If we were starting over with school and community sports, I don’t think basketball would be a school sport. It is a bit of a round peg in a square hole. And this is not easy for me to say, as someone who first coached a team in 1987 and has been involved ever since including some time as President of BC High School Boys Basketball.
The most recent impetus for this post comes from the response I received to a recent post I wrote – Some Different Ideas to Increase School Sports Participation. I had more emails, texts and in-person commentary on this post than any in recent years. And the post came out just as high schools across the province were selecting basketball teams, so that likely led to the basketball-heavy feedback.
So, let’s start with the question why are some sports school sports, some community sports, and some both? The most obvious answer is that because they have always been this way. And what sports fall into what categories in different provinces (or more broadly across North America) is not the same. And increasingly most former school sports are at least as popular in the community. Another good answer on which sports fall into which category is based on who owns the facilities. Schools in British Columbia have gyms – so gym sports are often school sports. Schools in British Columbia do not have ice rinks or pools, so ice and water sports are often community sports.
This is quite simple, but I want to come back to the title – the problem with basketball.
Basketball popularity has been booming in Canada. It is 3rd behind hockey and soccer in participation for 3 to 17 year-olds.
Young boys and girls start playing basketball starting about 5 years of age. By the time they are 12 or 13 there are various club program, travel teams and other opportunities to play basketball. When students show up in grade 8, in some schools several dozen boys or girls will have played a number of years of community basketball – often on teams described as “Elite” or “Rep” or otherwise denoted with some special status. And these players will show up at tryouts – sometimes more than 100 in the gym, and 15 will make the team and 85 will be told they are not on the team.
And even that team of 15 is really big. Only 5 players play at a time in basketball, so 2/3 of the team will always be off the court. And the coach of the grade 8 team, is now often an older student or a parent or well-meaning community member sometimes without deep training or experience. Basketball is a great game but just imagine the ongoing tension of a sport where 100 kids want to play, 15 make the team, 5 play at a time, and really often only 2 or 3 regularly touch the ball. And the coach has limited skills and experience.
Well is this really different from the way it has always been? I would say yes. What is different is that kids are playing a lot of basketball at a young age. In the past when kids showed up at grade 8, if you didn’t make the team, it was not as though you had ever invested any time in the sport, now you have. You may have played 7 or 8 years and are not making the team. This is a huge shift. When I showed up for tryouts in grade 8, yes a lot of boys did not make the team – but most of them had barely been exposed to basketball – they had not quit other activities to focus on basketball, and really, they didn’t actually play basketball so not making the basketball team was no big deal. Basketball was not the 3rd most popular sport in Canada then so didn’t need the infrastructure to support it.
And schools values have changed? Again, I would say yes. I know people worry we don’t have competition for young people anymore and they have to learn to deal with failure. But we also know that students being connected to their school is a really positive thing – whether it be a club or a team. And the thing about high school basketball is, if you get cut, it is not like community sports where you go to the next tier down, you stop playing. There are not many places in school this happens. Yes, the school musical has an audition – but almost all the kids who want to be involved usually get a small role or help as part of the crew. Yes, student council has elections, but they non-elected executive are usually still part of the larger council. Yes, some classes have criteria – but if you don’t get into Honours Chemistry, you still get into Chemistry, you are not shut-out completely. Yes, other teams have tryouts – but actually most sports are very inclusive and can take everyone. Whether it is swimming, track, cross-country, wrestling or football, these sports find places for almost everyone who is interested. Volleyball would be in the same place at basketball on this issue.
Other than basketball and a few other sports – name other experiences in high school that if you want to do X and you don’t qualify for the top tier you are completely shut out from X? I think the list is very short.
And before you use “but Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team and he turned out just fine” story, that is only partly accurate. As a grade 10 he didn’t make the Senior Team but he did play Junior Varsity that year. I think the Michael Jordan got cut story, actually helps make the point for a different system. Our system which narrows the number of participants is also doing so just as many are starting to grow. Some grade 8’s will be 12 inches taller before they stop growing.
Basketball Should Be Like Soccer. If basketball was structured as primarily a community based sport with different tiers and where when you signed-up you knew you would get to play, it would be so much better. Community organizations could ensure coaches were certified and adopt a common philosophy. And you could still have elite programs as soccer does. And you could still have school programs as soccer does.
I was struck by the disappointment and anguish from parents in the responses to my post on school sports. And it is something I see every year as a parent and coach. Kids love basketball. But schools have limited resources – with gyms and coaches. Schools are not the answer to provide 5 teams for grade 8s, this should be done by the community.
The problem is we are trying to fix a plane that is already in the air. Club programs have come in to supplement and at times compete with high school programs. These programs are a mix of non-profit and for-profit ventures with limited oversight. Parents are left to shop around blindly for opportunities for their children and too often kids don’t make a grade 8 basketball team and their basketball career is over. We are going from hundreds of grade 7s playing in the community and the numbers dramatically dropping in grade 8 as there are scarcity of spots on high school teams.
If I had a magic wand – basketball would be a primarily community based sport. The programs offered would be non-profit, with all coaches requiring certification. There would be paid coaches heading up coaching staffs of well trained parents and other community volunteers. Teams would have a maximum of 10 players. At younger ages the kids would play 3×3 to maximize touches on the ball and this would transition to 5×5 by upper elementary school. There would be tiers, maybe based on age and gender, maybe not. And yes school basketball would still exist as there is something about school sports that is special. But there would always be a place in the community for those wanting to play basketball. And there would be a universal facility / field sharing arrangements between all schools and local communities so communities could easily get into the gyms, and schools could easily access the fields.
If we started over, the primary focus of school sports would be those which are largely fully inclusive – if you want to participate you can. The focus of community sports would be these team sports that allow for tiers and levels that keep all interested young people involved. Knowing this is not possible, we continue to muddle forward, with basketball – the fastest growing game in Canada with a development and participation structure that is really quite a mess.
Of course, maybe I am wrong. Love to hear what you think.
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