Five Positives of Travel Basketball - Corey Westra, GPAC

It’s 6:30am on a Saturday morning and I am in the lobby of the Embassy Suites in Omaha, Nebraska.  After not being able to sleep I grabbed my laptop and headed down to catch up on some work (and social media if I am being honest) and so far two volleyball teams have come and gone from the

breakfast table before the sun has even come up.  At 6:30am on a Saturday already over 30 kids have had breakfast and are ready for their day.  What is this?  Yes, you guessed it the big two words “travel ball”.    Whether it be volleyball or basketball this is the heat of travel season in both sports and Omaha is apparently the Midwest gathering spot this weekend with two rather large tournaments.

Notice I did not say the two “dreaded” words in reference to travel ball.  The truth be told that’s why we are here too.  My son’s fifth grade basketball team is playing here in the Omaha area (Bellevue) as well this weekend.  This is my wife and I’s first year in this “travel ball” system.  We are learning about how this works and what it is all about.  It’s been an interesting couple of months of observations so far.  However, this blog is about the positives and not the negatives of “travel ball”.  Believe me I wrestled with doing this and am very cognizant of rat race it can be, but that can be a focus of future writings.  

I am going to share my casual observations of what good has come from our experiences so far on the road this winter.

1.  My son loves it.  Period. Explanation point even!  This is his journey and not ours.  He loves his teammates and the game of basketball and he is happy playing with these guys.  Let me repeat this is his journey not ours.

2.  Team makes all the difference.  We are lucky, his team is a bunch of great kids.  In all seriousness you couldn’t find a better group of 10-11 year old boys.  Respectful, courteous, and compassionate.  I can tell you this because my son had fears early on before the first tournament and the veterans of the group took him under their wing and walked him through it (not parents, kids helping kids…yes it can and did happen).

3.  Coaching Counts.  I am not talking x’s and o’s here, I am talking coaches as people and humans.  I am also not talking winning here, I am talking the big-picture approach to the game and life.  We are fortunate and have two great coaches that get it.  Our team is focused on leadership (hence the name

Leadership Basketball) and our boys are learning it from two of the best leaders I know.

4.  Family time.  We have about as many little sisters and brothers at games as we do players on the team.  They run around and get along as well as the players on the team do.  For my daughters these travel weekends are not about the games ,but those times spent with friends as gym rats.  For us this includes grandparents as both my wife and I’s parents have not missed a tournament yet.  My brother has come and sister have come to games to support our son, that’s a true blessing.

5.  Win or lose there is always a pool at the hotel.  The games do not matter once they get that swimsuit on and go to the pool at the hotel.  Our job as parents to help them remember that there is always a pool to jump into and forget about anything bad that has happened.  There is probably a metaphor here of “cleansing” but did I mention it’s early in the morning so my brain isn’t fully awake yet.

So it’s now almost 8am and another three teams have come and gone from the breakfast table on a Saturday morning at the hotel.  I guess the Saturday mornings of my youth of sleeping in and watching cartoons are slightly different these days.  That’s probably ok too.  As I shared with my wife last night, “there is just something enjoyable about that sweaty smelly kid with a big smile in your car after a game.” 

Remember it’s your kid’s journey and not yours!

-Corey Westra

Learn more about Corey Westra HERE

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