Our version of travel ball is traveling across town. Little League in our area is not what I was expecting so we went select ball. I am from New Orleans and over there Little League was great (as a child and pre hurricane Katrina). Over here in the North Houston area it is sort of back-woods and dominated by folks that have good intentions, but not much to offer in the way of coaching. I understand travel ball out in California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and other states is much more intense. You can play A, AA, AAA, or majors and pick your intensity level at any age group.

How can you be undersized at 7 ??? They are all small!!!

At 9 mine was playing rec ball and I admit he was a bit tall for that age but certainly not the best player. He didn't care and we didn't care. 9 is about having fun, learning the basics. Discussion to follow games was about where to go for hamburgers or wings and ice cream after the game.

I realize that things have changed but sitting down and discussing what work needs to be done next year (at 10), makes me realize that there are too many parents trying to raise ball players, not children.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
At 9 mine was playing rec ball and I admit he was a bit tall for that age but certainly not the best player. He didn't care and we didn't care. 9 is about having fun, learning the basics. Discussion to follow games was about where to go for hamburgers or wings and ice cream after the game.

I realize that things have changed but sitting down and discussing what work needs to be done next year (at 10), makes me realize that there are too many parents trying to raise ball players, not children.

Somewhere along the line youth sports was hijacked and became about development rather than fun with friends.

I learned everything I needed to know about intensity in preteen sports when my son was ten. When the game is over the kids move on. My son is intense on the field. But when it's over, it's over.

The following was after winning a travel (community based travel) s****r championship at age ten. My son's team upset the undefeated team in the championship. While walking to the car:

ME: What did the coach say?

SON: He said congratulations. What's for lunch?

ME: He must have said more than that!

SON: He did. He said we played well. May I have a PlayStation for Christmas?

quote:

Originally posted by Rajun Cajun:

My boy has a lot of work to do and last night we had a chance to discuss the areas that need work on for next season. I let him guide the discussion so the suggestions would be his own. He said he wanted to work on hard hit ground balls to his left and right (judging the depth and angle), and work on getting his pitching arm back a bit further. He also wants to continue to work on his bat and work on hitting to the opposite field as he does have trouble with the outside pitch.

My son is just entering his freshman year in college to play ball. I can hardly remember his coming to me over the years to suggest he work on these things, let alone at 9! Rajun, I know your intentions are good but really, you need to ease off your son just a hair and let him be a boy. I've seen a TON of kids over the years who got burned out by over-zealous Dad's who pressed their son's to perfection on the field. Two of my best friends played college ball and stayed on their boys just like this. Guess what? They both quit at age 15.

Not trying to judge here but give I hope some friendly advise that may help in the long run.

quote:

Originally posted by Rajun Cajun:
I understand travel ball out in California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and other states is much more intense. You can play A, AA, AAA, or majors and pick your intensity level at any age group.

In Northern California, the youngest age group offered at tournaments is 9. There are only open class tournaments, and darn few of those. There just aren't enough teams at that age to have sub-classifications. Kids here play only rec ball until they are at least 10, and they continue in rec ball, together with travel, through their 12U season. Anyone playing travel ball at 13U likely does not play rec ball anymore.

Participation increases in travel ball for older age groups, and you can "pick your intensity level" at age 12 and up.

We never had 9-10 all stars for my kids. It was established later. No travel teams accept what you would consider local travel - but Cali is a big place and we consider it local to the North and then to the South.

We still had strong legion ball in our area, so we just did kind of a feeder team to the Legion Ball.
Travel was considered a 80 mile roundtrip two times during the season of 50 games.

They played a good strong season, but didn't travel very far. Oh, I forgot we did go each summer to Reno for 4 day tournament (driveable). Never flew anywhere. Seemed like we got real good competition based on where most of the guys ended up for college.

quote:

Originally posted by highwinds:


Okay, so my son is small for his age...he's 5'2", about 95 lbs. BUT...so was my husband at his age. My husband is now 6'1/2". An endocrinologist estimated that my son will be 5'10". My husband didn't grow until he was 16. I'm so afraid this coach is grooming the bigger kids for JV (which he also coaches), and totally ignoring talent. My son will probably be awesome in JV and Varsity, provided he doesn't get frustrated and quit, which is what happened to my husband.

How can we stop this nightmare?

I was thinking of having my husband talk to the coach. He can be very persuasive. Bad idea? Any advice?

A coach can only play the kids based on their current size, not by some prediction. I often question for those who are so hung up on size and come up with these predictions. I know a dad who swore up and down his kid was gonna grow to 6'8". He grew to about 6'. Good player though. You can't get hung up how big they will be.

To play varsity, which I assume is your goal, he must get bigger and stronger. Even with the skills, size, speed and strength or a combination of some of these is a must to play at the next level.

You can't control how big he grows so forget about predictions. He probsably will need to work on strength and conditioning and put on some weight. However as a freshman, there's time for growth.

As for how you can stop the nightmare? You don't. It's up to the player to deal with the hand dealt to him. It's his experience, not the parents. It'll either work out or it don't. It's not the end of the world if if don't.