Is anyone familiar with either of these catcher's mitts. My 121/2 yo will begin catching for his select team this season-has never caught before. Are these a good match for this age and competition level? I can get one for 30 or 40 bucks less than a Gold Glove at the moment, and I am on a pretty tight budget. I can't spend bigger bucks on a mitt until I find out how much he will be back there.

Check out the Kelley website. Elevation series is great but I actually like the Pro-Line series. Harder to break in than the Elevation but worth it. My son has used a Kelley Elevation since age 13 travel and now is a Soph in high school still using it. I would hate to guess how pitches he has caught with it...easily in excess of 30,000 between games, bullpens, etc. He is actually looking at getting another Kelley this month and is trying to pick between the models. Pro-Line is like $119 and the Elevation is either $139 or $149. Warning...these mitts will take time to break in but if you do it properly, it'll last him awhile. Kelly also has series such as the Century and Galaxy series that are more economical but I've not seen them or spoken to anyone that has.

It's a better mitt than any 12yr old catcher needs. Nice thing it will last long enough for the catcher to catch up to how good this mitt is.

I have been to the Kelley offices, and met Mr. Kelley. I love their stuff, but I can't afford 11p bucks, esp. for a kid that may or may not play back there much, I can get either of the wilsons for about 30 dollars right now, which is still a stretch.

Sounds like you might live close to Lewisville ( go Fighting Farmers). Is there a Play It Again Sports store in that area or you could check ebay.Rawlings RCM33 or RCM30 might be something to look at on ebay also. My fear is that a $30-40 mitt may not hold up real well at your son's age, particularly if the team has a heavy schedule.

At 12 1/2, the kids are starting to get some velocity so whatever mitt you get be sure it's sturdy. I used to carry a piece of foam rubber when I started catching as a kid using the team's worn out mitt in LL...the extra padding helped me get through the season. These days, the padded moleskin with gel works wonders and stays put in the glove. The reason I mmention this is if the mitt you get starts feeling "thin" to your son, the moleskin or foam can remedy that real quick.

Catching can get a little costly if you have to provide the gear. We spraypaint our gear (masking out logos,etc)when needed instead of buying new every year. Looks good enough as the 1st time he blocks a pitch, the paint gets scratched anyway. Still looks new from the stands. Just avoid painting the elastic straps; paint will ruin them.

Catching is either addictive or kids run from it....really no middle ground. Hard to find out until the boy gets back there; I wouldn't invest much until he was committed to sticking with it. If he doesn't you're not out much. Travel ball is expensive enough without buying new gear.

I am very close to the Play It Again, and go in often just looking around. They have not had much in the way of mitts lately-some low end eastons, which he did not like the feel of, and some Franklins(don't know about those), and one LS Dynasty series used. I can get the a1000 for about 40 bucks, brand new, so I was considering going ahead on it.
As for the kid, he has wanted to catch for 2 years. His coach(local HS coach) said he liked his competitiveness, his arm and his "bulldog" mentality. That last one made me say "what?".
If he is any good, he will be in the addictive class-he loves being in the middle of the action.

I'd jump at it. The A1000 sounds like it will do the job fairly well; certainly long enough for him to see if he likes the position. From what I read about it, it appears to be a fairly well made glove.

Sounds like he has the mental makeup to catch. Just a warning...he'll have to be mentally tough because when a catcher makes a mistake everybody sees it and they tend to cause runs to score. He'll get blamed for mistakes that aren't his at the same time..goes with the position as his job is make the pitcher look good. His best games will be when he's not even really noticed behind the plate, just that "things went good today". Tell him while alot of people won't notice his good work, baseball people will. At that age, his teamates don't know enough to appreciate the position so don't expect kudos from them...as long as the coach and ump are happy with him, he'll do fine.

Bulldog mentality helps the most. Alot of youth catchers get nicknames like Rock, Bulldog, Dawg. My son was/is called Tank...he thinks it's because he's tough. I think it's because that is how hard his head is. LOL.

CatchingCoach will post every so often on this site; be sure to read those posts and visit his website and your son can pick up some good info on the position. There is alot of good advice on this website as most of the posters have sons HS or older...they've been through what you are and can offer some insight from different perspectives. Good luck.

Thanks SA, you've been very helpful. I hope he likes it, cause he is plenty hard-headed enough, and he has always had a lot more savvy and instincts than I ever did. Once again, many thanks.

Thanks for your help. I bought it last night off ebay for 30 bucks. I hope he likes it-if not, tough, use it anyway! Just kidding!
Once again, thanks for your time,
randy

Now to borrow some gear and get started on learning how to play back there.