will do what I need to do to help them reach their potential in said skill. Whether it be sports, dancing, singing, school, whatever. IMO it teaches kids to work hard, because the practices are a lot harder than rec league and because if they don't work hard they will get left behind, to stick with something, to take pride in getting good at something, to learn to work with others, to build lasting relationships etc ... I played on an AAU basketball team from 4th grade on up through HS. I did not go pro, I only played 1 year of JC ball. But was it worth it? Absolutely, I learned a lot, I developed a lot not just in basketball but in life. And I was able to build life long friendships with kids that were on those teams with me. I think it's weird when parents don't push their kids and I think it does them a great disservice.