Important question re: Kids and Camps

[Daddo]

My daughter's 9, and has expressed a lot of interest in participating in Coach Stein's basketball camp this summer. She's not real mature physically yet, and has a little bit of trouble just getting the ball thrown up hard enough to get it over the rim sometimes. On the other hand, she "sees the game" better than the other kids her age (including the boys) as far as moving in space without the ball, and playing defense. She really has a head for the game.
Is 9 too young for a camp? Should we just shoot around in the park like we've been doing? Or is it a good thing to give her a head start? She's at least 3 years away from varsity hoops being offered at school.
I'd love to give her this kind of opportunity if she's ready for it...I always wanted to play ball and since my family moved a lot and my folks weren't really into sports I didn't get to play ball. I'm not going to push my kid, but she REALLY wants to play ball.
So what do y'all think? How young is "too young" for serious basketball training?
By the way, a friend of the family is one of the MU players so there WILL be someone we know at this camp rather than just a bunch of strangers.

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Fight, Tigers!

[RaiderPower1]

Go for it! As a young boy, I never thought that I would like playing basketball. When I finally developed a liking of actually playing competitively, it was too late to get serious about it. Don't push just encourage!

[TXSNOS]

As long as it's something she really wants to do, I say go for it. I don't know how they run these camps, but it would be good if they had one for her age group.

TXSNOS

[Daddo]

"Wants to do" is becoming an interesting aspect of all this. I'm frankly worried about the whole thing...I wanted SO badly to be a ballplayer as a kid, and I have to constantly check myself to make sure I'm not pushing her into this, or that she's just playing ball to please me. We shot around yesterday down at the playground and it's becoming obvious that she's really passionate about the game. She's developed a nice little "mentor" relationship with our friend at Mizzou and she also has the type of personality that could be described as "dogged" (a gift from her mom, not me!) She has a learning disability, basically you could describe it in complicated terms but for all intents and purposes she's dyslexic; and she has fought like crazy to learn to read. Every teacher she's encountered is amazed at the effort and discipline she's put into learning to read, and said she's going to be "a leader" whatever she decides to do. I've been around sports enough to know that's the kind of personality that makes for a great ballplayer, and it's not something any coach can put in you...only God can. You got it, or you don't, and I think she does.
The other think I need to look out for is to keep her brother who isn't much of an athlete from feeling left out in all of this. The kids love one another and are really devoted to each other, which is pretty remarkable given their ages. Isn't that weird? My brother and sister and I fought like demons at that age! She beat him at one-on-one (he's 2 years older and the tallest kid in his class) and was a good sport about it...I'd have been throwing things and cussin' if my little sister had beaten me like that!
Thanks all for the advice and any future advice on the topic.


Originally posted by TXSNOS:
As long as it's something she really wants to do, I say go for it. I don't know how they run these camps, but it would be good if they had one for her age group.

TXSNOS



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Fight, Tigers!

[swok34]

I think OU's camps are broken down into age groups, I would suspect Missouri's are also broken down like that, and I think it would be great to see your daughter pursue something she seems to love.

How wonderful her spirit in learning to read...... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[cycofan]

Daddo, I remember vividly going to a camp at a community college when I was 7. I was the youngest kid there, and at one point, the coach had me shooting shots with a folding chair playing defense in front of me.

It was a great experience for me, and playing with the older kids motivated me to want to get better.

[TRH]

Both of my daughters have been going to the UT camp for years. The youngest one started when she was 8 years old. It has been a great experience for both of them.

Groups are divided by age, and the older girls somewhat also by skill level. The younger they are the more time they spend on basic skills.

The coaches and players have always been excellent in their ability to work with everyone, without regard to age or skills, toward both enjoying camp and improving their game.