...this simple, rough, difficult, complicated, coarse and elegant game.

[JavaMan]

My desire to return to the sideline was answered when I was asked to coach a local girls' varsity team. Pat and I were only a few years removed from raising three daughters, all of whom played multiple sports in high school. Perfect, right?

Wrong! Nothing could have prepared me for how dramatically the landscape of sports had changed in the decade since our youngest daughter graduated from high school.

I arrived on the high school scene to find varsity sports inundated with micromanaging parents who campaigned for their children via email, texts and conversations with any administrator willing to listen. These same parents were ready to run interference at the first hint of a problem, lobby for playing time and coach from the bleachers.

Particularly discouraging were the parents and student-athletes who equated the opportunity of representing one's school at the varsity level as just another activity on a laundry list of activities used to pad the college resume. Seemingly under pressure to do everything, student-athletes hustled out of the gym, stressed and sleep-deprived, yet moving full speed ahead to whatever was next on their schedule.

[LINK] to article.

This is a well written piece that sheds light on the current state of girls high school basketball ...and subsequently the challenges of recruiting college coaches.

 

[meyers7]

It was not unusual for a student-athlete to miss multiple practices or games for non-school sponsored tournaments in another sport.

Not allowed here in MA without a waiver.