Originally Posted by
Mucrisco
I feel like I should respond to this. I know you have taken shots at AAU in the past and you are lessening that by saying not all AAU coaches are bad. However, I am questioning why you are singling out AAU. I know of many cases where HS coaches are responsible for transfers as well. I know of a coach of a state championship team that described the success of their program due to the recruiting kids from other districts. Of course this was after a few beers while sitting in a hot tub. I know of a girl who is transferring into another school district because that coach recruited her to the school. This girl is in 6th grade!
The transfer issue is not just due to parents and AAU coaches. I think you have to look at the much larger picture. The first is the sharp rise of organized sports. Kids are no longer learning their game in parks and driveways. Not only do they play on club teams, they go to trainers. The amount of money that parents put into organized sports is insane. With the dollars, time, and hard work that goes into a kid's interest in a sport, they don't want to watch their kid sit on the bench.
Second, we live in a world of instant gratification. This is probably the biggest reason for transfers. We are all guilty of this. When your web page does not load within five seconds, how angry do you get? How many times do you look at your phone per hour? In addition, kids do not need adults for information. They have their phones for that. So, kids don't want to wait their turn on the bench. They are condition for instant gratification. Add in all the participation awards and attitudes for always trying to be fair, this generation is all about what's in it for me.