New youth bowler

[GeorgiaStroker]

My 11 year old son has signed up to bowl in the youth league this year. I'm more excited about cheering him on and watching him improve than I ever was about my own bowling.

[floridanative772]

Hope he enjoys it and has fun. My son is 8 and played rec basketball last season and it was so much fun watching him play and cheering for him. He is wanting to start bowling too and im gonna sign him up for the youth saturday league too.

[billf]

My 6 year old nephew is signed up for our Sat morning youth league. When told I was one of the coaches he asked to do another league. When asked why he said, "Uncle Bill will make me listen and do it right." What he doesn't realize is he will be treated like all the rest of the kids, meaning he will get away with a lot more than I would normally allow. I want the kids to learn but having fun will always be the priority for me, just behind safety.

I hope everyone enjoys their time. Just try not to be "one of those parents" and push too hard.

[floridanative772]

I know what you mean Bill. I always tried to lift my sons spirits when they lost a game and tell him how good he did. I have seen parents yelling at their children about what they did wrong. Parents don't let their kids have fun and take youth sports way to serious at times. I agree that instilling good values and trying to teach them proper skillls is important but if the kids aren't having fun its pointless.

[billf]

I have always believed in letting the coaches coach and if as a parent I wanted to participate then when it was just me and my child then I would show them stuff. Fun is important. Who wants to practice or work on something that isn't fun? It won't matter how much talent they have, if they don't want to practice they won't improve consistently over the long haul. I use to practice baseball and football drills all the time because I enjoyed it. It sucked that my dad couldn't be bothered to attend but it was better than the parents that would yell and scream at the kids and undermine the coach. Those were the kids that were stars at 10-14 years old but they didn't work at it and lo and behold, none of those kids were good in high school or went on to play in college.

My daughter quit bowling in college. I was disappointed when she quit the team but she quit because it wasn't fun anymore, that they took themselves too serious. She didn't pick a ball up for 4 years. I just talked her into bowling again this year and is doing her first sanctioned league as a regular player. She was surprised how many people, including me, wanted her on their team. As a sub in the spring she missed setting the house record when she couldn't convert the 7-10 split.

[GeorgiaStroker]

Yeah I've seen too many kids lose their desire because of over demanding parents and coaches. I have tried to teach my son a few things but he gets frustrated quickly so I back off. I have noticed when others try to help him he is much more receptive and patient. I guess no boy likes the old man telling him how to do something, I know I didn't anyway. I just want him to have fun and hopefully the coaches will be able to connect with him. I'm looking forward to the time we will be able to bowl together on a league.

[floridanative772]

I'm sure he will have a blast and learn a lot. I learned more from my Saturday youth leaugue when I was a kid than anywhere else.

[serial bowl]

Do they have coaching in all the youth leagues now?

[J Anderson]

Do they have coaching in all the youth leagues now?

I suspect that it depends on the league, and some coaches may be doing more babysitting than real coaching.
The USBC seems to have good intentions toward getting more and better coaches into the youth program. First is the requirement that all coaches be registered with the RVP program, so all coaches will have passed a national background check. The second is the effort of USA Bowling to provide free coaching workshops around the country.

[billf]

And anybody can take the level 1 classes on-line and become a member of RVP (Registered Volunteer Program). One of my worries is I'm the only volunteer registered in my county. That's a lot of kids for one person.