I agree with and speak from experience. We traveled in soft ball and I loved it. All is well however there are other things that make up life.
Travel Ball
- Thread starter dawg21
- Start date
I agree with and speak from experience. We traveled in soft ball and I loved it. All is well however there are other things that make up life.
firend of mine's son...........
is literally the best 12 yr old I've ever seen. If he continues on his current trajectory he'll be in the 6'5" - 6'7" range and he'll throw in the 90's. That is if he continues at his current pace. Anyway, he's from a small town and joined a metro Jackson travel team, and sat on the bench. I couldn't believe it so I went to see for myself. Nobody on that team was even in this kid's near vicinity skill wise, size wise or any other measurable. So my buddy took his kid, went home, formed his own team with other country boys and they're competitive - primarily because his kid can't be hit. He only pitches his kid once a week and on a strict count, which makes no difference since he never throws more than 11-12 pitches an inning. My buddy is very fair with playing time and with positions and he wins. He protects his own kid and is fair with everybody else and he knows baseball. Not all daddy built teams are bad things.
is literally the best 12 yr old I've ever seen. If he continues on his current trajectory he'll be in the 6'5" - 6'7" range and he'll throw in the 90's. That is if he continues at his current pace. Anyway, he's from a small town and joined a metro Jackson travel team, and sat on the bench. I couldn't believe it so I went to see for myself. Nobody on that team was even in this kid's near vicinity skill wise, size wise or any other measurable. So my buddy took his kid, went home, formed his own team with other country boys and they're competitive - primarily because his kid can't be hit. He only pitches his kid once a week and on a strict count, which makes no difference since he never throws more than 11-12 pitches an inning. My buddy is very fair with playing time and with positions and he wins. He protects his own kid and is fair with everybody else and he knows baseball. Not all daddy built teams are bad things.
As someone who has played "select" ball and someone who has worked in the parks and rec business for many years, I have seen the development of these travel teams and I have seen all the positives and negatives that come with it. Travel ball is an awful thing at an early age, but it is absolutely necessary for kids to develop. I didn't start playing travel ball until I was in the 6th grade. Even then we were considered a tournament team. We played in the rec league, but then after the season we played in a lot of tournaments, moreso than the normal all-star team. Before sixth grade it was all just rec then all-star. After sixth grade we became a straight select team, and there was one other select team in Madison also. That was not that long ago, but now you see 4 or 5 select teams at every age level starting at age 8 (or earlier). It used to be the select teams were the best kids of the age, but now it is just getting a team together of your friends and their kids for the most part. Anyone who has the money to play, can. And this really dilutes the talent pool in select. However, since that is about 60+ kids not playing in the rec leagues, the rec league is terrible. This means that if you want your kid to develop, then you HAVE to fork out thousands of dollars each year for them. It really is unfair because not everyone has the money to do this, but it is what it is.
Now some teams actually do have hired coaches that really know and can teach the game of baseball. Those are the guys you want to play for, but those are also the most expensive teams.
I really do feel sorry for the kids oftentimes. These kids have tons of pressure put on them by some of these coaches, and when parents are throwing thousands of dollars around, they expect them to be awesome. They don't really have the choice on if they want to play that many games or not, the parents make the decisions. Also, as others have said, many of the kids get burned out mentally and physically. I see way too many 9 year old kids throwing curveballs because the coaches don't know what they are doing and are just trying to waste the kids arms in order to win tournaments. Its amazing to me how many times I have seen a team trying to get around a pitch count just to get their best pitcher to throw the maximum (and sometimes more) they can. This is terrible for the kids arms.
If it were up to me, I would still want the rec ball with all-stars to follow, but that is not realistic anymore.
Now some teams actually do have hired coaches that really know and can teach the game of baseball. Those are the guys you want to play for, but those are also the most expensive teams.
I really do feel sorry for the kids oftentimes. These kids have tons of pressure put on them by some of these coaches, and when parents are throwing thousands of dollars around, they expect them to be awesome. They don't really have the choice on if they want to play that many games or not, the parents make the decisions. Also, as others have said, many of the kids get burned out mentally and physically. I see way too many 9 year old kids throwing curveballs because the coaches don't know what they are doing and are just trying to waste the kids arms in order to win tournaments. Its amazing to me how many times I have seen a team trying to get around a pitch count just to get their best pitcher to throw the maximum (and sometimes more) they can. This is terrible for the kids arms.
If it were up to me, I would still want the rec ball with all-stars to follow, but that is not realistic anymore.
I've seen some dads who played their kids over a kid who was about equal or maybe a little better than their son. I've never seen the best player on a team not play. Not saying this didn't happen, but a lot of times parents have a distorted view of their kids talent. Unless the coach is a complete idiot (if that's the case you should know before you start to play with them) he has no choice but to play the top 6 players. The problem I've seen is when parents have that #8 kid and want to argue that he's better than the #7 kid.
That was another PLUS with my son's tournament ball coach. He didn't play Fall ball. He let the kids play school sports during that time.
ruin a kids arm for the millions he will make
One of my son's teammates was told from 10 yrs old and on that he would make millions in the future based on his performance at that age. He made the JV team as a 7th grader and pitched his first HS game as an 8th grader. Played Fall ball and the parents and high school coach were projecting 6-4 to 6-5 based on the height of his older brother. Well, he quit growing at just under 6 feet his 10th grade year. However, because the HS coach was stating in the paper he was going to be the next professional player from this HS, they kept pitching and pitching and pitching. During his senior year he was taking injections in his arm just so he could pitch a game. Went on to college and never really did anything to talk about. He would get shelled in games. His arm was just worn out at that time. I blame no one but his high school coach and parents. The high school coach was tickled that he played Fall ball because he didn't want him playing other sports at the school. Nothing wrong with "travel teams" and "Fall Ball" as long as it is taken in moderation when it comes to pitching.
One of my son's teammates was told from 10 yrs old and on that he would make millions in the future based on his performance at that age. He made the JV team as a 7th grader and pitched his first HS game as an 8th grader. Played Fall ball and the parents and high school coach were projecting 6-4 to 6-5 based on the height of his older brother. Well, he quit growing at just under 6 feet his 10th grade year. However, because the HS coach was stating in the paper he was going to be the next professional player from this HS, they kept pitching and pitching and pitching. During his senior year he was taking injections in his arm just so he could pitch a game. Went on to college and never really did anything to talk about. He would get shelled in games. His arm was just worn out at that time. I blame no one but his high school coach and parents. The high school coach was tickled that he played Fall ball because he didn't want him playing other sports at the school. Nothing wrong with "travel teams" and "Fall Ball" as long as it is taken in moderation when it comes to pitching.