I was talking to a friend the other day who has moved away from my area, and he told me that in his new home town in Ohio there are now three "select" teams which will be sending their players to tryouts at a single local high school this spring. Now, I'm doing the math, and it seems to me to be pretty likely that some of the members of those "select" teams aren't going to make the cut. (It was never that way in my town when my kids were that age; players from Babe Ruth and Junior League made the freshman roster each year, along with all the "travel team" players.)
Is this a situation which any of you are facing this year? Have the travel team parents talked about how to handle it during the HS season and when it's over?

D'oh!

Don't have anything to offer to your discussion other than I heard the same thing while back in Ohio over the Holidays. Program was administered by local town high school coach. Kid I met in it was 10 years old. Seemed a bit early to me.

IMO - Now days there are so many select teams it seems like everybody is on one. The rec leagues sometimes have trouble having enough teams. More and more dads are going out and forming select teams because you can play more games and you don't have to fool with all the league politics. All in all it probably has been good for baseball in general.

Anyway you add up the numbers for a general locale or high school, it's still the same kids trying out for the high school team.

Just because your "select" does not mean you are any more talented than some kids in rec. All it means today is that you travel to play ball.


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Chicks - I think you made a very good point. I think a lot of dads are forming independent teams so they can recruit the players they want and don't have to draft through a rec. league.

This will work itself out over time as there become too many independent teams.

"Sending" players to tryout for a HS team??

First, if they are at the level to play for a true select team, they don't need to be sent.. By the time a player hits HS he must want to play the game, it must be in his heart (not his parents, not his friends and not his past coaches but his) or he has no business being on a field.. Since coaches are sending these players what will hapen to their positions on the select team if they are not one of the 15-18 chosen for the HS team?

_______________
"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole."

"JustMom"

Umm, I just meant that the players on those teams are now old enough to be freshmen, and will (I assume) be trying out for the school team. Kind of like bragging that your HS "sent" 3 players on to D1 schools?

D'oh!

As Chicks pointed out, there are still X number of kids moving up to try out for freshman team, the only difference is that a higher percentage of them are from select ball instead of league ball.

Our HS team (5-A) does not make cuts. But if they did and our son did not make the cut, I would encorage him to keep playing on a travel team.

Several posts here have stated that their kids never got looked at in HS ball, the attention they received was the result of showcases.

I firmly believe you need the combination of HS ball, travel teams and showcases-- they all contribute to the end result, hopefully which is a positive result

TRhit

I'm still wondering when/if we'll venture down the travel/select road?

As many of you know, my son's only 9-1/2 and just moving up into LL Majors next season (after having tried Majors this past fall). We're in RI, and I don't even hear much about travel teams in our state. Perhaps they're much more prevalent over in MA, but then we might have to travel a couple/few hours to each game, or worse, to practices. That could sure stretch our schedules out a bit, but if he really wanted to do it, we'd sacrifice. Is that type of travel the norm? You have to understand, in RI, because we can drive out of our state in any direction in about 15 mins, anything longer than 30 mins requires a bag lunch and maybe even sleeping bags!

I know my son really enjoyed playing in "All-Stars" (a Minor league variation) last summer. The increased competition and teammate skill level was a real draw for him. But I guess I figure, for now, w/ him moving up to be a little fish in a big pond next season, maybe he's got all he can handle still in rec ball - at least for another year or so.

I agree that calling it "select" in this day and age seems to be a bit of a misnomer. We had a guy invite my son to tryout for the "select" s*ccer team he was forming last fall, and his son was among the least skilled players on the rec team the prior year. But of course, he'd be a starter on this new team, but hardly "select".

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Caution: I have absolutely NO credentials, so take everything I say w/ a grain o' salt!

“Select” has become a buzz word that is used to describe a team that has at least nine players, two bats, and an innovative coach.
Daddy Ball has infiltrated the ranks of Select baseball and those daddies have created pedestals (teams) for their sons. While I’m not totally against the creation of teams, I think it has completely changed the pre-high school format.
Fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

sandman -
whatever his age - as long as he's playing where he's challenged - he's in the right place


ps- I'm with fungo - some communities found they can charge much higher fees if they re-name their "REC" teams as "select"

good luck



lefties? - - - they just aint right!

Fungo is right about Daddy Ball. I had to laugh. A few years back, the dad's of the 12 old all-stars (translation: the dad's who coached in the 12 year old league) formed a "select" team for age 13. They spent about $5-6K on hiring a small local college asst. coach for them. They got hammered by every select team around. Our Summer Rec League all-stars beat them in a practice game. They had gotten minimally better since age 12. It was more about the dads.

In my area (Louisville, KY) there are between 8-10 "select" teams in our age group. Below our age group are even more. Little League and Babe Ruth (Cal Ripkin) baseball has really taken a hit. The kids on my team play both. I am one of those Dads that formed a team, but for a different reason than has been posted. My son is very serious about baseball and the rec league kids (many of whom are very talented) are not as committed. It is also a factor that playing against better teams will help you improve. But, the single most important reason we went the "select" team route was that in rec ball you had a different team every year and with it many new players that didn't know the fundamentals. While this is great for baseball, it is hard for a kid that wants to play college or beyond. You may ask why? Because every year the team has to start over at the very beginning - teaching how to hold the bat, stand in the box, stay down on the ball, point and throw. The talented kids never get the chance to learn the next level of the game. Our "select" team is made up of the same 12 kids for the last 3 years. We started at an advanced level and have moved nowhere but up. We are able to focus on advanced techniques and strategies. Our kids have been playing by HS rules for three years now and at HS distances for two. I believe that I am not alone in making the switch for this reason.

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Sandman

You state RI is predominantly a Legion state when it gets to the older levels

Most RI kids who play on select teams play out of state, we have had a few with us.

As regards "select" teams at the 8 thru 12 age I think it hurts the kids because to much emphasis is put on winning and not teaching the fundamentals---the kids get to the HS level not having a full understanding of the game

TRhit

Sandman,
I don't know what it's like in RI but here in MS you've got to be on a select team to meet the best competition. In RI it might depend on how strong the rec leagues are and how your son matches up with the others. If he is one of the top 3 players in a league of 10 teams, you definitely would benefit from select if it is convenient for a 10 year old. If a great deal of travel is involved due to where you live, then you might want to wait until he is 12 or 13.

My oldest had to travel 75 miles to practice at 13 and 55 miles at 14.
My youngest had to travel 75 miles at 12 and 13 and will travel 120 miles at 14 this year.
We loved every minute of it and made all kinds of new friends that we still visit today.

Make no mistake, the benefits were rewarding!

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

P.S. Sandman,

You must be careful when selecting your select team, you need to know the backgrounds of the players and coaches. Be sure they're top notch players that he will be playing with, this is very important!

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Chicks

So true--many are set up by "DADDY" for his son and are not truly "select" teams

TRhit

The version of baseball called select or travel for boys 8-12 scares me. As TRHit stated, they seem to concentrate on winning and not teaching the fundamentals. This reminds me of s----r. My son played travel or select s----r from K-7th grade along with plain old little league. His s----r coach is tauted as one of the best and when my son went up to him at 13 and told him he was quitting because it wasn't fun anymore, the coach was dumbfounded. The coach told him he was forming a national team to tour the country and my son said he didn't care because he wasn't having fun. After Little League he began playing travel baseball because he decided that's what he loved playing and it had stayed fun. No matter how good you are at any sport, if the fun is taken away, they will lose their love for the game. Don't rush travel in the younger years. Learn the game, play all the positions(yes, even the ones that may not be their best position at 8-12) in the younger years and hopefully they will love the game in their older years. I have seen freshman who played travel baseball for 4 years prior that aren't half as good as others who have stayed away from travel.

I have noticed a big increase in the number of select teams in our area, possibly for the reasons stated; parents building teams around their own kids.

With all the dads starting teams, and competing with the "clubs" that have professional coaches, there just aren't enough skilled players to form "true select" teams as one poster said.

I assistant coached/coached my kid for the past 3 years, and he is now on a team coached by a former college/pro player who doesn't have a kid on the team, which is working out great.

I wish one of those coaches would come along, I would gladly turn the reigns over. I do what I do to help the kids on my team - all of them. If a more knowledgable coach became an option, I would step aside; it's about them, not me.

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