The Cross Over Movement Blog

Henry Abbott had a link and comments about pick-up basketball dying today. I have noticed this for years. I played at two courts when I was growing up; one has been turned into an aerobics studio and nobody plays at the other one. I get emails from friends asking where to play pick-up games and I have nowhere to guide them. I have a friend who chose to live in Davis this year while atending Sac State because he balls at the Davis Student Rec Center everyday. When I was at UCLA, I knew guys who took jobs with UCLA Catering so they could spend their afternoons at the Wooden Center playing ball. Beyond college campuses, I don’t know where pick-up games exist anymore.

I get frustrated playing at the park because the young players don’t know how to play the game anymore and the old guys are slow and out of shape. I posted on a coach’s site that players spend more time in their lives playing recreation basketball than high school basketball, so I try to teach kids how to play the game so they can function in a pick-up environment. “Real” coaches were disturbed by the idea that I allowed informal, pick-up basketball, at the park no less, affect my teaching strategies.

But, isn’t one goal of a high school literature teacher to inspire a love of reading so people read novels and non-fiction throughout their lives, not just the trashy gossip mags at the grocery store register? Shouldn’t a high school coach inspire a similar love of the game and exercise in his or her players? I remember by best college professors, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Trent and Mr. Barbee, talking about developing “life long learners.” Especially with the increasing obesity epidemic, isn’t it a coach’s duty to develop life long exercisers?

Unfortunately, kids lives are too structured to include free play. Kids grow up and don’t really know how to play basketball. They can’t play in a pick-up game because there isn’t a coach telling them what to do. And, they don’t have the same passion for the game. They never decide for themselves to play the game; they simply go to a workout or practice arranged by a coach or parent.

When I was a child, we played at recess and lunch. Now, many schools have eliminated recess and shortened lunch. We played at the park and the local fitness club. Players today do not play because they never initiate their own activities. Everything is structured and scheduled. Kids even have play dates.