A miraculous turnaround at MSU

[stateu1]

For us though, the adage that practice makes perfect is certainly true. More practicing = more touches = more success. More practicing = better understanding of rotation placement = better communication and results.

Jesus, don't you just hit the ball over the net? That seems overly complicated.

 

[graddawg]

Not trying to split hairs here but I take it from other posts that you are in Jackson? And if so that makes soccer the worst. It literally never stops. Sure the tournaments are only in fall and spring but the 'training' never stops. It's also about $150 a month, and no baseball team is close to that.

I think you guys are a little off on this one. You can choose the tournaments you play in, and the teams you play on, in travel baseball. Some like to take vacations together, others don't. Some like to play more, others play only in spring. Soccer is all about your local clubs, they are the only choices you have.

And again, soccer nearly eliminates you from being a multi-sport athlete, unless you do the year round travel baseball thing and juggle that (which is incredibly hard, but many do it just....because they feel they have to). Difficult to squeeze in football or basketball for sure. Not to mention golf or tennis.

I am currently living this and I agree with most everything you said. Except the part about no baseball team costing $150/month. The big facility teams in the Jackson metro (Sox, Knights, Thunder and Yankees) are all at that point now if you play on one of their teams.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I am currently living this and I agree with most everything you said. Except the part about no baseball team costing $150/month. The big facility teams in the Jackson metro (Sox, Knights, Thunder and Yankees) are all at that point now if you play on one of their teams.

Most expensive I've seen is Golden Spikes and I think they are in the $1,200 range annually (many of them do fund raisers to get that down, but price is still what it is), but yeah I don't know about the ones you listed. My team is $500 a year, but we don't play fall ball and are pretty thrifty with our gear. A lot of parents don't like that sort of thing though, they prefer little johnny to look better than he plays.

I wish others would take the spring only approach, but I know it's not realistic. Gotta win baby, gel, etc., all that other stupid crap. And it absolutely takes away from fall football attendance at State and Ole Miss, I have zero doubt.

 

[mstateglfr]

Jesus, don't you just hit the ball over the net? That seems overly complicated.

Its similar to how in basketball you just have to get the ball in the hoop. Offensive sets and defensive rotations all seem overly complicated.


In all seriousness, a 5-1 rotation in volleyball looks like absolute chaos on the court, but is a really impressive system once the kids get each rotation down. Its more complex than and high school math I took, but that may say more about my math than anything else.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

At Germantown, there are girls that play club that can't make the high school team. Germantown is a slightly above average team (they lost to Oxford in the quarterfinals last night). I can't imagine what its like at Brandon or Madison Central or Oxford or one of the DeSoto schools where volleyball is huge.
.

Desoto Central and Lewisburg are exclusively club players. Hernando has a few club players. I am sure it is the same for you but kids play 9th, JV and THEN make the varsity team as a junior or senior.
Horn Lake and Olive Branch are pretty weak because they have none to few club players. I am not sure about the status of LC, Southaven and Center Hill VB.


I don't know what is going on in Oxford but they beat us in every sport in the playoffs. Deosoto County needs to combine a few schools to assemble the talent to beat Oxfords (and Lafayette) *** in all sports, a time or two. (Joke)

 

[idog]

year round?

Disagree. Soccer is the worst offender by far. They play year round, which at the minimum, makes playing other sports a pain in the ***. Then they have never-ending 'training' and it ropes the parents in. We just gave it up. Baseball is the second worst, but for the most part, most travel coaches are parents so it's at least controllable. But many, many parents just settle on the soccer/baseball year round deal.

There's just no way that playing both sports year-round is good for a kid's body. I'm glad I abandoned that rat race.

my boys have select training August until mid October then February until early May. High school soccer runs October through February but that's only if you play both. There is optional training in the summer for some clubs but most on the coast do not train May, June or July. So, unless your playing select and school soccer it is only about 6 months for select or 3-4 months for school ball.

 

[johnson86-1]

Most expensive I've seen is Golden Spikes and I think they are in the $1,200 range annually (many of them do fund raisers to get that down, but price is still what it is), but yeah I don't know about the ones you listed. My team is $500 a year, but we don't play fall ball and are pretty thrifty with our gear. A lot of parents don't like that sort of thing though, they prefer little johnny to look better than he plays.

I wish others would take the spring only approach, but I know it's not realistic. Gotta win baby, gel, etc., all that other stupid crap. And it absolutely takes away from fall football attendance at State and Ole Miss, I have zero doubt.

Of all the things I don't understand about travel ball, the most perplexing is that parents are shameless enough to do fundraisers for it. Most travel teams are just paying a lot of extra money to play against basically the same type of player (minus maybe the bottom 10-15%) that they used to play in rec league for a lot less money. I don't mind fundraisers for school sports or scouts, but unless you are going to contribute to a fundraiser for my kids summer camp or our vacations, don't ask me to contribute to a fundraiser for yours.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Of all the things I don't understand about travel ball, the most perplexing is that parents are shameless enough to do fundraisers for it. Most travel teams are just paying a lot of extra money to play against basically the same type of player (minus maybe the bottom 10-15%) that they used to play in rec league for a lot less money. I don't mind fundraisers for school sports or scouts, but unless you are going to contribute to a fundraiser for my kids summer camp or our vacations, don't ask me to contribute to a fundraiser for yours.

Yeah there's no doubt about that, the fundraising or 'sponsorships' are dumb. Let's call it what it is, you're paying for more games and fancier uniforms. A typical rec league is $100 for 10 or so games. A typical travel ball team plays about 40.

And we wonder why kids' arms are falling apart.

 

[615dawg]

You dont want to **** on their dreams, but its good to expose them to possible outcomes that are largely outside their control.

I make it a point of not lying to my kids. This one in particular is very smart - she is in all advanced classes and is choosing between Summer programs at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. Thats where her bread is buttered. I think she will make the team and be part of it, but she's going to be a role player. We could probably be a starter on most of the private school teams not named JA. Its not what she wants.

 

[Drebin]

Soccer isnt close to year round. Ive done both. Baseball is miserable unless you dont play in the fall. And playing in the fall is becoming more common. Baseball is committing anywhere from 15 to 25 weekends a year to tourneys for the competitive teams. Soccer is usually about 10.

Then you talk about the actual tournaments where you dont even know when you will play sometimes in baseball.

Exactly.

 

[615dawg]

Well said. Competitive volleyball is very complex. Its not about just hitting the ball over the net, which is what most MS high school programs taught until about 5 years ago and a huge reason that MSU has been irrelevant in the sport.

Final Four in 6A volleyball is Oxford vs. Madison Central and Brandon vs. Ocean Springs. All four could win it. Oxford probably has the best team, Madison Central has the best player, and Brandon has the best coach. Ocean Springs is a wildcard and is 42-2 this season. They have played a lot of matches over in Louisiana and Alabama.

 

[Drebin]

Not trying to split hairs here but I take it from other posts that you are in Jackson? And if so that makes soccer the worst. It literally never stops. Sure the tournaments are only in fall and spring but the 'training' never stops. It's also about $150 a month, and no baseball team is close to that.

I think you guys are a little off on this one. You can choose the tournaments you play in, and the teams you play on, in travel baseball. Some like to take vacations together, others don't. Some like to play more, others play only in spring. Soccer is all about your local clubs, they are the only choices you have.

And again, soccer nearly eliminates you from being a multi-sport athlete, unless you do the year round travel baseball thing and juggle that (which is incredibly hard, but many do it just....because they feel they have to). Difficult to squeeze in football or basketball for sure. Not to mention golf or tennis.

This is just not true about baseball. Most of the baseball programs in DeSoto County are at minimum $1500 per year. Some are much higher. And most of that doesn't include private lessons on top of it. And in some cases, like EBC, that amount doesn't include uniforms.

Soccer also has off-seasons. They don't align with baseball off-seasons, but they have them. Season-wise, they're very similar to baseball with spring and fall tournament schedules. My next door neighbor runs a high-level soccer club (14u) and he's a big Memphis fan and they have their fall schedule arranged so he doesn't miss any Memphis football games. And whatever popularity soccer is in the Jackson area, you can multiply that by 10 in North Mississippi. Soccer is huge up here.

 

[Smoked Toag]

This is just not true about baseball. Most of the baseball programs in DeSoto County are at minimum $1500 per year. Some are much higher. And most of that doesn't include private lessons on top of it. And in some cases, like EBC, that amount doesn't include uniforms.

Soccer also has off-seasons. They don't align with baseball off-seasons, but they have them. Season-wise, they're very similar to baseball with spring and fall tournament schedules. My next door neighbor runs a high-level soccer club (14u) and he's a big Memphis fan and they have their fall schedule arranged so he doesn't miss any Memphis football games. And whatever popularity soccer is in the Jackson area, you can multiply that by 10 in North Mississippi. Soccer is huge up here.

So, yeah, soccer costs more than baseball. How was I wrong again?

And no way I'd multiply anything by 10. I'm sure soccer is MORE popular, as Memphis is double the size of Jackson. And if it's more popular, that likely means it's more expensive there.

Pretty easy math there.

 

[Drebin]

So, yeah, soccer costs more than baseball. How was I wrong again?

And no way I'd multiply anything by 10. I'm sure soccer is MORE popular, as Memphis is double the size of Jackson. And if it's more popular, that likely means it's more expensive there.

Pretty easy math there.

You said soccer costs 150/mo and baseball doesn't "come close to that." I'm telling you that you're wrong on that, as a matter of fact. I provided hard numbers as evidence.

Soccer is comparable in price. Not significantly higher or lower as a general rule. Some bigger programs individually can be more, depending on who the coaches are or what facilities they use. But the two are comparable because the costs are similar - tournament entry fees and insurance.

My guess is that you got exposed to an exorbitant cost for a particular club, and you're making broad generalizations and extrapolating that across all of the sport.

 

[Smoked Toag]

You said soccer costs 150/mo and baseball doesn't "come close to that." I'm telling you that you're wrong on that, as a matter of fact. I provided hard numbers as evidence.

Soccer is comparable in price. Not significantly higher or lower as a general rule. Some bigger programs individually can be more, depending on who the coaches are or what facilities they use. But the two are comparable because the costs are similar - tournament entry fees and insurance.

My guess is that you got exposed to an exorbitant cost for a particular club, and you're making broad generalizations and extrapolating that across all of the sport.

There's no way our local club here is one of the more expensive ones. So, that means that the prices I've seen can only go up (like you said, it's even more popular in bigger cities). And $1,800 for a cheaper club vs. $1,500 for an expensive Desoto County travel baseball team? That doesn't seem comparable to me. What are the soccer prices up there? That's more comparable. I gave a hard number too, one baseball club, Golden Spikes, is $1,200.

And I was also complaining about the 'training', which they all do (for more money of course), throughout the winter and then during the week too. I'll give soccer families one thing, they are ALL IN. And if they aren't training, they are doing indoor.

And again.....they are paying coaches and the tournaments are pretty rigid. Travel baseball has more flexibility.

 

[Drebin]

There's no way our local club here is one of the more expensive ones. So, that means that the prices I've seen can only go up (like you said, it's even more popular in bigger cities). And $1,800 for a cheaper club vs. $1,500 for an expensive Desoto County travel baseball team? That doesn't seem comparable to me. What are the soccer prices up there? That's more comparable. I gave a hard number too, one baseball club, Golden Spikes, is $1,200.

And I was also complaining about the 'training', which they all do, throughout the winter and then during the week too. I'll give soccer families one thing, they are ALL IN. And if they aren't training, they are doing indoor.

I'm just saying, I have coached travel baseball for years, and my best friend has coached competitive soccer for years. The costs are comparable. I'm not making it up.

I didn't say it was $1500 for an expensive Desoto County travel baseball team. Why do you play word games like that? I said the cost for travel baseball in Desoto County is $1500 AT A MINIMUM. Most are more than that some significantly. A couple of the bigger programs up here are 200/mo not counting uniforms and private lessons, even for the little kids. $1500/yr is not a cost for "expensive travel teams in Desoto County." It's the cost for the absolute cheapest ones - the single A and low double A standalone programs where dad pulled a team together out of rec ball. Up here, if you're playing travel ball for 1200, you're playing on a single A team or you're playing coach pitch or eight year old just-out-of-rec ball.

Baseball and soccer training isn't comparable, either. Soccer offseason training consists primarily of conditioning work. Baseball training is far more regimented: long tossing programs, conditioning, glove drills, private lessons, etc., I could go on.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I'm in Texas and both my girls played club and HS here in DFW area. My younger daughter is now playing D1 college volleyball in East Tennessee.
There are SO MANY more qualified girls looking to play college volleyball in Texas and Florida than in MS, and these payers WILL go to MS to play on a scholarship. Just look at MSU and Alabama's roster of Texas girls.
MS is on the rise in prep volleyball but still SO FAR behind.

I'mi im the north Austin area and can back up your statement about the volleyball development. Volleyball is becoming as big as the other sports here in all ages they have good coaches. In the past few years all those girls sports programs are growing in popularity and support.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Why do you play word games like that?

From the guy who said soccer was 10x more popular in Memphis than Jackson?

Just kidding.

But seriously the reason I said that is because $1,500 is a good bit more than I've seen even the most expensive travel ball teams around here pay. Like I said, most are 1K-1.2K. And obviously the costs can fluctuate based on how many tournaments you play and if you want to drop a boatload on these mock world series all over the coast of the southern US.

Ya'll rippin' each other off up there.