re: When did Camps, Travel Ball, AAU bc more important than High School??

I grew up playing Dixie, and we were very competitive. It’s sucks the way that travel ball has siphoned off much of the talent. Parents think their kids have to play travel ball to have a chance at a college scholarship (hint: odds are they won’t get a scholarship to any school worth going to).

I hate the way that travel ball includes shopping your kid around to find the best team they can make, and if they can find a better team next season, they move on. It’s such a transactional approach to youth sports. Dixie and Little League have barriers and are tied to the community. They represent something besides themselves. Travel ball pisses me off because the talented rec league kids feel like they can’t play for their local team without stunting their baseball growth because travel ball teams decided to take some of the better players. I wish there were a way to unwind this.