Which did you prefer, In-town or Travel?
In-Town
I personally enjoyed intown basketball more than travel basketball in terms of which was more fun. Intown basketball was fun because you were placed on teams with your friends and I would look forward to playing my friends every Saturday. Intown was also a joke and you could fool around with your friends and usually the “A” team players would dominate in the town games. I would get to fool around, have fun, and not have any pressure on me. I just got to go out and play and have the time of my life.
TRAVEL
I loved to compete against other towns and represent Hanover with my friends…There is no feeling like winning the championship as a kid it felt like I was being handed the Lombardi when receiving the plastic trophies every year.
Travel basketball was also very fun but it was more serious. My dad was the coach of the “A” team from 4th grade until 8th grade. We won the championship in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade which was really fun because we would always go out to a restaurant and have a celebration party with the whole team. I definitely had better bonds and friendships with my travel team players because we would practice 3 times a week and play games every weekend. The team kind of became my friend group throughout middle school because we were all so close.
Overall I think that youth sports are so important and all kids should be a part of them even if they don’t want to play seriously when they are older. Even if they don’t like the sport, they will create friendships that they would have never created without youth sports. They also teach you many life lessons that are important early on. I think that youth sports should start to get competitive around 4th grade and you should start having to try out and be placed on teams based on your performance. I know that I had a positive experience with youth sports and I wouldn’t change a thing. I loved youth sports not only in basketball, but I loved playing youth sports in softball, soccer, and lacrosse. All though there were a lot of ups and downs, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without youth sports and I wouldn’t change a thing about my youth sports experience.