I think a lot of where a kid plays should depend on how competitive he or she wants to be. Some kids don't want to play at more competitive levels, but play competitive ball because it's where the parents want them to play. I saw that a lot back when my kids were playing at the junior high levels. Believe me, the kids objectively know who the best players are more than the parents and most coaches at that level do.
When the time came, I gave my kids a choice. I didn't want to see them playing at a level they didn't belong in. But there were parents who did put their kids in danger of injury because they would put them on teams they kids couldn't handle. And when that happens, the kid gets injured and certainly doesn't have any fun. No kid wants to play on a team where all the other players have far more skills.
With that said, I don't think it is all the parents' fault. Some of these guys giving pitching and hitting lessons are flat out lying to kids and their parents about the talent level of the player. I have witnesses it. There is serious overhead in these facilities and you need to have all time slots taken...or most of them.
Again, I am so glad my kids were getting in on the ground floor of travel baseball, softball and volleyball. Not too many teams. Competition was good and most importantly they wanted to play competitively.
I saw earlier where someone named all the places kids came from. When my oldest son was playing travel baseball ball in HS years, his team had players from, Providence, JCA, Lockport, Sandburg, Stagg, Shepard, MC, Plainfield Central and I am probably forgetting somewhere else. It was an excellent team and the competition, especially in tournaments was outstanding. But it was what he wanted. Same for my youngest daughter.
She played softball with he Stone City Sharks program. without question the most competitive schedule in the Chicagoland area. A lot of those girls got college money and a healthy percentage got DI money including my girl. Blah, blah, blah.
My wife and I were just talking about this on our walk yesterday. We spent six figures and then some over about 15 years or so in a row for all of them. We had four playing at one time for a short period. But when we look back on it, we felt it was a good investment because it kept them too busy to find trouble, if nothing else. They all liked playing. We do, at times, miss watching them play. But we do NOT miss some of the parents nonsense.
When I went to their baseball or softball games I took my lawn chair and would go all the way down the right or left field line to watch the game mostly by myself. I didn't care to hear the gossip or hear people complaining in the bleachers about playing time, etc. I just went on my own to mind my own business. LOL
