2005
Stealth, there are several kinds of sports reporting, and they're not all editorializing columns. This is a feature that talks about the process of making the team -- and in fact, the author demonstrates quite well that it's not a matter of, "Your kid sucks, he's cut." The rules of the game haven't changed. Expectations have, to a large degree -- people who send their kids to camps and get them in year-round play expect that their kid will make the team. Also, the skill level in some sports has gone up, and the needs of any particular team at any particular time are unique: perhaps this team had a strong field of returners, but needed two midfielders and a goalie, for example. That makes the efforts to quantify cut criteria futile.