Western Australia

With all apologies to my friend from The Bern, not all Ys are created equal. Charlotte is extremely fortunate in our Ys, we have the two largest in the nation (20K + members each). They have slews of leagues for all levels. Plus, we have a zillion swim leagues city-wide. While the scenery and fresh fish are by far superior in other parts of the state, we have pretty good sports leagues here. That's why we allow our toothless eastern NC, swamp dwellin' state brethren into the city from time to time.

Originally posted by gull80 You may have Dean and Deluca in Charlotte, but we have Billy's Ham and Eggs. I've never understood the allure of D&D. Starbucks has better coffee.

Wow, I don't even have to enter this argument, Gull is fighting the good fight for me.:D True, AAU basketball is similar to USA swimming. My niece is involved in that. However, YMCA basketball around here is nothing like AAU basketball, but the YMCA swim team we have is pretty intense. Where Craig lives, the swim team is not quite as intense, but fairly close. The coaches take it fairly seriously(I was just in a meeting with the coaches two weeks ago, believe me, it is serious). The coaches at the Y-basketball are volunteer parents, donating their time when they can. Not near as intense. And believe me, basketball covers the pages of the newspaper, swimming does not.

You aren't comparing similar programs, just the physical place where the programs are run.

Originally posted by gull80 The point is that kids can play on a basketball team without investing a lot of time and still derive some gratification from the experience (ie scoring some baskets). Swimming does not yield immediate results at any level and requires a substantial amount of time (years) learning technique and developing VO2max. Having spent my first 18 years splitting time between basketball and swimming I can say that in order to be good or stink at both requires the same amount of effort and dedication and produces the same amount of gratification based on effort. My young daughter is in both a developmental swimming and basketball leagues and they consume equal time, and provide equal gratification. I believe the ups and downs of swimming are about the same as the ups and downs of any sport. A six year old making a basket is hard work but so is that same six year old swimming a 25 fly in under 25 seconds. Now, before I have to swim out to gull's island and beat him like he so richly deserves, I do agree VO2Max is unique to swimming because no hoopster would ever engage is such a pointless discussion. Swimmers are smarter, after all.

You may have Dean and Deluca in Charlotte, but we have Billy's Ham and Eggs.

And I believe Billy's has better redeye gravy.

I only wish I could claim early bloomin' helped me with hoops.

Originally posted by Matt S The issue here is what is the minimum commitment for a bunch of kids who want to try the sport and have fun. I think it all depends on where you live and the types of programs available. We are fotunate to have leagues for all levels here in both swimming and basketball. As each level increases in competitiveness, so does the commitment required. Are there different levels of noodling, now that is a question that must be asked.

Matt, that is what I am talking about. Comparing Craig's YMCA basketball and his YMCA swim team is comparable. I am familiar with his Y, and the swim team. The swim team is a Y team only not a USA team. In the Midwest that tends to be a lower keyed team. Focus is on shorter distances at the younger age. This team is a decent team, produces some Y-nat qualifiers, at times can beat our Y, which is the biggest team in some age groups, and seem to have knowledgable coaching. I would bet that the coaching is part-time and not full time though, don't know for sure. So this is Y-basketball and Y-swimming, and I am betting the Y-swimming takes more time.