REDEMPTION

After a somewhat unsettled week at the Junior Nationals, the Belles come back huge and beat the undefeated and uncontested number one team in the nation, DFW.

HUGE!!!! The gym was packed and the crowd was stunned.

See the full storyat http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/womens/news/story?id=3508965.

The Toll It Takes

We are going home. After a very physical game against a fast and athletic team out of Ohio, the Belles lost at the buzzer last night.

While these last few weeks in July can be exhilarating, they are more often exhausting and disappointing. By now, players are icing and taping injuries, hoping to hang on long enough to finish out the month, and they and their parents are spent -- emotionally, physically and financially.

Egos abound in these tournaments -- AAU coaches, college coaches, refs, players, parents -- but very few come out unscathed. Adults can (or should be able to) handle this, but it is heartbreaking to watch a teenager learn life lessons this way. This is especially true for the rising seniors, who view this as their last opportunity to be seen by coaches and possibly land a chance to play in college, and even better, get a full-ride to do so.

The pressure on these girls is palpable, and you wonder very often if it is all worth it. We've had this conversation in my house -- when you tell them that at some point everybody has to put the ball down and move on with their life-- but the response is always the same. "We just love to play," they say, so we soldier on. We'll head home today, rest tomorrow, then Haley's back on the plane on Sunday.

My silver lining: I'll get to beat the Friday afternoon DC traffic home.

Mid-Week Grind

Lots of different characters populate these tournaments - players, parents, refs, coaches, and of course, vendors. The presence of big name coaches is what makes this one (and a handful of others) notable. At first, I was a bit mesmerized seeing top 20 coaches walking around, evaluating your kid (and of course many others). But then you see or hear about the same coaches saying or doing things, and their luster is diminished. After all, they are just people -- except that they are playing with the dreams of teenagers.

Their presence will be much more notable tonight, as the teams move into the championship rounds. Of the original 160, only 12 will now advance, so there will be far fewer to watch and evaluate. Although the Belles lost their second game yesterday, they won their first then and their first this morning, so they move on and play a 6 pm game tonight. If they win that, they'll play again at 9 pm. Losers go home, and finals tomorrow.

This is when reality sets in. Cuts, bruises, sore knees and ankles, fatigue and some hurt egos make for a war of attrition.

More later.

Ref School

Ref-in-Training

Why on earth would anyone want to be a ref? You have no friends! And you're only as good as your last call.


You run up and down the court, whistle in mouth (does anybody ever choke on those things?), yelling at players and using all sorts of funky hand signals.


Apparently you can be young or old, male or female, fat or skinny. There are refs who look like they're about to have a stroke, refs who only walk the court, and refs who run like they want to steal the ball and shoot.


And you don't need any intelligence -- since you are always wrong!


I'm happy to report that here at the USJN tournament, the refs have been finally been forced back to school. It's called the Big East Conference Officials Camp. At each game you'll see three refs with numbers pinned to their backs (no, those aren't targets!). All are being watched and evaluated, either as part of conference "continuing education" or in an effort to be qualified to ref in the Big East.


Kathy Ridilla, a veteran from Pittsburgh, has been a ref for 15 years -- the last 8 in the Big East. She comes to these camps just to brush up on her skills and be a part of a big-time basketball event. Why does she ref? "I just love the game," she said. Ridilla played college ball at Duquesne, and then coached for a bit at a small college. When juggling the coaching with her full-time job became too much, she found the outlet she needed in being a referee. Ridilla happily reported that in all her years she has only ejected one fan from a game and no coaches or players. She mustn't have been at some of the games I've been at!!


Day 1 Results : Belles over NY Crystal City Stars, 65-54
Belles over VA James River Blaze, 69-43


Day 2 Schedule: 12 noon vs. NJ Elite, 4:20 vs. NYC Exodus

Travel Day

With Coach Lynch at the Orlando airport (Florida trip).

We left New Jersey at 10 a.m. today hoping to make it to Washington before rush hour. What should have been no more than a 4-hour trip took more than 6 hours with the ridiculous 95 South traffic, but we got here before the worst of rush hour and are settling in.

The nice part about this trip is that we stay just across the river from Georgetown, so there is plenty to do in the downtime (maybe I'll even visit the Newseum!).

Travel is obviously a big part of the AAU commitment. Haley practices in Philadelphia 2 or 3 times a week, a 5 to 6 hour venture each time, if you count the travel time to and from and the 2 hour practice. Thankfully my husband has done most of these trips. Most teams will also do one tournament in the March open period and 3 or 4 during the July period. Sometimes the trips are sponsored and paid for, but more often the players and their families foot the bill. The cost is not insignificant.

Consider my family's July schedule. From July 5 through 8, Kurt (my husband) and Haley were in Orlando for the Disney Junior Showcase. July 9 and 10, Ryan was at Eastern Elite Team Camp at the College of New Jersey, and then from July 11 through 13 in Boston for the Academic All-American Camp. Next he flew to the Hoop Group Classic in Morgantown, W. Va., which ran from July 14 to 16. Seven straight days of basketball. Exhausting!! I met him there for the weekend and couldn't drive him home fast enough (I'll save my post about why I hope to never again set foot in Morgantown for another time). Haley and I are here until Friday, July 25, and Kurt and Ryan leave Wednesday, July 24, for 2 tournaments in Florida, lasting until August 1. In the middle of that, Kurt will drive to South Carolina on July 27 to meet Haley, who'll be playing in the Nike Nationals from July 28 to 31. Then the two of them will drive back to Florida to get Ryan, and all 3 will fly home together on August 1.

What about work, you might ask? Well, there are cell phones, fax machines and computers everywhere and there are 24 hours in a day, so you do what you have to do. On the trip here, I spent close to 3 hours on conference calls, with the help of my assistant/co-pilot/daughter, who took notes during the calls and kept us on course.

And what about the cost? It is a lot. Like all families, we've made choices. We haven't taken anything that resembles a real vacation in years (probably back in the 90s). We have an 85-year-old house that needs a new roof, new windows, some central air (there is none) and a new kitchen (yes, it is the original kitchen, with no dishwasher!). When we add up what we've spent on traveling sports for our kids, we'd probably have enough money to do all that work.

Are we crazy? Yes. Would we do this all over again if we had to? Yes. The kids have shown time and again that this is their dream (not ours) and that they are committed to seeing it through. Plus, when we look around and see what else they could've been doing through their teen years, we'd take this lifestyle anyday.

Girls are off at their NCAA certification meeting, then bedcheck at 10 and up and out at 8 tomorrow morning. First game at 9:30 against the NY Crystal City Stars. Second game at 2:30 against the VA James River Blaze.

Go Belles!

Sharon

Welcome to the U.S. Junior Nationals

Pre-game huddle. Maggie (on the right) is recovering from a

broken nose, so she's wearing the mask.

Haley (in the middle) during warm-ups. Note the Ipods!

Belles out of uniform. Standing (l. to r.), Shakiah, Lexie, Katie, Maggie, Seated (l. to r.) Jess, Charmaine, Dior, Haley, Steph and Dara

Belles on the Bench

The U.S. Junior Nationals, one of the best summer AAU hoop tournaments for high school girls, begins Tuesday, July 22, in Washington D.C. I'll be there with my 15-year-old daughter, Haley Peters, who plays for the Philadelphia Belles 16/17 and under team.

For those of you unfamiliar with the world of traveling sports, here's a short primer. AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball operates outside of high school leagues and in the off season. For example, players on the Belles all play on their high school teams from November through March, and then play together as a travel team from March though July. Because the teams draw from a wider base, they tend to be much more competitive and provide the best exposure for college recruitment. July, and a short period during late March - early April, are "open" Division 1 recruiting periods, which means that under NCAA rules college coaches can watch and evaluate players while they play in sanctioned tournaments.

Playing travel sports requires a huge commitment of time, money and energy from the players and their families. In a later post I'll describe the travel schedule and the other commitments required. For now, though, know that these are players hoping to play Division 1 college ball.




Here's a little about the Junior Nationals tournament. About 160 teams from around the country will be playing, first in pool play and then in championship brackets. This is just in the 16/17 bracket. Many more will be there in the younger age groups. Just as many (if not more) college coaches will be there as well, evaluating players.




And a little about the Belles. The Belles are one of 20 Nike-sponsored elite traveling teams in the country. In late July, the Nike teams play against each other at the Nike Nationals in South Carolina, in what has been called the premier high school girls hoop tournament of the year. The girls on the team come from the Philly area, two are from N.J., and one is from Delaware. All are rising high school seniors, except Haley and Maggie, who are rising juniors. All already have scholarship offers from Division 1 schools, including Virginia, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Duke, Villanova, and others. Most, if not all, were high school All-Americans last year.




We leave tomorrow morning for Washington, and the girls have a mandatory NCAA meeting in the evening. Their first game is Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.




I'll report this week on their progress and at the same time give you a glimpse into the pressure-packed world of high school travel sports.




Go Belles!!









Sharon