Franklin T Ball/YMCA/Youth athletics (Brentwood, Lebanon: sale, neighborhood, buy)

[vikm23]

Hello, I am moving to Franklin in May and would like to get my 4 year old into TBall. Does anyone have advice on leagues, etc. Not looking anything super competitive, just some basic throwing, hitting and rules eduction. Additionally, our son does tennis and swimming as well and we may be interested in maritial arts too (he has a lot of energy). At this point, does it make sense for us to join the YMCA Mid TN association? Any advice would be great. Thanks!

[BirdieBelle]

The Y doesn't offer T ball. He is probably already too advanced for their swim lessons too. I would try the Franklin Baseball Club.

We've always played Brentwood Civitan, but I know Franklin's club is very well organized and popular.

For martial arts, we did tae kwon do at Yong In. It was fine. No red belts in my family, but a well-done program. David Deaton also has a great kids karate program. There are so many martial arts studios now; I would just visit a few and choose the one with a teacher whose personality you like best.

We also liked private tennis lessons through the county rec center. You have to sign up quickly - the classes fill up fast. Private is worth it over group lessons if you want quality instruction because there is a LOT of "waiting your turn" during the group lessons, especially swimming.

[septimus]

Joining the Y will probably depend if your neighborhood has a pool. The Ys have nice outdoor pools that are kid friendly in the summer.

We've done tennis lessons through the County Park & Rec and have been happy. I've done the Y, Park & Rec and Harpeth Gymnastics for swimming lessons. All have their pluses and minuses. Park & Rec don't seem the best about grouping classes by ability although the Y in Franklin has started to when there are enough kids signed up. P&R I liked because I could buy 2 private lessons and the teachers would work on all 3 of my kids for 1 hour so basically a semiprivate class for $5/per kid more than a group class. YMCA didn't seem to understand that I was asking to break up 2 private 30 min. into 3 20 min. I just can't bring myself to sit at the pool for 1 1/2 hours. Harpeth were very good but very expensive. I stopped when it was time for the 3rd to start. i just couldn't bring myself to pay $600 for 2 weeks of lessons. The lessons were every day for 2 weeks which got them swimming but also left little time for practicing skills between lessons.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a 7&8 year old for fall ball? They've never played and now they are obsessed.

[vikm23]

Thanks for the input guys, very helpful. Quick question-what is Fall Ball? Is that just a fall baseball league? Sorry, dumb question but I'm new to TN and still getting your sports seasons down!

[BirdieBelle]

Fall ball is baseball that is supposed to be a bit less intensive/competitive and more lesson-oriented than spring baseball. It coincides with football season here.

[Anony-Momma]

FBC has a fall ball program. Fall ball is a great place for players to improve skills or to maintain fitness, or to learn the game. Games are not as intensely umpped. (Is umpped a word?) The mix of players on a fall ball team (in my experience) includes more seasoned travel ball players, non-travel, 'regular' league players, and players new to the game. In my experience, Wmsn4Life's of "more lesson oriented" is spot on. Less pressure, more fun, good place to learn more, meet other kids, etc.

I receive email blasts from FBC which include updates about summer baseball clinics. I've seen camps at Franklin High and Summit High arrive via those email blasts.

There is a camp at Cumberland U in Lebanon for kids ages 6-18.

[brentwoodgirl]

Brentwood Civitan also has fall ball.

The best swimming lessons we have found are at Excel Aquatics, which is inside the Williamson County Parks and Rec Brentwood Indoor facility. They have great swim teams too. If you take during the school year, the teacher is usually the director, Melanie, and she is wonderful. She doesn't teach in the summer because she's busy with all the swim teams.

That same center also has good tennis lessons. Sign up for the Parks and Rec newsletters, they have all kinds of opportunities. We have done winter soccer, flag football, dance, cheerleading, and lots of sports clinics through them, and they have all been good and well priced.

If you are looking for a good pre-K program, East Brentwood Pres. is great. They do the same writing program in pre-K that my older children did in Kindergarten.

And if you decide to try a new sport in the fall instead of baseball, Brentwood Blaze has flag football starting at 4, which is really cute.

The Y also has lots of great programs. We ended up dropping our Y membership though. Only my middle child still plays sports through the Y, and I was the only one working out there. So we decided it wasn't worth the $100 a month. Parks and Rec does a 30 visits/$30 sale at the beginning of the year, so I bought a couple of those and I also buy classes at specialized gyms. But the Y has the best classes, best facitilities, best variety, and best pools.