I have started to keep my son's stats when I can remember to bring something in to write them down with. I don't share them with anyone, don't bring them up to the coaches and really don't care what people think about me doing it. Just something I like to do and it is fun to look back from time to time to see what he has done.

 

Just wondering.... have you ever been to a professional baseball game and taken notice of all the folks there keeping the books on the game? I think it is cool, especially when folks get into something and care enough to follow it with that passion.:thumb:

 

I try to get to a game or two each year at GABP with a friend; usually a "special" game - opening day, etc. Went to Old Comiskey with him the final weekend of baseball there; last game at Riverfront, first game at GABP, etc.

 

The guy ALWAYS scores the game. He's got a collection of scorebooks from all the games he's been to - even minor league games.

 

I'm divided - does it take away from attention to the game, or, as is the case with my friend, does it add to enjoying the game? I'd be afraid of missing something.

I haven't kept stats., but I wish I knew them. Some parents may be uncomfortable asking the coach for stats, as they may think they would be under suspicion of only following their child or otherwise interfering. All you can usually find in the newspaper is points, which promotes the scoring mentality, and occasionally some mention of rebounds. But other things are interesting and helpful in understanding how players are contributing...FG%, FT%, rebounds, steals, turnovers.

I had 2 that played several years ago. I suggest that you wait till shortly after the season is over and ask the coach to use the game tapes to copy. He shouldn't mind that. I taped a few games myself but it's not worth it , you can't watch and tape.I even taped the tv news highlights and put them on the game tapes. Also a few pre-game warm-ups where the kids were doing their dunks before the refs came out. I'm glad I did that now, the grandkids have watched them a few times. If your doing it for college coaches, pick the games that were played against other good teams , and don't send "highlights". They would rather see full games. ( they can fast foward).

A family member kept stats to keep occupied when nervous for his son and to keep from yelling at the refs. Had nothing to do with the coach or playing time. Coaches who are doing a good job shouldn't worry that stat keeping has anything to do with them.

Every team keeps their own stats. What is the parent going to do with this other set of stats? It is a needless activity and shows something about the parent, like "I have a chip on my shoulder", "My son/daughter is being mistreated", "My son/daughter is better than people really know". I'm sure every parent can come up with a rebound or assist that may have been missed, but if you do , so what? What do you do with that extra assist or rebound? I guess just file it away and become more disgruntled.

 

I have to agree with you 100% I have seen this in our gym and I think it is so funny when this is happening. What is this teaching their child about teamwork? Not much except the game is about me, me, me.

When my child was in the Middle School, she was not a great scorer and after every game she felt like she did not contribute anything to the team. Her Grandfather started keeping her stats to show her that there were other contributions to the team.

 

Even today he keeps them and she loves to get feedback on her rebounds and assists ( and turnovers)

 

I think it is great, too much emphasis on scoring so it is nice that other stats matter

 

This is a great point. There is so much emphasis placed on scoring that it is important to show the other aspects of the game. Unfortunately people that don't understand the game think that scoring is the only meaningful part of the game.

One should not assume that keeping individual stats is going against the team concept when in fact it helps to place emphasis on the non scoring part of being a good team contributor.

This is a great point. There is so much emphasis placed on scoring that it is important to show the other aspects of the game. Unfortunately people that don't understand the game think that scoring is the only meaningful part of the game.

One should not assume that keeping individual stats is going against the team concept when in fact it helps to place emphasis on the non scoring part of being a good team contributor.

 

Another point is that in Fresh and JV games usually no stats are kept other than points so it is really good feedback to those kids.

 

Another stat that my child likes to know is how many points did the girl she was guarding score...She thinks this is an important indicator of how good of defense she played.

 

Her idea of a good game is if her assigned person did not score!

This is a great point. There is so much emphasis placed on scoring that it is important to show the other aspects of the game. Unfortunately people that don't understand the game think that scoring is the only meaningful part of the game.

One should not assume that keeping individual stats is going against the team concept when in fact it helps to place emphasis on the non scoring part of being a good team contributor.

 

This is very important. There are so many things that a player can add to his or her team that do not involve them actually putting the shot in the basket. It could be stepping into the passing lanes consistently, hedging picks, making awesome outlet passes to set up a break, alter a shot, etc etc.

 

If you are at the game and you know the game then you will truly understand that keeping scoring averages are just part of the stats.

Every team keeps their own stats. What is the parent going to do with this other set of stats? It is a needless activity and shows something about the parent, like "I have a chip on my shoulder", "My son/daughter is being mistreated", "My son/daughter is better than people really know". I'm sure every parent can come up with a rebound or assist that may have been missed, but if you do , so what? What do you do with that extra assist or rebound? I guess just file it away and become more disgruntled.

Don't disagree that this could be the case with many, but I do know a parent that kept book in the stands in order to stay more calm during the game. It kept her from yelling at the refs as much. Her son is now graduated and when she comes to the high school games she still keeps her own book. It helps her enjoy the game more.

Another stat that my child likes to know is how many points did the girl she was guarding score...She thinks this is an important indicator of how good of defense she played.

 

Her idea of a good game is if her assigned person did not score!

 

 

This is a good one!

What is this teaching their child about teamwork? Not much except the game is about me, me, me.

 

I think it is teaching a child a lot about teamwork. A child who doesn't score very many points may be learning from these stats that they still making an improtant contribution by rebounding, assists, steals, etc.

If that is the arguement then why keep individual points in a game. Why not just keep points in the books as a team. I do know some coaches who do not like to be bothered looking up everybodys stats after a game. But I hear lots of kids (and parents) brag about how many points they had, and that is the only stat that most papers print at the end of the story about the game, so those players never have to ask the coach for their points total.

So with so much empahasis put on scoring why would a player play defense at all....just score.

Maybe the kids contributing in other ways would like to feel like their contribution helps the team, even though players get very little or no glory for anything other than points. So if a parent keeps stats to help encourage their child, big deal.

If a parent wants to keep track of stats, what is the harm in that. I don't do it personally, and I have no problem with parents that do. I can't even videotape a game because I can't keep the camera going in the right direction, I get too caught up in watching the game.

 

Another stat that my child likes to know is how many points did the girl she was guarding score...She thinks this is an important indicator of how good of defense she played.

 

Her idea of a good game is if her assigned person did not score!

 

I wholeheartedly agree. There are parents and players out there that think they need more playing time cause they scored 10 points. But the person they were guarding had 18 and putting them on the floor puts the team in a hole whether they are scoring or not.

I think most parents that I have seen do stats either don't trust the stat keeper or are trying to prove someone wrong which is probably the coach. I know at the high school that my kids attend the stats are published to whoever wants a copy at the end of the season. And if you ask during the season, you can get the information too. This could be used as a reference to college coach, etc... even for scrap books.

Keeping stats doesn't seem too bad to me. What do you think about parents coaching from the stands and the boys or girls always looking there during time outs and sometimes while on the floor. I played ball in high school and in college and if my father ever done that , it would have embarrassed me to death. If I were a coach and caught that , I'd put them on the bench in a heartbeat. There is only one coach and he is located on the bench.

I can't even videotape a game because I can't keep the camera going in the right direction, I get too caught up in watching the game.

 

 

Oh yeah! 3 minutes' film of an overturned bag of popcorn and somebody's handbag. I gave up on filming, I'd rather watch the game happen.

 

Bottom line is that people caught up in points scored don't really want to think or know about points given up, rebounds, assists, turnovers, etc. And while there are many who use stats in a positive way, there are also many more who want to use the information against someone. Personally, my kid doesn't want to discuss the details with me after the game so I generally leave it to "Good game!" or "Nice effort". I've resigned myself to being financier\chauffeur.

Oh yeah! 3 minutes' film of an overturned bag of popcorn and somebody's handbag. I gave up on filming, I'd rather watch the game happen.

 

Bottom line is that people caught up in points scored don't really want to think or know about points given up, rebounds, assists, turnovers, etc. And while there are many who use stats in a positive way, there are also many more who want to use the information against someone. Personally, my kid doesn't want to discuss the details with me after the game so I generally leave it to "Good game!" or "Nice effort". I've resigned myself to being financier\chauffeur.

 

I laughed out loud at this..I have one of those tapes too!:laugh: