An even better story for basketball is the kid that played travel ball for 8 years and got “their” spot taken by that 6’8” kid that only has a PO Box in town but lives in another state and transferred to your school. My son’s school had 4 of their starting 5 transfer in from other districts and all ended up D1 players. Thank goodness my son quit in 7th!
OT: Select Baseball
- Thread starter big red23
- Start date
There are a couple of things that are going on in a situation like this. Coaches are always trying to find someone better than your kid, it is how they win and also stroke their ego. I am sure the coach patted himself on the back a little and thought, hell yeah I am a great coach. When in reality it was the kids who put in the work and their youth coaches who developed the talent.
Basketball IMO is really big on that and there are a lot of kids whose skills are lacking because all they do is just play games, especially at the AAU level.
Secondly, some kids and mostly parents think that just because their kid is on a travel/"select" team they should be starting by their freshman or sophomore year. In basketball you have 12 players on a roster on 5 on the floor, slow your roll before you think your kid is the next Jordan, who by the way didn't make varsity his sophomore year. I get you as a parent have sunk some $ in to this, but let it happen and let the kid experience some failure. Trust me life aint easy and if the worst thing in your life is not making varsity sophomore year sign me up.
I guess I don’t remember that much burnout. I see kids that realize they don’t have the ability to play beyond high school step away, I’ve seen parents who no longer want to drop the $$$ decide to pull their kid. Or kids who decide that they don’t like one sport as much as they thought and the move on to another sport. But true burnout, it happens, but I think people mask the real reason they leave by saying it’s burnout. Again jmho
First paragraph I believe that to be true for incoming freshmen. After that coaches know, or should know, who is teaching their players what.
2nd paragraph, on the macro I agree, but there are tons of coaches that play potential over production.
Example - Johnny should be able to rake, he has all the ability and skill, hits well in practice but doesn’t play well when the lights come on. Many coaches will ride that kid longer than the do Tommy, the kid with an ugly swing and two left feet. Tommy can be hitting .350 but one or 2 0fer games and he is on the bench and Johnny is in the lineup. And they will try to convince themselves and anyone else who dare question the tactic that Johnny just needs more reps and he will reach his potential.
Yeah I was mainly speaking on incoming freshman. Id say the biggest hurdle in playing high school baseball is making the team as freshman. Obviously some kids will have to be cut through the years as they are expected to move up to rankings from reserve to varsity but for the most part once your in...you have a decent chance at playing varsity ball. Coaches wont put you on a freshman reserve team if they dont think you have potential to play at a varsity level in a few short years.
As far as potential over production you are 100% right. So often the smaller kid with not as much pop on his swing in the cages gets over looked by the big stud who smacks it around it BP. Seen it far too many times where the little guy is given a chance and people are shocked by his great 1 game performance. Coaches will even disregard such preformances as a fluke or something of the nature and put their stud Johnny back in. With a little bit of time and determination little tommy will get his chance to shine. Baseball is a great sport.
Two things:
Burn out: This usually just means you realize it sucks spending all your time doing that sport.
Tryouts: What we tell kids...MAKE IT HARD FOR US TO CUT YOU! Like someone said, show up for EVERYTHING, hustle your *** at everything, shut your mouth, do not have parents email us.
Burn out: This usually just means you realize it sucks spending all your time doing that sport.
Tryouts: What we tell kids...MAKE IT HARD FOR US TO CUT YOU! Like someone said, show up for EVERYTHING, hustle your *** at everything, shut your mouth, do not have parents email us.
Burnout shouldnt be "when they realize they arent good enough to play after high school".
This is part of the problem with some parents and kids. Too many think their kid is a college athlete when 99% arent. What they further dont understand is thats OK. Youth and school sports are seen too much as a means to an end and not enough about the actual moment.
This is part of the problem with some parents and kids. Too many think their kid is a college athlete when 99% arent. What they further dont understand is thats OK. Youth and school sports are seen too much as a means to an end and not enough about the actual moment.
You know, this is a really going post I teach a lot of kids that during their 10th grade year are all "Oh yeah, I am gonna play in college, if I don't get D1 I will probably play at (insert name of smaller school here)"
Then by the end of 11th grade they sort of realize that if they aren't getting a full ride that it just really isn't for them anymore. And they start to look at colleges that fit what they want.
So many of them have seen what their parents have invested (money and time) and they feel like they HAVE to play in college but a lot of them realize that playing X-Sport at Small School U with 1000 students, no greek life, out in the middle of nowhere, just isn't what they want.
He made a team through Millard United. Hopefully it doesn't break the bank, and Millard can't be too bad right?
Best of success to you and your son. Watch the instructional time and hold them accountable to their standards they tell you. Would say the same thing no matter where your son ended up. May it be a great experience
Glad to hear that. I was going to suggest Millard United, Keystone, or Suburban as an alternative that wouldn't be as expensive. I think your kid will still get some competitive baseball in that league.
Parents of “select” sport “athletes”, I have a question.
How much time do YOU spend with your kid playing catch, batting, throwing, learning with your kid a week (day, month, year, whatever) to help them improve a particular skill to advance in a particular sport?
Or do you just shell out $2000 to some “expert” every summer to try and do it for you while you Uber your kid around town?
I imagine that parents are the kids worst nightmare when it comes to this crap. Maybe I am just naive when it comes to cut throat world of youth sports, but teach a kid hard work, fundamentals and actually learn with them, to me, is the best chance you can get.
How much time do YOU spend with your kid playing catch, batting, throwing, learning with your kid a week (day, month, year, whatever) to help them improve a particular skill to advance in a particular sport?
Or do you just shell out $2000 to some “expert” every summer to try and do it for you while you Uber your kid around town?
I imagine that parents are the kids worst nightmare when it comes to this crap. Maybe I am just naive when it comes to cut throat world of youth sports, but teach a kid hard work, fundamentals and actually learn with them, to me, is the best chance you can get.
Before you get all high and mighty, I look at myself personally, and I would absolutely LOVE to be able to play catch and pitch for my kid. However, I have adhesive capsulitis (better know as frozen shoulder) currently. I can barely even get my throwing arm above my head currently, and damn sure can't put any sort of velocity of ball while throwing it right now without going into extreme pain. The fun part, this crap last 1 to 3 years I've read, and my kid is 11 currently. He currently has no offers currently unless the lowest level of Gretna baseball comes through for us... He doesn't want to play rec league because (in his words, not mine) there isn't enough games. I'm crossing my fingers on Gretna, because the kid lives and breaths baseball. No other sport even comes close for him. So, since I currently cannot physically do it, I am more than willing than shell out some cash to let him have his dream. Childhood only last so long, and and long as he loves it, I'll do it.
There’s little doubt that there are plenty of families that handle their situation as you’ve described. I can only speak for my own. This year was my son’s first year playing AAA youth ball. I had reservations because of all the stories you hear and the perception that select baseball is full of overbearing coaches and parents. That certainly wasn’t our experience. He had a blast, and learned a lot about fundamentals and the game. On top of that, he and I really enjoyed all of the time we spent practicing at home. I couldn’t have been happier with how things went not only for him, but also for getting the share the experience as a family. As he gets older, I won’t assume we’ll have that same experience every year, but to a large degree, I think you can make of your situation what you want it to be. You don’t have to be a participant in the drama if it comes about.
I get the sense from your post that the idea of select teams annoy you. That’s fine. That being said, there is ample opportunity for enjoyment and constructive development if one does decide to participate.
Not trying to get all high and mighty here, although my post may have come across that way. I have no experience of putting a kid through these leagues yet, so I may be over stepping anyway. I’m just speaking from my youth, which was a hell of a lot different than today. And I realize everyone’s situation is different.
One of my biggest worries is what will “select” sports be in 10 years from now? I think it is already pretty insane.
One of my biggest worries is what will “select” sports be in 10 years from now? I think it is already pretty insane.
In 8 years of following my two sons through AAA and Majors, I've seen and experienced maybe 6-8 nightmare coaches or parents. Also, my oldest was on a team that "blew up" and ceased to exist because of disagreements between parents and coaching changes. Basically I think "travel ball" mirrors any other aspect of life, work and school. There's always a guy cutting you off in traffic or a teacher with a bad attitude or a boss that treats you like dirt. It doesn't mean the entire system is bad. I wouldn't trade the time we've spent as a family at the ball field for ANYTHING. I think when I'm lying on my death bed my final thoughts will be remembering throwing BP or playing catch with my sons. My oldest has his first junior legion area tournament game this afternoon, I can't wait!
I have been my son's basketball coach since second grade. When he was 6-8 years old I would take him out when his friends in the neighborhood would be eating dinner and work on his shot and dribbling in the driveway 3-4 times a week.
Now he needs further instruction, because I have provided all I can give for basketball
Baseball... I would just play catch pitch and hit balls to him in the field behind our house when he wanted to. I don't know the sport well enough to teach him proper techniques and what not.
I put in time and have been yelled at my fair share of times to let him do it the way he wants and stop being so pushy
I would have him play 30 games a summer and pay for private lessons. I played 70 games a summer but no practice. Even if I played in 50 of those games I only got 180 at bats, maybe threw 75 innings as a pitcher and stood bored at a whole bunch of positions. Single mom spent way too much money and when I got to HS I still had no technique and was very raw. There just isn't enough time to work on the details when every day is travel and double headers. A good private coach can increase velocity by 20-30% and improve power and hitting to all fields. 30 games is enough to get the "game" experience.
9u softball tryouts were held two weeks after 8u season ended. 8u has coach pitch, softer balls, and 45 foot bases. 9u has hard balls, kids pitch, and 60 foot bases. Makes a lot of sense.
Sorry to hear that man! How old is he? <- Edit - Saw he was 11 in one of your earluer posts.
I should just be greatful my boy made a team, and stop worrying about the money. Although like I said my situation is a little different (Going though a divorce)
It's all good. He's upset, but that will pass. He will dominate rec league next year, I have no doubt. He did this year, and he didn't even do any training. Once he saw how competitive tryouts where, I think it clicked with him that he's going to have to work on it harder. He might be a beast (by 12 year old terms lol) by next year. He's ultra competitive.
A sudden change... My wife has been working her butt off looking for a team for my son, and looks like something may have come through. Sounds like he's gonna get to play select ball after all. Bad for my wallet... Good for him. Laughing
That's great for your son. Glad he made a team. Which organization did he make, if you dont mind me asking. I'm sure he just made the team better...
Omaha Force. Hopefully its a good choice, we honestly don't know. The guy that worked my son seemed like a good dude.
Pretty good organization. Expensive, but you generally get what you pay fo from them. Good luck.