Anyone have this team figured out? 14-U Cardinals started out last summer at Shaw Park before surfacing at ECB. Played some this fall, but looks like they're changing things up again. Any insight before showing up for tryout? Probably not a stable deal. Thoughts?



[The East Cobb Cardinals are looking for several key players to complete our 2009 spring roster.

Our next tryout is November 8, 2008]

Guess I'm not sure why they appear unstable based on the history you posted. Depends on how many players they are looking for and why. If they plan to play a rigorous summer schedule then they may find they'll need more pitchers or another catcher. Based on fall results, they may need another bat or two, a lead-off man, etc. They might have had injuries, or players drop out for whatever reasons...

Another reason might even have to do with playing out of East Cobb rather than Shaw: Each team needs to generate enough revenue to be a viable ECB team for the park... that's why you get the enormous teams there (20+ kids sometimes.) In fact, every non-Astros ECB team actually helps support the Astros, not just their own team. Teams add players in the spring to help raise the needed capitol to continue as an ECB team rather than impose a higher per-player fee for kids already on the team. Our team left ECB for that reason, but mainly for greater access to practice time as an independent team with our own field. Non-Astros ECB teams don't always get enough consistent field time for practice, even though each team is assigned a field. High school play-offs end up knocking out most of your pre-season practices, then tournaments at ECB knock out a good percentage of summer practices...

Sorry to have taken this off-topic a bit! I guess I would get more info before deciding the team isn't stable. Go to tryouts and ask questions.

Hey, great points. You raised issues I hadn't considered. My initial concern was the team started the fall with 13-15 players and now was recruiting "a few key players.'' Questions ranged from how many was a few and what about the commitments made to the original players brought on board.
I'm new to this and intrigued by the economic issues of East Cobb. Any idea on the cost or what a team pays directly to East Cobb? Or what figure or percent per team goes to funding the Astros? Also, where did you end up playing?

Minor point, but for sake of accuracy the Cardinals' pitch was for "several key players.'' Sounds like they struggled in fall and didn't recruit well from the start. Imagine by now most top kids signed on with teams and hard to find those top players.
Would like to learn more about ECB, and if this is pretty typical.

There is a team fee to play out of ECB, and each team must pay for game balls and uniforms, batting gloves, spikes and trainers through ECB, as well as a fee for a website through ECB. Also must pay to enter the tournaments just like everyone else... A percentage off the top of each of those items goes to the park, and the park subsidizes the Astros teams. How much that comes out at probably depends on the size of the other teams and the number of other teams at the park at any one time; I don't know an exact figure. The Astros also have other sponsorships as well. These are expensive teams to run because they travel wide and far.

We play out of West Cobb on a 17U team. Our coach is a former Astros coach. See if you can find out what tournaments the Cards plan to play in during 2009, how many kids are on board, how many at your son's position, how much travel is planned, and how practices are run. Also their record during the fall, and the budget for next summer.

Hey, this is great insight. Much appreciated.
Any idea how many of the Astros teams are subsidized? At that level, do the players incur any cost to play?
Still trying to figure out the 14U Cardinals, but can't get a response. Checked some sites and saw they got clobbered at the Triple Crown state tourney - 0-4 and outscored 21-0 in first two games. Parent with a son on the team wouldn't say much, though indicated team has paid coach but 2-3 parents drive the team. Also sounds like coach gives private hitting lessons to kids.

Here is a link to their website. Looks like they only have 11 kids on the roster right now. Links to coaches emails. May want to get in touch with them with questions.

http://www.ecbcardinals.com/

That's helpful and will follow up. Bounced around with teams the last 2-3 years and really wanted something stable. Wondered about checking out a team that changed parks and appeared to be turning over roster after fall

The reality is that most teams do change their lineup to some degree almost every year. You just have to look at and find out the reasons why. If it is a situation where the families leave due to daddy ball or some other negative reason, stay away. If the coach is upgrading the team every year in order to play at a higher level, that is not a bad thing.

We played on the same team from 12-14 (3 years) and only had 4 kids on the team the last year that were on it in the 1st. However, very few families left because they were unhappy. Those that did were probably going to get cut anyway. I believe at this age, there are some kids who progress and get better every year and some kids who may be studs at an earlier age, that don't progress. If you want to continue to play at increasingly higher levels, you have to upgrade the roster.

I don't know the deal with the Cardinals, but making the move from Shaw Park to EC is not that big of a deal. A lot of teams move to EC if they get the opportunity.

Also, a lot of teams do not have their full spring roster in the fall. A lot of kids play football and don't want to do baseball as well. They will also use the fall as kind of an extended tryout for some kids they are considering for the spring. Talk to the coaches and - if you can some former parents - and see if you can get a feel for the situation.

Good luck.

Thanks for the insight and advice. Followed up on suggestions and gonna look elsewhere.

jayhook,
The only money teams pay to East Cobb is the $175 per player registration fee, which is much like playing in a recreational league. There are other requirements, like having to order your uniforms through them because of the park sponsorships by Rawlings, Reebok, etc. The prices are comparable to getting them from other suppliers so there is no added cost. East Cobb hosts a golf tournament as a fundraiser in the spring so each team must get one sponsorship for this golf tournament. Other than that, the park runs off of tournaments and sponsorships.

Each team has it's own budget and that cost, per player, depends on the types of uniforms and number and types of tournaments.

One of the myths has always been that it costs a lot more to play there, but that is just not the case.

Let's not forget about the so called ECB try-out fee of $100-$125 in Aug.