Recreational sports
It seems like every year less and less people sign up for Rec sports. Most head towards travel teams
We received an email there is not enough kids in any grade level to form fall soccer for rec. in Independence. I kids from first grade all the way up to 7th. Not one team!?!?
I’m looking to sign up in a town close by and don’t want to miss the cutoff. Does anyone know which rec program is better or at least have enough players?
LivingLifeLovingLife Unfortunately Rec ball in most sports, if I am not mistaken has gone by way of the Dinosaur
Clyde Potts Once the competitive travel teams were given legitimacy by the Towns the regular recreation teams began to die. No longer for the casual player just looking to be on a team and have fun. Kids are turned off at a young age.
Longtime rec director in Independence saw it coming and couldn't stop it. Shame.....
Jim KingWhat are the other options besides being on a travel team that goes all over?
I have way too many kids to be traveling any further than the next town over.
Our rec teams suffered from daddy ball. Every sport. Then one of our programs had all of our money stolen.
Iamrite I think Video games and Cell phones are valued more unfortunately I have seen some Travel Baseball Teams play in the past. Half of those kids have difficulty throwing and catching properly let alone hitting the baseball with a bat. Kids do not play catch in the backyard or play pick up games like other generations did. How about Dad or a relative playing catch with a youngster in backyard? Not much anymore. Years ago baseball in town was solid and had great participation with town merchants sponsoring teams. It was fantastic for the kids! Today there are plenty of willing Town Sponsors but not enough kids signing up. A shame
Lion Sports and other group activities are important. Kids not involved with stuff will have a tendency to be up to no good as they get older.
Metsman Try Hope twsp. they usually can field a team or 2, sometimes barely in soccer.
Just helping Hi! Sometimes folks does not register early then once school started or about to start that is when parents scramble to register. If your town is still taking registration register your kids for soccer rec and if there are towns that really only have few kids then probably they will work it out to combine teams that are closer to each other at that point. Hope this helps a bit for now.
Mom2U 
lakersfan Mansfield Township is currently taking soccer registrations, I believe they close at the end of July. Check out the township website or call the town clerk for more information.
Snow Mansfield Soccer and Field Hockey registration are still open, below is the link to sign up.
https://twpmansfield.recdesk.com/Community/Home
jd4020 Thanks everyone. I will check these things out. The deadline for our league was July 15th and I currently have not heard they ended up having enough for any team.
I would have thought they would send an email saying whether they did or not. So I guess I will look elsewhere. So very sad.
I just want my kids to play and have fun. Not be searching for a scholarship yet.
Allamuchy mom I'm in the same situation. Signed my 1st grader up for soccer, got the email there aren't enough to make teams. ISC posted on Facebook that enough people signed up to make teams for grades 3-8, but didn't say anything about 1&2. I was just looking to keep my daughter active and have some fun and socialization at the same time. Oh well.
Htown Resident Just remember the graduating classes each year in the HS are 100 something kids. I don't know what the average is on how many kids in Independence township are in that group, but I can see why it's tough to put teams together with these kinds of numbers. Towns like Roxbury and Mt Olive graduate over 300 kids each year.
Don It was never tough to put true rec teams together until the travel teams got popular. That left out the kid that enjoyed friends and fun. S/he wasn't good enuff for travel team.
Well, Mt. Olive here, and I signed my 5 year old up for t-ball through USA Sports and they cancelled the class because of lack of enrollment. It was only supposed to be a 5 week class with 10-12 kids.
Tracy Could have sworn my sons class was 100 something. And I said 100 something not 100. Still, even if its 225 kids, that 225 doesn't represent just Independence Township. It also includes Hackettstown and Allamuchy. Combine the rec programs and you wouldn't have a problem.
Hackettstown HS educated approx 921 students in the 2018-2019 school year.
Figure has remained relatively flat for the past 5 years.
BTW- ranks in the lower half of High Schools in NJ.
Student/teacher ratio is higher than the state average..
{{ our tax dollars at work}}
Stymie Indicates graduating class is larger than most are aware of.
One may deduce that parents do not push children to participate.
Read Tracy’s post above.
Not Hackettstown district, but same nonparticipatory situation.
Generation of obese children with Diabetes Type 2,
lounging in front of a PlayStation screen.
In a substandard learning environment.
Simple enough for you, Lion?
Commenting is no longer available.