Its been a few years since my son played youth baseball and I'm stunned on how things have changed. The training seems so intense for such young children. I'm sure the travel is fun for the family.. and thats great but I wouldn't want other parents to think that its necessary to train and travel at a young age to become a hs baseball player.
Posts: 1193 | Location: NJ | Registered: December 30, 2002
In our area there are many more kids playing rec than travel, but for whatever reason almost none of the rec players make it to the varsity level. Maybe it's just that the more talented kids move to travel teams and the kids who just aren't as gifted stay in rec.
Posts: 651 | Location: Ohio | Registered: February 04, 2006
Tournaments are simply a blast and yes I may go broke . A little success and the boys just want to keep on working. Remember, if you are doing something you love you will never have to work a day in your life. Every weekend is a new experience with a renewed opportunity to have fun, maybe win, and to make new friends. The travel kids all remember each other and love to talk more baseball after they do battle against each other.
All I know is that no sooner do we get in the car most weekends after a tournament and a he wants to know who we are playing next week, at what time, and he cannot wait to go. When we get home he checks the dish guide to see who is playing MLB.
He is happy until we wake him at 6:00 am on Saturday and/ or Sunday morning pending his hot chocolate and cinnamon sugar toast!
Life lessons... priceless!
Bill
Posts: 62 | Location: Maryland | Registered: September 25, 2006
Originally posted by Innocent Bystander: In our area there are many more kids playing rec than travel, but for whatever reason almost none of the rec players make it to the varsity level. Maybe it's just that the more talented kids move to travel teams and the kids who just aren't as gifted stay in rec.
Likewise for our area as well. Travel teams are fun and expensive. They do drive most boys to play hard. BUT What do you do with the couple of families who on the team see travel as party time? Then that 6am wake up you have two boys who have not gotton enough sleep and make errors. We don't play league and when you only carry 10 or 11 on a rooster you can't always bench them. One got cut 2 remain, they are fine players closer to home and later in the day.
I also posted the thread which is similar to this re money and talent. What happens to a talented player when his parents money runs low? Cost is high for travel teams.
"Practice the way you play!!"
Posts: 281 | Location: StL,Mo | Registered: September 07, 2007
Originally posted by Lefty34: What happens to a talented player when his parents money runs low? Cost is high for travel teams.
Here's a little know secret about travel. I don't know if anyone has ever played this card. Most travel teams are incorporated as 501c not for profit organizations. There are two reasons for doing this. 1) Many businesses need a tax ID to contribute donations. 2) It places any legal liability on the corporation/team rather than the coaching staff. I'd rather have the team lose it's bank acount in court than me lose my house.
Now back to the issue at hand. It is illegal for a not for profit organization to cut a player for financial reasons. We raised money every year for a couple of "scholarship" players. In the beginning when a dad said he couldn't afford travel, I told him to go find sponsors for his son and we would place them on our website and our sponsors banner.
We don't have tryouts. It avoids this situation. We recruit or evaluate requests to play on the team. We never have tryouts. A lot of teams do.
Posts: 624 | Location: . | Registered: August 12, 2007
Lefty, We have had that problem before and I am sure that many teams also have financial concerns. Fundraising is a big part of travel teams. We have sponsers and fundraising for the majority of our expenses. The cost of our team is probably around 40K for the year, but we have been able to keep the cost down to about 1K per player per year for 10 months of travel ball. There are a kid or two who can't afford that. Good kids and good parents get a little more help. Teammates and parents don't mind if a good kid needs a little help. And when I say good kid, I mean good teammate, not just a good ball player. Donations are tax deductible and we work on them all year. A lot of pro teams will have a set up that provides for local teams to make money by working parking lots, cleaning up trash, concessions, etc.
Usually, if a family wants to play they can, but they had better be willing to give up a weekend or two per month for fundraising. It is not very fun, but if you want to play, it has to be done.
Unless your kid is a super stud. Then you will be flown in for tournaments around the country. Nice gig if you can get it.
Hustle never has a bad day.
Posts: 544 | Location: Phoenix AZ | Registered: May 02, 2007
My "to be 13 in 2008" just made a local AAU team here in NH. My EX & I chose this team for a number of reasons, a major one being COST! Here in NH we have to workout indoors from November (start of the new year for the program)through April. This obviously drives up the cost a bit without even traveling to a tournament yet! To compensate for this, the program only travels to one tournament during the year and it is only 2 1/2 hours away in CT (Spring Frost tourney I believe?). After this tournament we play an AAU schedule with the local AAU teams in NH and Mass. Our kids are also encouraged to play in our town's Babe Ruth program so the kids can play ball with their friends and hopefully make the All-Star teams and represent our town. In the late summer / fall we play in a wood bat league which is with teams from within NH. Obviously the boys are also encouraged to play for their schools as well. So this program allows the boys to workout all winter and play the top talent within our area without kicking the crud out of my wallet. The cost of our program is $1,500 for the year and payments are made throughout the year to help spread out the cost. As others have pointed out, this organization has a few scholarships available for those who may need it as well. Ya in my case it won't be easy to afford it but I think it will be more then worth it in the long run.
My "to be 13 in 2008" just made a local AAU team here in NH. My EX & I chose this team for a number of reasons, a major one being COST! Here in NH we have to workout indoors from November (start of the new year for the program)through April. This obviously drives up the cost a bit without even traveling to a tournament yet! To compensate for this, the program only travels to one tournament during the year and it is only 2 1/2 hours away in CT (Spring Frost tourney I believe?). After this tournament we play an AAU schedule with the local AAU teams in NH and Mass. Our kids are also encouraged to play in our town's Babe Ruth program so the kids can play ball with their friends and hopefully make the All-Star teams and represent our town. In the late summer / fall we play in a wood bat league which is with teams from within NH. Obviously the boys are also encouraged to play for their schools as well. So this program allows the boys to workout all winter and play the top talent within our area without kicking the crud out of my wallet. The cost of our program is $1,500 for the year and payments are made throughout the year to help spread out the cost. As others have pointed out, this organization has a few scholarships available for those who may need it as well. Ya in my case it won't be easy to afford it but I think it will be more then worth it in the long run.
When does your son rest? He should shut down throwing a baseball for a minimum of three months. Ask any sports medicine expert. If you don't have access to ask one, go to ASMI and read it there. ASMI was founded by Dr. James Andrews, the leading expert in the world on arm injuries.
Posts: 624 | Location: . | Registered: August 12, 2007
I should have explained that the indoor winter work is mainly work on hitting. There is little to no throwing done during the winter. When March rolls around then the pitchers and catchers will start to get some work in and they will rent out a local gym to get in some throwing and fielding practice, albeit what you can do inside a gym..lol.
also the kids are encouraged to play their other sports during the off season, ie.. my son plays basketball, while a few of the boys play hockey. They want well rounded ahtletes and for the boys to enjoy playing other sports as well, to help avoid baseball burnout.
Remember that we have a short season up here in NE..6 months at best so plenty of time for resting the arm!!
IMO, it is not necessarily "travel" that makes the kid better...it is the higher amount of reps being led by a quality coach.
To be honest with you, I HATE playing in tournaments. 2-3 games Saturday and 3 games Sunday for any kid is WAAAAY too much. Think about it...when will they EVER play 3 games in a day? In HS and beyond, they will RARELY even play a DH. Why should young kids do something that older kids don't/can't?
Posts: 3379 | Location: VB, VA | Registered: December 26, 2002
Originally posted by redbird5: IMO, it is not necessarily "travel" that makes the kid better...it is the higher amount of reps being led by a quality coach.
To be honest with you, I HATE playing in tournaments. 2-3 games Saturday and 3 games Sunday for any kid is WAAAAY too much. Think about it...when will they EVER play 3 games in a day? In HS and beyond, they will RARELY even play a DH. Why should young kids do something that older kids don't/can't?
Red, I'm in complete agreement with you. Playing three games in a day is nuts. Sometimes it's four on Sunday. But travel is where I could assemble a coaching staff skilled at teaching all aspects of the game. It's where my son can get quality competition at 13U and 14U and come to high school prepared to play. Our local 13-15 rec leagues are awful. We only played four tournaments around LL in 11U and 12U.
In a few years I believe studies will show some real damaging physical results from playing six games in two days from 9U to 15U or 18U, especially from the 9U to 12U years.
Next fall my son will start playing Legion. It will be back to single games and occasional doubleheaders. I'm looking forward to it from a sanity standpoint. I've never liked spending twelve hours at the park when we make the championship game. I never played more than two a day in my life.
Posts: 624 | Location: . | Registered: August 12, 2007
In terms of playing 2,3 and even 4 games a day on weekends, our kids love it. When it really gets hot it can be tough.
We also believe it gives more kids a chance to develop. The top teams typically rotate players to different positions and on my son's team we have at least 7 kids that can pitch and do pitch on a regular basis. If we played in a league, at least half might never have a chance to see if they can pitch because you just do not need the pitchers or catchers for that matter. As a result of needing more pitchers kids with relatively weak arms that can throw strikes increase their arm strength from pitching and now maybe they can play other positions and further develop. I realize some of this stuff can be practiced but the kids need to be at game speed too. The rec leagues in MD are absolutely awful and nothing other than walk fests and error fests. The kids learn nothing in that environment. The travel leagues in MD can be okay but we do have the second worst traffic in the country so getting to week time games is a nightmare at best.
It all depends in which state you reside.
Posts: 62 | Location: Maryland | Registered: September 25, 2006
Rec leagues in our area are awful too. My husband thought this spring it might be fun for our son to play with the kids from school as well as the travel league. Travel league we play in the Major division 14u the rec team was thrilled to finish 4-12 for the season(more wins that the last three years combined).
Son said that rec ball is too 'painful' & not fun for him. Some kids are athletic & competitive and some are not. Competitve Kids need to be challenged at and above their level/comfort zone to learn,improve & have fun. Others have fun no matter the score. Just my experince & MHO.
"Practice the way you play!!"
Posts: 281 | Location: StL,Mo | Registered: September 07, 2007
This is kind of off track as far as this thread has turned but we do not live in a hot bed of baseball,as a matter of fact people look at you funny when you play fall ball! Anyway there are not many travel teams around here.We go to as many camps as possible,have a batting coach.Try to provide the best enviroment as far as baseball is concerned,but for the most part competition is very limited until you get to the district level in LL.Seasons are short around here(Wisconsin).I am originally from GA.and baseball is pretty much a year round deal down there.Has anyone here ever relocated for the benefit of playing ball?
Bat Speed Kills
Posts: 111 | Location: Lodi,Wisconsin | Registered: July 27, 2007
Originally posted by Bill L.: Wow! Strong feelings.
In terms of playing 2,3 and even 4 games a day on weekends, our kids love it. When it really gets hot it can be tough.
We also believe it gives more kids a chance to develop. The top teams typically rotate players to different positions and on my son's team we have at least 7 kids that can pitch and do pitch on a regular basis. ...It all depends in which state you reside.
I live in VA. I coach one of the best teams in our age group in the country. We can compete against anyone and have fared very well. Every game we have played over the last 3-4 years, we have faced the other team's #1 or #2 pitcher. We have always been very deep in pitching, with 9+ pitchers.
With that being said, I played over 130 games per year in HS and was fortunate enough to play 4 years of Division I baseball. I never played more than a DH in a day.
Also, we view games as a way to show off what we learned in practice. Skills are developed in practice and executed in games.
Posts: 3379 | Location: VB, VA | Registered: December 26, 2002
I think you are right down in your neck of the woods.
Unfortunately up here n MD our options are really limited.
There is no question that the skills are learned in practice but games are the rewards and opportunity you state.
I have been trying to convince my wife to move futher south for years. Lots more teams and boys playing ball. You do not have to drive far to find top competition in your neck of the woods.
Check out how many games MD allows in their HS. Pretty pathetic and they do not play BB in middle school either. Some private schools do play in MS, but maybe 6-8 games typically.
Based on our experiance we feel we have no real choice but tournament ball in MD if he wants to play beyond HS.
I am starting to think this situation differs region to region.
Bill
Posts: 62 | Location: Maryland | Registered: September 25, 2006
We are thinking of switching school districts to get into a more established program witha better coaching track record. It would mean a job switch for me not a household move.
"Practice the way you play!!"
Posts: 281 | Location: StL,Mo | Registered: September 07, 2007
Hi, Lefty. It's probably different in your area, but here, we have had some crazy coaching switcheroos this year. Our HS head coach of 3 years was essentially run out of town on a rail by a bunch of JV parents. When that happened, for a moment I considered transferring my 2011 to a different school, but he wanted to stay, and it's the best around academically. The school we would have transferred to, with a very well-established quality baseball program, fired their coach of 25 years just a few weeks ago. He made the wrong folks mad and poof he was gone. So I guess the point is that if you had my luck, then as soon as you changed districts, your coach would leave!
Our HS baseball program is iffy now - the new coach seems nice enough, but no one seems to know anything about him, and he hasn't gotten anything going this fall. But we have a good fall travel team which we'll go back to in the summer. It seems like the HS season is just part of the whole picture, and playing for a good fall and summer travel team does just as much or even more than the HS season in terms of player development and visibility. At least I hope that's the case!
. A little success and the boys just want to keep on working. Remember, if you are doing something you love you will never have to work a day in your life. Every weekend is a new experience with a renewed opportunity to have fun, maybe win, and to make new friends. The travel kids all remember each other and love to talk more baseball after they do battle against each other. 
