Tim and hard choices...

gogona · Guru

RE: Tim and hard choices...

supergrover · Guru

apies wrote:
i feel the need to chime in again.

will the same opportunities be available in 2-3 years? sure. but will he lose 2-3 years of development time? YES!

yes, being a big fish in a small pond is great (as a pp said - idr who), but is it pushing him to his full potential? Probably not.

i think my opinion is based on how competitive i am and coming from my experiences as an athlete in hs and college. the kids who played college ball took every opportunity to improve - AAU basketball during the summer, club soccer teams, indoor soccer teams.

are these scenarios for everyone? no. but for someone who wants to push the bar and become his best, the opportunities that come his way will shape him for years.

Not totally disagreeing, especially because it isn't my situation. I'd just toss out that if we were to make a list of all NBA/NCAA players, most went through normal high school. I was just coming from an angle of Timmy already being on the national team, already going to summer and vacation camps, and practicing every weekend as Muffy has already described.

Major prayers Muffy. I don't think there is a right answer.

Cuppycake · Guru

What a difficult decision.

I think he could really benefit by going... Camps are great, and I think you are giving him great exposure, but I have to wonder... if he's this great now (and it looks/sounds like he's pretty much out playing everyone he plays with) how much his game would improve if he were pushed by bigger, better players than who he's playing with now.

Now, I think that Tim's talent is incredible, and real... so, I don't think scouting is really going to be a major problem. People will find him because he's that good. But, if his genuine dream is to make it big, I'd love to see him pushed. And there's really no better way to learn to swim then getting tossed in the deep end, if that makes sense... I wouldn't be worried about him being responsible. I think he's old enough to grasp that if he wants this, he's got to step up in all aspects outside of the game.

I hope talking to him about it makes your decision easier. It's really easy to think about it in the theoretical, but I can't imagine having to really weigh it out. Eek!