re: My Non-travel ball playing nephew just made the HS baseball team

It seems like there is a ton of misinformation out there regarding travel ball. This is my oldest boys third year of organized travel ball and we have never played in a tournament which included any more than a 4 game guarantee.(2 pool games and double elimination).
I will admit that some parents carry it way too far and take it way too seriously. To say that it has helped both of my boys become better baseball players is an understatement though. Not only do they receive more physical reps the mental aspect seems to be the biggest improvement. Not only that half the kids in local leagues could care less about being there. They are happy to get a uniform and go strike out. I don't push either of mine to play that is totally their own decision and if they ever want to stop then that is fine with me too.

The biggest knock I have are parents of pitchers pushing their kids to throw breaking balls at 9 years old. Coming from the parent of a young pitcher there is no way in hell I'm letting my kid throw 90 pitches a game with 40 of those being breaking balls. I witnessed a kid throw 3 innings this past weekend against us that threw at least 2 curves per batter for every batter he faced. Most of these kids never learn how to locate a fastball until they are in high school if then.