OT: Select Baseball

[big red23]

I need some assistance, from anybody that can help me here. My son is 11 years old, and is a good baseball player. He isn't the next Ken Griffey Jr. or anything, but he has some skill. He also play Basketball is also very good at that, and basketball has been his favorite sport since he was a 4 year old kid.

I figure there has to be some baseball people on here that can give me some tips on what I can do.

He is going to the UBA tryouts today, and they have A, AA, AAA and Major divisions. I know he has the ability to make something there, but where I have an issue is the amount of money it costs and the time needed for this. Like I said he has basketball in his blood too.

The coach at UBA said family's typically invest $2000-$3000 plus travel expenses, and that AAA and Majors typically take up a lot more time that A and AA.

I would like to know if there are any cheaper options out there that offer a similar quality for less money, because of my current situation I am in does not allow me to pay that, and I want my son to get to do what he likes

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

You can spend a TON of money of "select" baseball, be gone an awful, and when he gets to high school and if he still wants to play you're going to see a lot of kids who's parents spent tens of thousands of dollars and were gone every other weekend out of town, not make the team. So the first thing I tell people who ask me, as I did coach, is don't let anyone tell you if your son wants to make the high school team he HAS to play select. Those coaches don't give a **** if he played AAA or not. Can he hit the ball, and if he can they will find a spot for him. If he can't, then he won't. Also, it isn't nearly as political as parents tell you. Coaches just want to win, very few decisions are made for any other outcome, parents who complain about playing time and who made the team or didn't and blame it on "political"..and I just heard that again last weekend...are just mad their kid isn't as good as they think and the coach chose somebody better than their little Johnny. I'd personally look at the schedule, practice and games combined, and be honest about the time and expense and your desire to invest both, and chose accordingly.

Edit; I'll add that a lot of "select" teams means their parents were selected because their checks would clear. It doesn't mean what it used to. Of course there are many exceptions, not blasting select ball at all.

 

[Charlie Marlow_rivals363743]

The great Don Nelson always liked to say that there was a select team out there for any kid whose parents were willing to sign up and spend the coin.

There are cheaper alternatives of course than UBA. But you should also get a good idea what you can expect from any prospective coach. How will he be used and how often will he play? Do the coaches have a reputation of developing players well? Some coaches will gladly take your money just to have your kid sit on the bench all year. Just a few things to look out for.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

I agree with @litespeedhuskerfan in that you have to determine how much time and money you want to spend on baseball.

Have that time commitment conversation with your son as well. If he doesn’t want to commit the time, it really doesn’t matter if you are ok with the time and money spent.

The one suggestion I would make is that, in any club sport, try and find a non-parent coach, especially as he gets older. That will take away some of the politics that do exist. Some coaches are better at dealing with it but rest assured when there Is a parent HC and 4 assistant coaches and those coach’s kids are batting 1-5, it doesn’t matter if they are the best 5 players, it leads to back biting and being uncomfortable in the stands listening to it all.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

The one suggestion I would make is that, in any club sport, try and find a non-parent coach, especially as he gets older. That will take away some of the politics that do exist. Some coaches are better at dealing with it but rest assured when there Is a parent HC and 4 assistant coaches and those coach’s kids are batting 1-5, it doesn’t matter if they are the best 5 players, it leads to back biting and being uncomfortable in the stands listening to it all.

This probably does happen more than I realize...we did not do that, but I admit I could have undersold the political thing in this area and the back biting which is common in baseball, and will happen regardless, on some level. Most parents are OK, but some will watch every batting line up and keep track and even if the best players are batting 1-5, some parents are never going to be objective about who the best players are and think theirs deserves something different than what he is getting. So be prepared for that no matter what anyway, is all I'm saying.

 

[big red23]

What are some cheaper alternatives?

I've heard the Spartans in Iowa are pretty cheap. I have also heard Bennington Select isn't outrages, but is also a bit too far away from me.

I have looked online, but he has missed the tryouts for some. I just would like to know other options of where he can go after today. So he has more than one option and can see what some others offer

 

[HominidHusker]

Give me $1500 and I’ll give him private lessons.

 

[beerdawg69]

I coach Select baseball, I can tell you one thing I preach to these kids...Have fun, its baseball a kids game. Sure we teach fundamentals, we are teaching kids good sportsmanship. We go in every game trying to win, but we are not a win at all cost. I've seen other coaches, sitting players for a whole game, having there 11 yr old pitchers throw 95 pitches in 1 game. As coaches we block all the noise out from parents, we focus on the boys. If parents dont like it, theycan leave at the end of the yr. It is time consuming, it does cost a little money. If your kid enjoys baseball, ask other parents, what's a good organization, who are good coaches. Find the right fit, for both parents and your kids.

 

[T...Chafes]

What part of Omaha do you live in??

$2-$3 grand is a ton of money for A-AA ball. Most of that money is going to the organization, multiple uniforms, possibly paid coaches and a yearly indoor membership.

You can find lots of teams out there charging $1000 for 50 games, including 7 tourneys for the same product/results.

Key is to find a good coach and organization...

 

[big red23]

What part of Omaha do you live in??

$2-$3 grand is a ton of money for A-AA ball. Most of that money is going to the organization, multiple uniforms, possibly paid coaches and a yearly indoor membership.

You can find lots of teams out there charging $1000 for 50 games, including 7 tourneys for the same product/results.

Key is to find a good coach and organization...

That is what I am looking for here... tips to those places. I live in West Omaha currently, but am going to be moving more centralized soon.

 

[big red23]

Give me $1500 and I’ll give him private lessons.

Meh

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

I cant imagine there is a much worse thing for 10 to 14 year olds than playing a bunch of tournaments where you play 5 games in 3 days or whatever. Then we wonder why all these high school kids are getting TJ surgery.

 

[beerdawg69]

I cant imagine there is a much worse thing for 10 to 14 year olds than playing a bunch of tournaments where you play 5 games in 3 days or whatever. Then we wonder why all these high school kids are getting TJ surgery.

Hmmmm. Better than sitting on a couch, eating chips drinking sodas all day.
Most usssa tournaments have restrictions on how many innings a pitcher can pitch in a single day, or tournament.

 

[big red23]

I cant imagine there is a much worse thing for 10 to 14 year olds than playing a bunch of tournaments where you play 5 games in 3 days or whatever. Then we wonder why all these high school kids are getting TJ surgery.

Trust me I am with you, but there is a little involved with my "situation".

 

[big red23]

Hmmmm. Better than sitting on a couch, eating chips drinking sodas all day.
Most usssa tournaments have restrictions on how many innings a pitcher can pitch in a single day, or tournament.

Where do you coach?

 

[beerdawg69]

Where do you coach?

Lincoln

 

[beerdawg69]

I cant imagine there is a much worse thing for 10 to 14 year olds than playing a bunch of tournaments where you play 5 games in 3 days or whatever. Then we wonder why all these high school kids are getting TJ surgery.

I guess I'm a little old school, never bought my boys Xbox or video games, they were outside playing basketball, baseball, football. To this day, they could care less about video games, all of them very active. That's how my Dad was with his boys, get your butt outside. I was the only one that didnt play ball in college, military for me.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

I guess I'm a little old school, never bought my boys Xbox or video games, they were outside playing basketball, baseball, football. To this day, they could care less about video games, all of them very active. That's how my Dad was with his boys, get your butt outside. I was the only one that didnt play ball in college, military for me.

I'm all for that. I can't imagine a kid playing outside more than I did growing up. I'm all for throwing a lot, just not all for pitching in competitive situations (especially off a mound) a lot for younger kids. 40 or 50 games a summer sounds pretty good to me, 70 or 80 seems counterproductive and probably harmful to me.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I have coached for 20 years now...football mostly. Here it is...

Select sports are not about the sport, the kids, or learning...select sports are a business first and anything after that is secondary, as it should be, because it is a business.

You are the customer and the business wants your money. Like someone else said, there is a select team for any kid that has parents that will pay the cash.

I have run so many camps for the sole reason of making extra money, football and basketball. My intent was simple, get as many kids signed up as I can and make as much money as I could in a short amount of time. That doesn't mean I didn't teach/show/explain all I could but it was about the money. Shoot I can remember starting my first football camp off at 20 dollars and later realizing how much more I could charge.

Why a kid needs 50-60 games in 3 months is beyond me...play for your local park district, 2 games a week, 1-2 practices a week, kid will have a blast.

I have yet to meet a select coach that wasn't kissing a baby while trying to steal its lollipop. I do know more than a few of them (not as many in baseball though) And yes, UBA is one of the worst at this in the area. Oh and just wait for some of the coaches to talk to you in private about "extra training on the side...that will be 30 dollars for 30 minutes)

 

[T...Chafes]

The key is you have to move fast, as a lot of the tryouts are today (and maybe tomorrow).

Here's a link to all the 11U AA teams in Nebraska, look for Omaha teams. Then you have to search on internet to find tryout dates and/or coaches contact info to set up private tryouts. You could also change the "Class" to '11 & Under A'.

http://www.usssa.com/baseball/RankingResults/?regionID=723&classID=52&seasonID=23&ranking=0

Tigers, UBA, Pacesetters and Hosey's Heroes are probably the most expensive teams out there in Omaha. They do have quality coaches and teams at the highest levels, but some of lower teams (UBA and HH) are way overpriced for the quality of play!

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

Very few coaches admit to playing to win more often than not, we all think we're pretty objective and fair and it's all bout the kids, etc etc etc, and want others to believe it to, but when it's late in the game and you gotta make a decision, the "what's my best chance to get out of this jamb or put my foot on their throat" creeps into the decision more often than not. Props to anyone who says it doesn't and means it, they're a better person than me

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Very few coaches admit to playing to win more often than not, we all think we're pretty objective and fair and it's all bout the kids, etc etc etc, and want others to believe it to, but when it's late in the game and you gotta make a decision, the "what's my best chance to get out of this jamb or put my foot on their throat" creeps into the decision more often than not. Props to anyone who says it doesn't and means it, they're a better person than me

This is sooo true!

I did basketball for the first time last year...and this time was beating us and then put in their scrubs and we game back and tied...it was late in the game and the HC looked at me and goes "Oh my god, why are those players still in?" the other team still had their scrubs in...and I just looked at him and said "I guess everyone plays the same amount for them"

We came back to win by like 5...but I thought the other coach did the right thing. This wasn't game 7 of the NBA finals...it was a reserve game.

 

[mgbreeze]

If he truly loves basketball and you think he has potential, then he's about 2 years away from a coach telling him that he needs to focus on hoops in the summer. Which, I of course disagree with. But I know for a fact that exact thing happens in my Class B size town.

There's sooooo many USSSA programs in the Omaha area, you just need to get on the USSSA Nebraska site and start emailing coaches. Any chance he could play in Plattsmouth or a smaller town that's close? It would be cheaper and I like the the smaller town teams where there is some consistency on the teams. It seems like the Omaha and Lincoln teams are chaos every year with half the parents trying to find a "better" team for Johnny.

 

[big red23]

The key is you have to move fast, as a lot of the tryouts are today (and maybe tomorrow).

Here's a link to all the 11U AA teams in Nebraska, look for Omaha teams. Then you have to search on internet to find tryout dates and/or coaches contact info to set up private tryouts. You could also change the "Class" to '11 & Under A'.

http://www.usssa.com/baseball/RankingResults/?regionID=723&classID=52&seasonID=23&ranking=0

Tigers, UBA, Pacesetters and Hosey's Heroes are probably the most expensive teams out there in Omaha. They do have quality coaches and teams at the highest levels, but some of lower teams (UBA and HH) are way overpriced for the quality of play!

Thanks

 

[JohnRossEwing]

If he truly loves basketball and you think he has potential, then he's about 2 years away from a coach telling him that he needs to focus on hoops in the summer. Which, I of course disagree with. But I know for a fact that exact thing happens in my Class B size town.

There's sooooo many USSSA programs in the Omaha area, you just need to get on the USSSA Nebraska site and start emailing coaches. Any chance he could play in Plattsmouth or a smaller town that's close? It would be cheaper and I like the the smaller town teams where there is some consistency on the teams. It seems like the Omaha and Lincoln teams are chaos every year with half the parents trying to find a "better" team for Johnny.

Yep! And please DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! Select soccer is the worst at this right now.

You get 4 years (mostly) to play sports that count (High school sports). Then it is gone. Do not miss out on bus trips with friends, don't miss out on school assemblies, don't miss out on goofing around in the locker room.

 

[ridge222]

IMO I guess it all depends upon what the end game is. Is it to play in high school, is it to play in college and if so at what level and in what sport basketball or baseball. For the most part I would say most select and high school coaches are pretty mediocre at best, and like some one said earlier in the post stay away from parent coaches. 99 out of 100 times they have an agenda and that agenda is their kid. Especially in baseball I think a kid can watch a baseball game on TV and get an incredible wealth of knowledge from listening to the commentators of a game.

In theory you would think that there wouldn't be too much conflict with basketball and baseball as far as schedules. But you are starting to get in to that age were all sports start to collide in where and when a program or a coach wants you to be at his practice and or game. There are basketball camps, leagues and tournaments that run all through the summer. Baseball starts up indoor hitting and fielding practice right after the start of the year. So I would be up front with a coach on both sides about that, and also press them on if that is an issue. A lot will give you the old "yes that is fine line", but check how they respond to that and their body langue.

As far as the coach goes, talk to them a lot before hand to find out what they are like. Talk to the parents of kids they have coached and find the best fit you can. Are they developers are do they just care about Wins and Losses. At this age development is everything. Look for a fun low pressure environment at this age that focuses on competing and not winning. No one give a frogs fat *** about what your team did in a 12-14 year USSSA tournament except the parents who blast it all over facebook. There must be hundreds of State and National tournaments in baseball and softball from the looks of parents on social media.

Money is and always will be an issue so take that in to account as well. Time and time again I hear people ***** about the cost, and I am one of them too, but when it is all said and done almost every parent says they really miss that when their kid graduates or is done with that sport.

I do there is a lot to be said about playing with and against higher level competition. You get in with like minded players and higher skill level players and competition and you find out where to stand and what it takes. Steel sharpens steel.

Good Luck and hope it works out.

 

[mgbreeze]

I get the concern on development vs winning, but it has to be both. Don't fool yourself into thinking any kids baseball team from A to Majors can have every kid take their turn playing shortstop. No one will get developed because your team will be getting boat raced every game. It's a balance, and I'm sure that's not what you meant. IMHO the worst years are 8s and 9s because every parent thinks their kid is Alex Gordon, that usually gets cleared up by the time they're 11-12!

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I get the concern on development vs winning, but it has to be both. Don't fool yourself into thinking any kids baseball team from A to Majors can have every kid take their turn playing shortstop. No one will get developed because your team will be getting boat raced every game. It's a balance, and I'm sure that's not what you meant. IMHO the worst years are 8s and 9s because every parent thinks their kid is Alex Gordon, that usually gets cleared up by the time they're 11-12!

I think development is done in practice time.

Drills: Everyone gets equal reps/times
Scrimmage 1: More time given to guys that looked better in drills
Scrimmage 2: More time given again
Scrimmage 3: More time given to the "backups" to see how they look live

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

I get the concern on development vs winning, but it has to be both. Don't fool yourself into thinking any kids baseball team from A to Majors can have every kid take their turn playing shortstop. No one will get developed because your team will be getting boat raced every game. It's a balance, and I'm sure that's not what you meant. IMHO the worst years are 8s and 9s because every parent thinks their kid is Alex Gordon, that usually gets cleared up by the time they're 11-12!

Are you joking? It gets worse, not better!! At least in my experience anyway. I wonder if you meant to say it becomes obvious who the better players are after a few years, but parents don't stop thinking their kid would be better if he had more AB's or more time playing SS. Or that their kid is better than the kid playing in front of him and the only reason he isn't playing more is because it's political.

Had a discussion with a parent about a week ago who's kid went to a different high school this year to make their team, citing Millard South's team is all political and it's why their kid didn't make it. In reality, the place they went sucks dead donkey sweaty balls and I'm not even sure they cut kids because they barely fill out their roster with kids who want to play.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Are you joking? It gets worse, not better!! At least in my experience anyway. I wonder if you meant to say it becomes obvious who the better players are after a few years, but parents don't stop thinking their kid would be better if he had more AB's or more time playing SS. Or that their kid is better than the kid playing in front of him and the only reason he isn't playing more is because it's political.

Had a discussion with a parent about a week ago who's kid went to a different high school this year to make their team, citing Millard South's team is all political and it's why their kid didn't make it. In reality, the place they went sucks dead donkey sweaty balls and I'm not even sure they cut kids because they barely fill out their roster with kids who want to play.

Hmmmm...Springfield Plattview? Wait..DC West?

 

[mgbreeze]

Are you joking? It gets worse, not better!! At least in my experience anyway. I wonder if you meant to say it becomes obvious who the better players are after a few years, but parents don't stop thinking their kid would be better if he had more AB's or more time playing SS. Or that their kid is better than the kid playing in front of him and the only reason he isn't playing more is because it's political.

Had a discussion with a parent about a week ago who's kid went to a different high school this year to make their team, citing Millard South's team is all political and it's why their kid didn't make it. In reality, the place they went sucks dead donkey sweaty balls and I'm not even sure they cut kids because they barely fill out their roster with kids who want to play.

You're not wrong, but I still say for flat out crazy no one can top the Moms on an 8u travel team!

 

[ridge222]

Are you joking? It gets worse, not better!! At least in my experience anyway. I wonder if you meant to say it becomes obvious who the better players are after a few years, but parents don't stop thinking their kid would be better if he had more AB's or more time playing SS. Or that their kid is better than the kid playing in front of him and the only reason he isn't playing more is because it's political.

Had a discussion with a parent about a week ago who's kid went to a different high school this year to make their team, citing Millard South's team is all political and it's why their kid didn't make it. In reality, the place they went sucks dead donkey sweaty balls and I'm not even sure they cut kids because they barely fill out their roster with kids who want to play.

Now we are going down a different rabbit hole. This sounds like a situation that the kid may have been handling it better than the parent, just an assumption on my part.

 

[HuskerJack95]

If he truly loves basketball and you think he has potential, then he's about 2 years away from a coach telling him that he needs to focus on hoops in the summer. Which, I of course disagree with. But I know for a fact that exact thing happens in my Class B size town.

There's sooooo many USSSA programs in the Omaha area, you just need to get on the USSSA Nebraska site and start emailing coaches. Any chance he could play in Plattsmouth or a smaller town that's close? It would be cheaper and I like the the smaller town teams where there is some consistency on the teams. It seems like the Omaha and Lincoln teams are chaos every year with half the parents trying to find a "better" team for Johnny.

During the CWS, Kyle Peterson said he had yet to talk to a college baseball coach who thought that any kid should "specialize" in any one sport.

 

[beerdawg69]

Trust me , there are some crazy *** coaches out there, playing a tournament in Omaha, game before ours, Grandma went over to dugout to say goodbye to little Johnny. Didnt go in dugout, stood behind to say goodbye, Coach comes unglued, yells at sweet Grams. NO ****PARENTS BY MY DUGOUT, BOYS DONT NEED THE DISTRACTION.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Trust me , there are some crazy *** coaches out there, playing a tournament in Omaha, game before ours, Grandma went over to dugout to say goodbye to little Johnny. Didnt go in dugout, stood behind to say goodbye, Coach comes unglued, yells at sweet Grams. NO ****PARENTS BY MY DUGOUT, BOYS DONT NEED THE DISTRACTION.

This is why so many people that coach should not be coaching and should be take out back and beaten with a rubber hose.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

Trust me , there are some crazy *** coaches out there, playing a tournament in Omaha, game before ours, Grandma went over to dugout to say goodbye to little Johnny. Didnt go in dugout, stood behind to say goodbye, Coach comes unglued, yells at sweet Grams. NO ****PARENTS BY MY DUGOUT, BOYS DONT NEED THE DISTRACTION.

Depending on the age.....we have always had the rule in our organization that family and friends stay out of the dugout. My teams have always been 15-18, so it is rarely an issue. We had our list of rules and every family got the list. I just don’t have that big of an issue with telling parents to stay out of the dugout, especially at that age.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

Depending on the age.....we have always had the rule in our organization that family and friends stay out of the dugout. My teams have always been 15-18, so it is rarely an issue. We had our list of rules and every family got the list. I just don’t have that big of an issue with telling parents to stay out of the dugout, especially at that age.

too many chiefs, not enough indians is certainly a problem. If you know so damn much, then you coach em is something I've wanted to say too many times.

 

[newAD]

That is what I am looking for here... tips to those places. I live in West Omaha currently, but am going to be moving more centralized soon.

I wish I could go back in time about 12 years and tell my younger self what I know now regarding select baseball.

First what high school is your son going to go to? Very important question. There are high school coaches who have their minds made up before incoming freshmen have started their first day of school. Not all, but if all of them said they don't, a percentage of them are lying.

Regarding what level. If your son loves to play, get him in the highest level that he can play, where he will get to play multiple positions. Playing Majors and being stuck in the outfield is not better than playing AAA and getting to play more positions, pitch and catch. Don't get hung up on the level, get hung up on what your son is getting the opportunity to do. However, realize that some high school coaches are going to be biased whether they admit it or not, and if they know a kid played majors and another played AA, the majors kid has an edge.

Make sure every kid is going to get a chance to pitch.

If your son is right handed, get him some catcher's gear.

If your son is going to play for a dad coach, give it one season. If the coach's son gets to play shortstop, pitch and nothing else, and bats 1st, 2nd, or 3rd every game, run like hell a year from now and go somewhere else. Some dad coaches are doing it because they love to coach. Some dad coaches, well your son is filling a roster for his son to play.

Finally, ask the coach a lot of questions at the tryouts while you are still somewhat unknown. I'm sure you know that you will have about 2 seconds to make a decision when called by a coach.

I battled the AAU/Baseball question over the summer. To supplement basketball, consider camps, as a lot are early in the week, and OSA 3 on 3 or Gretna 4 on 4 for extra work over the summer that doesn't conflict with baseball as badly as the MAYB and AAU tournaments.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Depending on the age.....we have always had the rule in our organization that family and friends stay out of the dugout. My teams have always been 15-18, so it is rarely an issue. We had our list of rules and every family got the list. I just don’t have that big of an issue with telling parents to stay out of the dugout, especially at that age.

Coming to say goodbye to your grandkid is way different than coming to help offer up some batting advice.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I wish I could go back in time about 12 years and tell my younger self what I know now regarding select baseball.

First what high school is your son going to go to? Very important question. There are high school coaches who have their minds made up before incoming freshmen have started their first day of school. Not all, but if all of them said they don't, a percentage of them are lying.

Regarding what level. If your son loves to play, get him in the highest level that he can play, where he will get to play multiple positions. Playing Majors and being stuck in the outfield is not better than playing AAA and getting to play more positions, pitch and catch. Don't get hung up on the level, get hung up on what your son is getting the opportunity to do. However, realize that some high school coaches are going to be biased whether they admit it or not, and if they know a kid played majors and another played AA, the majors kid has an edge.

Make sure every kid is going to get a chance to pitch.

If your son is right handed, get him some catcher's gear.

If your son is going to play for a dad coach, give it one season. If the coach's son gets to play shortstop, pitch and nothing else, and bats 1st, 2nd, or 3rd every game, run like hell a year from now and go somewhere else. Some dad coaches are doing it because they love to coach. Some dad coaches, well your son is filling a roster for his son to play.

Finally, ask the coach a lot of questions at the tryouts while you are still somewhat unknown. I'm sure you know that you will have about 2 seconds to make a decision when called by a coach.

I battled the AAU/Baseball question over the summer. To supplement basketball, consider camps, as a lot are early in the week, and OSA 3 on 3 or Gretna 4 on 4 for extra work over the summer that doesn't conflict with baseball as badly as the MAYB and AAU tournaments.

I wish I could go back in time about 12 years and tell my younger self what I know now regarding select baseball.

First what high school is your son going to go to? Very important question. There are high school coaches who have their minds made up before incoming freshmen have started their first day of school. Not all, but if all of them said they don't, a percentage of them are lying.

Regarding what level. If your son loves to play, get him in the highest level that he can play, where he will get to play multiple positions. Playing Majors and being stuck in the outfield is not better than playing AAA and getting to play more positions, pitch and catch. Don't get hung up on the level, get hung up on what your son is getting the opportunity to do. However, realize that some high school coaches are going to be biased whether they admit it or not, and if they know a kid played majors and another played AA, the majors kid has an edge.

Make sure every kid is going to get a chance to pitch.

If your son is right handed, get him some catcher's gear.

If your son is going to play for a dad coach, give it one season. If the coach's son gets to play shortstop, pitch and nothing else, and bats 1st, 2nd, or 3rd every game, run like hell a year from now and go somewhere else. Some dad coaches are doing it because they love to coach. Some dad coaches, well your son is filling a roster for his son to play.

Finally, ask the coach a lot of questions at the tryouts while you are still somewhat unknown. I'm sure you know that you will have about 2 seconds to make a decision when called by a coach.

I battled the AAU/Baseball question over the summer. To supplement basketball, consider camps, as a lot are early in the week, and OSA 3 on 3 or Gretna 4 on 4 for extra work over the summer that doesn't conflict with baseball as badly as the MAYB and AAU tournaments.

Good post.