OT- Tee Ball

[o_tacodawg]

Going into year number two coaching my son with the city tee ball league- starting Monday. I want to use this thread as fond memories of everyone and their little ones in ball.

OTOT **not tee ball related but a memory with my son I’ll cherish forever

I had season tickets to the Biloxi Shuckers for my boy and me in 2018. Our seats were on the third row up, first baseline edging the dugout where the back drop ended at the time. My boy, three at the time, made a friend in the second baseman. Every game the guy would make it a point to toss my son a ball.

This particular night there was a man, mid 60’s, sitting front row, just nearing the edge of the dugout as well. When it came time for the player to toss my boy his ball, this older man hopped up and snagged it- he was unaware it was our routine. Said player stopped and motioned to the guy that it was for my son but the dude didn’t care, held it up in excitement and sat back down. Entire sectioned boo’d this guy and told him to give it to my son. His wife was mortified.

So eventually the guy turned around and handed it to my son. We sat down and started watching the game again. Not even into the second pitch afterwards does my three year old toss the ball as hard as he could at the back of this guy’s head, hitting him in the shoulder. While I’m doing my best (trying not to laugh cause karma) to explain to my toddler that what he did was wrong, the same section that boo’d this man, laughed their asses off and was ecstatic. He got up and left and his wife came to me and apologized, saying he had a few too many.

 

[RocketDawg]

I coached tee-ball for two years. The first year we were 1-13. The second year we were 13-1 -- with the same kids. It just shows how they mature over the course of a single year at that age.

 

[o_tacodawg]

Biloxi’s league doesn’t even keep score. Pretty much let everyone hit once and chaos on the infield.

 

[Go Budaw]

Biloxi’s league doesn’t even keep score. Pretty much let everyone hit once and chaos on the infield.

I don’t think any leagues keep official score anymore at that level, but most of the parents still do.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I coached my girls for 2 years. 2 innings and you batted around each inning. We always tried to teach our kids to throw to first for a “force out” even though there wasn’t really one.

It was like herding cats.

 

[RocketDawg]

We had a 5-run limit per inning. Don't know how they do it now.

 

[RocketDawg]

What age group is tee ball now? I believe it was 5 and 6 when my son was playing.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

It was 3-5 and then when mine were 5 they changed it to 3-4 and made 5 year olds play baseball and softball. Some kids at 5 can handle that but most still need something like Tball.

 

[o_tacodawg]

Mine played in the 4 years last year and is going into the 5 year this year. Believe it goes to coach pitch going forward.

 

[OneParticularHarbor]

Coaching T-ball is herding cats with bitchy mothers.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

Better enjoy it because travel/select ball ruins it by age 9, even in the last holdouts. In Jackson most are playing select at age 7.

 

[missouridawg]

We had our second practice tonight. I’m trying to teach six year olds how to hit pitching (coach pitch). 6 is too early for pitching. They should still be hitting off the tee.

 

[gwadSIG]

About to have my first go at coaching in a week or so. My 3.5 year old is playing for the first time, so nervous and excited at the same time. Been trying to get him out in the yard but last week killed a little of that.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

Better enjoy it because travel/select ball ruins it by age 9, even in the last holdouts. In Jackson most are playing select at age 7.

Truth. My kids 6yo year of Coach pitch, some meat head was hanging out talking to my parents the last couple of games. He was recruiting for a travel team to start as the Rec season ended. 6 year olds!

 

[GloryDawg]

I didn't coach baseball. I did coach my son city league football. That was so much fun. I was head coach one season. That season was not as much fun but it was still fun.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

A positive.... youth sports made a big impression on me as a kid. So when my kids starting playing, I took every opportunity to be involved, coach, assist, manage to make it good experience. We made a lot of good memories, made life long friends and met a lot of other nice people.

Coach as much as you can. Enjoy it!

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

You don’t have to play travel ball. Plenty of rec leagues around to keep them going and have fun.

 

[PineGroveBully]

I don’t have kids, but I have an 8 yr old nephew that is going to be really good and loves it, and a 7 yr old nephew that is good at playing in the dirt. I have not talked with my brother to see if/when he will start the 8yo on travel ball. When we were that age there really weren’t many travel teams outside of Junior Legion, or Little League All Stars. So when we got to high school most of us starters had played approximately the same amount of games.

The decision that he and you with kids have/had to make is if they don’t play the travel ball are they being placed behind the 8 ball if they want to compete for a high school position. I see both sides. I know what playing centerfield in HS meant to me, but I have lots of friends that I never see anymore because they seem to be chasing their kids tournaments 30-40 weekends a year.

Just something that has been on my mind. Growing up I was the oldest of 4 so my parents didn’t have the time or means for much travel ball had it really been a thing. But being that was the case for a lot of kids it didn’t matter because we were all pretty much on the same footing. I can’t help but think of the kids whose family doesn’t have the means or means are stretched thin to play travel ball. I worry that they won’t have the same opportunities that playing ball 20+ years ago afforded.

is that something y’all have struggled with? Like I said no kids but my nephew has just put it on the brain. He has enough natural talent that he deserves to let it bloom, but I understand the stress it can put on the family.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Coaching T-ball is herding cats with bitchy mothers.

Coached girls mid teen softball for several years. Most of the best high school players were on women's teams in league play. Later on they changed and made a better league system for the younger girls. Didn't matter what our records were, I was instructed to just work the basics and teach them the little things of playing slow pitch. Fast pitch started afterwards in time. I had a few players improve enough to make small college and JC programs after getting the basics down and having a full time high school coach.

After I remarried and gained a early teen girl and ten year old boy I worked with his team since my girl only cared about basketball. I spent more time working on their attitudes instilled by their parents than actually working on techniques. Parents were the worse! I had a coach scream at me for trying to teach his kid how to throw a change up. His change up was more of an Ephus pitch than a change up and his fastball was like batting practice.

It's still fun but prepare yourself for parents and what they have taught their kids. I can't even imagine what its like in a world with 25 genders and no Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

 

[hatfieldms]

Travel ball is all about how you handle the parents. We just started at 10u which I think is a good what to start and only have a parent or two who even have the potential to be an issue. They are also two kids who we can tell to pound sand if the parents do not straighten up. I am all about developing kids, but refuse to deal with stupid *** parents and they have all been told that

 

[beachbumdawg]

Come on now. My now 9u was hitting coach pitch at 4 and wanted to play kid pitch at 7 but in general I agree - I didn’t let him

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Mine have no interest other than just having fun so we play rec leagues (soccer). We have a friend with a girl the same age as our kids thats about to start travel softball and they have two boys that are 5 and 3 that they’re going to have to take and entertain at the ballfield all weekend. Sounds like a blast.

 

[missouridawg]

Come on now. My now 9u was hitting coach pitch at 4 and wanted to play kid pitch at 7 but in general I agree - I didn’t let him

Most six year olds don’t even know how to stand in the box. Yours and mine do cause we care. A lot of parents treat sports as a exercise/daycare regimen for their their kids.

 

[beachbumdawg]

Most six year olds don’t even know how to stand in the box. Yours and mine do cause we care. A lot of parents treat sports as a exercise/daycare regimen for their their kids.

Which is why we left rec for good after 7u - I mean I love teaching the game - but only getting a kid for 2-3 hours per week - I’m not a miracle worker and then a parent wants to know why little Johnny isn’t playing in the infield- umm, because he can’t protect himself? After I heard one mom complaining in stands that her son should be on 2b, I put him there and after 4 pitches of him standing on the freaking base, I moved him back to CF and turned and said there just may be a reason why he hasn’t played there - she didn’t complain at least loudly the rest of the season

 

[cowbell88]

I assisted when mine was 3 and was head coach when he was 4 and 5. Forgot to sign him up in time last year, so when we got him on a team, I was only a spectator. He did better with this Coach, and even made all-star team (coach pitch/Tball)

All-Star tournament was a joke though. Most former head coaches and their assistants also moved up. So, all the coaches children naturally got first choice at playing time. My child and another child was the only non-coaches kids on the team. Yes, we became “those” parents, when it was obvious he wasn’t getting to play; BECAUSE, he wasn’t a coaches kid.

I can definitely see both sides of the coin on this issue.

 

[NWADawg]

We had our second practice tonight. I’m trying to teach six year olds how to hit pitching (coach pitch). 6 is too early for pitching. They should still be hitting off the tee.

Kids are more capable that we give them credit for most of the time. At the advise of others, I mixed in soft toss practice along with tee practice when mine were around 3. Once they learned to "find" the ball on soft toss, hitting pitching came quickly.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

You don’t have to play travel ball. Plenty of rec leagues around to keep them going and have fun.

Not to pick on your statement but.... this is true in theory but not reality.

As we all know here... the rec leagues should be good enough for kids under 11/12 but daddy wants his kid to be the next professional athlete star. The kid starts sports way to early and moves to "travel" way to early.

I was guilty of it. My kid started "travel" at 9yo. Once the talent left the rec league for travel, the rec league was void of talent. I mean extremely void of talent. So this becomes the issue for most parents. Leave your kids in rec for the greater good, face no competition, Practice 2x a week (tops) and two games a week for two months. Or join the travel team and play year around, vs equal talent, take trips, stay in hotels and have team parties. It's two extremes.

I don't mind the travel ball. I loved it. However I think we are all starting sports and travel to early of an age.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

I don’t have kids, but I have an 8 yr old nephew that is going to be really good and loves it, and a 7 yr old nephew that is good at playing in the dirt. I have not talked with my brother to see if/when he will start the 8yo on travel ball. When we were that age there really weren’t many travel teams outside of Junior Legion, or Little League All Stars. So when we got to high school most of us starters had played approximately the same amount of games.

The decision that he and you with kids have/had to make is if they don’t play the travel ball are they being placed behind the 8 ball if they want to compete for a high school position. I see both sides. I know what playing centerfield in HS meant to me, but I have lots of friends that I never see anymore because they seem to be chasing their kids tournaments 30-40 weekends a year.

Just something that has been on my mind. Growing up I was the oldest of 4 so my parents didn’t have the time or means for much travel ball had it really been a thing. But being that was the case for a lot of kids it didn’t matter because we were all pretty much on the same footing. I can’t help but think of the kids whose family doesn’t have the means or means are stretched thin to play travel ball. I worry that they won’t have the same opportunities that playing ball 20+ years ago afforded.

is that something y’all have struggled with? Like I said no kids but my nephew has just put it on the brain. He has enough natural talent that he deserves to let it bloom, but I understand the stress it can put on the family.

It's somewhere in the middle. I absolutely loathe the way the system is set up, but unfortunately the parents demand it. The rec league is watered down, but I honestly still think we are going to go back to that next season.

I mean it's pretty obvious that playing more games against better competition will probably make you better, or at least get better reps. But I've seen many MLB guys who say you don't need to do this, and everybody always played multiple sports.....but then again only in the last 20 years has this whole specialization thing been mainstream, so we really don't have the data to know. Only thing we know for sure is that it contributes to injuries. I've also heard that dominating the rec field and playing multiple positions helps confidence, so who knows.

But either way, to me, it's just too much time and money and they aren't teaching kids the right things, and pigeon hole them into positions way too early. That's enough for me to likely hang up the travel and head back to rec after this season (9U).

 

[MedDawg]

Tee ball was invented by a Mississippi State professor.

nm

 

[Russ Wheeler]

Not to pick on your statement but.... this is true in theory but not reality.

As we all know here... the rec leagues should be good enough for kids under 11/12 but daddy wants his kid to be the next professional athlete star. The kid starts sports way to early and moves to "travel" way to early.

I was guilty of it. My kid started "travel" at 9yo. Once the talent left the rec league for travel, the rec league was void of talent. I mean extremely void of talent. So this becomes the issue for most parents. Leave your kids in rec for the greater good, face no competition, Practice 2x a week (tops) and two games a week for two months. Or join the travel team and play year around, vs equal talent, take trips, stay in hotels and have team parties. It's two extremes.

I don't mind the travel ball. I loved it. However I think we are all starting sports and travel to early of an age.

Agreed, there is no middle ground. Sounds as if you had the same experience I'm having now. Beachbumdawg makes good points above about the parents not caring in rec, which makes it tougher. I think the key is just finding a travel team that suits you, and not worry so much about winning. That's the sacrifice I'm afraid, at least for me.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

We had our second practice tonight. I’m trying to teach six year olds how to hit pitching (coach pitch). 6 is too early for pitching. They should still be hitting off the tee.

League should be letting them get a swing off the tee if they strike out.

 

[NWADawg]

Agreed, there is no middle ground. Sounds as if you had the same experience I'm having now. Beachbumdawg makes good points above about the parents not caring in rec, which makes it tougher. I think the key is just finding a travel team that suits you, and not worry so much about winning. That's the sacrifice I'm afraid, at least for me.

I disagree with this. I coached my 2 sons and daughter, youngest (daughter) is 19, all the way through all ages. My daughter was the best of the 3 and played rec league through 15 yo. Nearly every out of town game we went to had those travel team coaches trying to recruit her. She decided not to play high school ball because she would have to give up showing sheep, working on gdad's farm, etc.... It definitely wasn't because she couldn't play at that level. I had a high school coach from a nearby town try to get us to transfer schools and play for him. I umped 16u "fall ball" which is unofficial high school JV teams around here. She would have been the 2nd best player in the league.

I'm not saying this to say, "hey look at my daughter", because none of you know who either of us are and probably never will. The point I'm trying to make is she did this without ever playing an inning of travel ball. She made up the difference in practice times by her and I working in the yard and in the batting cages.

If they have talent, they don't need travel ball to be successful, if they need travel ball to be successful, there's a good chance they don't have the talent to go next level anyway. So, my suggestion: if you don't want your kid to have to give up almost every weekend and all other activities, be willing to spend the one on one time they need to develop. If you don't know how or don't know good drills, Google is your friend.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Learn something new every day. From the Wiki:

History[edit]

The game's origins date back to at least the 1950s, with several people claiming to be the father of the game, and it appears to have been independently invented in several places. Albion, Michigan claims to be the earliest place of invention of the sport, in 1956, by Jerome Sacharski.[SUP][3][/SUP] Claude Lewis, director of the Warner Robins, Georgia, Recreation Department, formed a tee-ball league in March 1958, in which 20 children played the first year. Lewis designed rules for the new game and mailed the rule books out to rec departments all over the country and overseas. Nevertheless, Starkville, Mississippi claims to have independently created tee-ball in their town in 1961. According to the Starkville Rotary Club's website: "In 1961, when it was apparent that younger children needed some way to participate in the program, Rotarians Dr. Clyde Muse and W. W. Littlejohn devised the game of t-ball and added it to the summer baseball program."[SUP][4][/SUP]

 

[Russ Wheeler]

I disagree with this. I coached my 2 sons and daughter, youngest (daughter) is 19, all the way through all ages. My daughter was the best of the 3 and played rec league through 15 yo. Nearly every out of town game we went to had those travel team coaches trying to recruit her. She decided not to play high school ball because she would have to give up showing sheep, working on gdad's farm, etc.... It definitely wasn't because she couldn't play at that level. I had a high school coach from a nearby town try to get us to transfer schools and play for him. I umped 16u "fall ball" which is unofficial high school JV teams around here. She would have been the 2nd best player in the league.

I'm not saying this to say, "hey look at my daughter", because none of you know who either of us are and probably never will. The point I'm trying to make is she did this without ever playing an inning of travel ball. She made up the difference in practice times by her and I working in the yard and in the batting cages.

If they have talent, they don't need travel ball to be successful, if they need travel ball to be successful, there's a good chance they don't have the talent to go next level anyway. So, my suggestion: if you don't want your kid to have to give up almost every weekend and all other activities, be willing to spend the one on one time they need to develop. If you don't know how or don't know good drills, Google is your friend.

I don't think you're necessarily disagreeing with my premise. I'm actually glad you had the experience you had, because I think I may go that route too. My experience right now is through the lens of a 9U assistant coach halfway through a season so I don't have the end game viewpoint.

But remember, all areas are different. Not sure what NWA area does, but around Jack-town this stuff is a religion. I heard they don't even have a rec league in Madison in 9U because literally every player was on a travel team (and many of them sucked as a result).

I particularly agree with your last paragraph. The stuff we do at home has been exponentially more beneficial, in all sports.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

Travel ball is all about how you handle the parents. We just started at 10u which I think is a good what to start and only have a parent or two who even have the potential to be an issue. They are also two kids who we can tell to pound sand if the parents do not straighten up. I am all about developing kids, but refuse to deal with stupid *** parents and they have all been told that

Don't get me wrong....select ball COULD be really really awesome. But yeah, the parents are what ruined it. They demanded that their kids play, and play with certain people (friends, daddy ballers, etc.), and that breeds all kinds of stupid ****. You simply cannot do much about bad coaches unless the league steps in and most of them simply do not have the time to regulate that.

 

[johnson86-1]

You don’t have to play travel ball. Plenty of rec leagues around to keep them going and have fun.

I'm good with them just playing for fun, and think they will be also, but the rec leagues are getting watered down so early where we live I'm not sure there going to have more than two teams after U8 now, either baseball or soccer. Have a friend who was a college athlete. His kid presumably is going to have the ability to be pretty good, but he's just a late bloomer (because he's not gung ho about sports as a 17ing 7 year old), and he's not getting asked to be on travel teams. Absolutely incredible to me that we have so many dumbass parents that think 7 years old is the time to separate the wheat from the chaff for sports.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Run them all practice every practice until you cut out the weak ones then start on baseball stuff.***

 

[dirtclod]

I coached a player who ended up being a pretty good starter for MSU. You could even tell at that age the difference. He hit a homerun almost every single time he batted. If he played the "pitcher" position he fielded every ball hit in the infield and got the runner out pretty much every time. We would put him out in the outfield to allow the other teams' kids to have a chance to get a hit. He also slid head first into home every time whether he needed to or not.

Other than that I remember butterflies being the biggest deterrent for our other players to notice hit balls.

 

[NWADawg]

I don't think you're necessarily disagreeing with my premise. I'm actually glad you had the experience you had, because I think I may go that route too. My experience right now is through the lens of a 9U assistant coach halfway through a season so I don't have the end game viewpoint.

But remember, all areas are different. Not sure what NWA area does, but around Jack-town this stuff is a religion. I heard they don't even have a rec league in Madison in 9U because literally every player was on a travel team (and many of them sucked as a result).

I particularly agree with your last paragraph. The stuff we do at home has been exponentially more beneficial, in all sports.

The stuff you do at home is exponentially more beneficial far beyond sports too.

As for NWA, this area is loaded with Walmart, Tyson, JB Hunt and many other big company money. Everybody thinks they are too good for regular leagues and are willing to drop $10g+ in equipment and travel costs every year even if their kid rides the pine. Half just want be able to tell others that their kid plays on a travel team. Every available park is rented out for travel tournaments every weekend from spring break through fall. Funny things is, many of the local teams travel to dallas, OKC, Kansas City, .... and most of the teams that play the local tournaments are from Dallas, OKC, Kansas City.... Must make you cooler if you drive farther.

 

[ll Martain ll]

That’s funny, reminds me of playing against Van Pope in Jackson in the early 90s. He literally hit a home run every at bat in coach pitch league. I vaguely remember him having like 25 home runs in our 12 game rec league season, plus that was the year him and Stephen Head were on the same team. Didn’t matter if it was in rec league or travel, you could tell they were going places.

I struck him out once in kid pitch tho a couple years later. That felt pretty good.