Oakland County Youth Sports Leagues Reviews – reviews of various sports leagues in Oakland County. i9 Sports, RARA, Michigan Youth Flag Football, Little League (Rochester Hills Little League Baseball League), North Oakland Baseball Federation, and more. Swim lessons reviews included.
I tend to keep my Oakland County youth sports leagues reviews factual. I’ll inject opinion but I’ve come to realize that one parent’s (or child’s) positive can be another parent’s negative. It’s all about expectations.
Here are Oakland County youth sports leagues reviews I’ve had the most experience with…
Oakland County Youth Sports Leagues Reviews
United Soccer League – Michigan’s Largest Eastside soccer program has expanded into Oakland County (Rochester Hills). The Oakland County Programs will feature the fundamentals of soccer from a professional staff that utilizes a variety of technical games an small-sided scrimmages to ensure each players gets the maximum number of touches on the ball. For ages 3-10.
Rochester Avon Recreation Authority (RARA) Basketball – I’m a fan of how RARA runs their baseball program. I’m equally impressed with the basketball league. RARA basketball may be a bit more competitive than RARA baseball, in a good way.
Rochester Hills Little League Baseball – After 5 great years with RARA baseball, I signed my son up for Rochester Hills Little League baseball. What’s the difference? This review compares the approaches and styles of both baseball leagues.
Goldfish Swim School Swimming Lessons Review – Rochester – Gold Fish Swim School specializes in swim lessons for infants, toddlers, and children ages 4+. Goldfish Swim School has all the amenities that make this experience easy and convenient. ALL the kids seem to LOVE their instructors. My own children had great success learning how to swim quickly. Full Review – Pics…
RYSL Rochester Youth Soccer League (Outdoor/Spring & Fall Indoor/Winter) – The Rochester Youth Soccer League offers league play in the spring and summer seasons for Recreation (just for fun), Developmental (more teaching than Recreation) or Travel (highly competitive/expensive) soccer leagues. Various camps and clinics are offered separately at different times of year. I thoroughly appreciated how well thought-out the Rochester Youth Soccer League operates. The league is truly thorough in their operation of the league and sticks to their “fun first” mentality.
i9 Flag Football Review (boys and girls, ages 4-14, outdoor/fall, indoor/winter, outdoor/summer)
The i9 flag football experience is a great introduction to football for a young boy or girl and a good alternative for an older child who may not want to play tackle football. The games are played 5 versus 5 and every child plays at least 50% of each game. Full review… i9 has similar approaches to their soccer & basketball leagues. Great intro to sports league for the young ones. i9 has a “kill ’em with kindness’ approach to their league.
Michigan Youth Flag Football League Review (boys and girls, ages 4-14, all seasons & indoor)
The true lure of the Michigan Youth Flag Football League for kids is the league’s use of NFL teams and mascot names. The kids really get excited to play in an official-looking NFL jersey with team logo. I’d classify Michigan Youth Flag Football League as the flag football league to go with if you’re seeking competitiveness. Full review…
North Oakland Baseball Federation Review – Travel ball or “Federation Baseball” for boys ages 8-16. Considered at step up in competition from Little League, this league features travel and local tournaments. Full review…
Rochester Avon Recreation Authority (RARA) Dance – Offers dance classes (pre-school, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and ballet) for children and adults beginning at 2 1/2 years of age. The RARA dance program is insanely popular. It’s so popular that when it comes to registration, there are intense lines to register for the classes. Why the lines? Well, the instruction is very good and a tremendous value for 30 weeks of instruction compared to other dance studios.
Rochester Avon Recreation Authority (RARA) T-ball, baseball – The baseball program is setup to launch teams from the various schools in the Rochester School District. It tries to fill teams based on students from each elementary school’s grade. RARA baseball teams tend to thin out as the more experienced kids gravitate toward the more competitive Rochester Hills Little League or NOBF baseball but RARA is an ideal option if your son is new to the sport.
Rochester Community Schools Enrichment Swim – We had a decent experience with the RCS swim program. The instruction was extremely thorough as kids are required to “test out” to get to the next level of the swim program. They teen instructors seemed to grasp each individual student’s strengths and weaknesses and enjoyed motivating the children with games. However, individual instruction is hard to come by due to class sizes. Kids who were not strong swimmers tended to get left behind in the lessons.
See related posts below for more Oakland County Youth Sports Leagues Reviews
