Like millions of parents Rob Weingard coaches youth sports in his hometown. His father was a college coach and athletic director and he played Division 1 college basketball at Hofstra University, leading the nation is assists in 1985. Now he coaches his three children: Crew in the seventh grade, daughter Stevie in sixth grade and third grader Jensen. Over the past twenty years there has been a transformation in youth sports. What was once a community oriented activity stressing fundamentals and teamwork has now become an industry based on individual competition and advancement. Parents pit children against each other scrambling for an unrealistic dream of college scholarships. How did this become the new normal? And how will it affect our children as they grow into adults? To find answers Rob went on a journey seeking out other programs and experts in the youth sports field like former NBA player and author, Bob Bigelow, psychologist Dr. Rhonda Yoss-Kaplan, camp director Steve Nisenson and author and host of The Sports Edge on WFAN, Rick Wolff.
On his journey Rob goes into the highly controversial world of AAU Basketball which according to many has become a for profit way for kids to play sports and be noticed by college coaches with hopes of landing that elusive scholarship. Fueled by the notion that the more that one plays, the better player that they become, kids spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars playing on many travel teams in the same season. The core concept is simple; pay to play and travel with athletes from other communities in hopes of getting college exposure. But is all of that extra activity worth it and at what cost? How much commitment is left for a young athlete to invest to any one team?
A host of issues concerning youth sports are addressed in this documentary including; the overloading of kids schedules, helicopter parents, the actual odds of receiving a scholarship and the lack of free play for kids in the super structured world of today. Rob also visits two programs that do it the right way, West Islip Lacrosse which is perennially ranked on a national level and the tiny Bridgehampton basketball program that has the second most state basketball championships in New York state history.
Rob meanwhile coaches his three children basketball teams and we follow these very unique squads as they progress through their seasons. seventh grade team consists of kids preparing to make the jump to their high school teams. sixth grade girls team is a fun group who make every practice seem like a sleepover party. Jensen travels from his hometown to nearby Hempstead to play in a much different community than his own. 3 Teams: A Youth Sports Story hopes to shed some light on the issues that face parents and coaches of youth sports and hopefully provide some answers and ways for the kids to have more fun and take home some lessons for life.
A piece about our film by News12 Long Island. Port Washington youth sports coach/filmmaker Rob Weingard turned a camera on the issues facing the world of youth sports with a new documentary, 3 Teams: A Youth Sports Story.
A Youth Sports Story Over 40 million kids play Youth Sports in America and One Man–Rob, a dad, a son of a coach, a former NCAA Division 1 player thinks the way we approach youth sports today has gone terribly wrong. He sets out to find the problems and seek solutions meanwhile coaching his three kids’ (8, 11 & 13 years old) basketball teams.
A parent thanks Rob for the sportsmanship and character that the coach instills into the players.
The last shot in crunch time.
6th grade girl’s game. Laila shows great improvement with a left handed layup.
7th grade boys game. A step before they tryout for their high school teams.
Features a documentary “3 Teams: A Youth Sports Story,” Produced by Rob Weingard and John Spingola, Directed by John Spingola. A Presentation of Scotty Workouts, Copyright 2013. Introducing the documentary film 3 Teams: A Youth Sports Story. Over 40 million kids play Youth Sports in America and One Man–Rob, a dad, a son of a coach, a former NCAA Division 1 player thinks the way we approach youth sports today has gone terribly wrong. He sets out to find the problems and seek solutions meanwhile coaching his three kids’ (8, 11 & 13 years old) basketball teams. 3 Teams: A Youth Sports Story hopes to shed some light on the issues that face parents and coaches of youth sports and hopefully provide some answers and ways for the kids to have fun and take home some lessons for life.
