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re: Travel teams eroding community baseball
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:25 am to PrimeTime Money
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:25 am to PrimeTime Money
Same here. It was always a family event, parents and grandparents both coming and loving it. Kept the kids out of trouble (somewhat) on the weekends as they grew up because they didn't have idle hands.
IMO if parents would prefer to be out drinking and socializing on Fri/Sat every single weekend, then they shouldn't have had kids to begin with. Like I said, that's my opinion and if anybody has a different one, then I completely respect it. Obviously, that is something within each parent's discretion. To each his own.
IMO if parents would prefer to be out drinking and socializing on Fri/Sat every single weekend, then they shouldn't have had kids to begin with. Like I said, that's my opinion and if anybody has a different one, then I completely respect it. Obviously, that is something within each parent's discretion. To each his own.
1
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:31 am to MenloDawg
quote:
IMO if parents would prefer to be out drinking and socializing on Fri/Sat every single weekend, then they shouldn't have had kids to begin with.
Or, doing other things like hunting, fishing, camping, anything other than spending every weekend at a ballpark and in a hotel.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:47 am to Jim Rockford
Great article. Felt like I was the author...
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:54 am to Coon
I suppose that depends on the distance you travel. In my experience, and I lived in extremely rural GA (town of about 500), very few of our tournaments (unless we qualified for a national one, one or two per year) were longer than an hour away. We very rarely spent $ on a hotel. The national type tournaments typically were near the beach (Clearwater, FL) or in at least cities that were somewhat interesting to visit (Memphis).
As to the other activities, like I said, to each his own. My dad and I fished a lot when I was younger but sacrificed that for travel ball. I've been hunting once and was bored shitless. Camping doesn't really have the sentimental effect on me considering I grew up near a mountainous area.
With that said, I was very serious about baseball as a young kid. Constantly hitting off a tee when I was younger, memorizing MLB lineups and batting stances. As I got a little older I would go outside and hit rocks with a broomstick until it got dark.
As to the other activities, like I said, to each his own. My dad and I fished a lot when I was younger but sacrificed that for travel ball. I've been hunting once and was bored shitless. Camping doesn't really have the sentimental effect on me considering I grew up near a mountainous area.
With that said, I was very serious about baseball as a young kid. Constantly hitting off a tee when I was younger, memorizing MLB lineups and batting stances. As I got a little older I would go outside and hit rocks with a broomstick until it got dark.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 11:54 am to Coon
We fished in or near just about every place we travelled....
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:08 pm to Coon
We wrap our travel into a mini vacation. Nationals in San Antonio? Six flags!
Tourney in Pensacola? Beach trip!
My family LOVES road trips.
To each their own.
Let me just ask this, if you had a 7 year old doing advanced academic studies, would it be outrageous to pay for a tutor? How about driving them to a university on a regular basis?
Why is it outrageous to train athletes? It's proven that boys have a skill window from about 6-9 to train and gain proper technique.
Tourney in Pensacola? Beach trip!
My family LOVES road trips.
To each their own.
Let me just ask this, if you had a 7 year old doing advanced academic studies, would it be outrageous to pay for a tutor? How about driving them to a university on a regular basis?
Why is it outrageous to train athletes? It's proven that boys have a skill window from about 6-9 to train and gain proper technique.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:08 pm to MenloDawg
quote:
With that said, I was very serious about baseball as a young kid. Constantly hitting off a tee when I was younger, memorizing MLB lineups and batting stances. As I got a little older I would go outside and hit rocks with a broomstick until it got dark.
Me too, and I think this is because my dad did not push me hard on baseball, even though he pitched for TCU and played minor league ball.
My dad was very hands off when it came to my sports. Every sport I played was because I wanted to. In my free time I pitched against the rebounder in the backyard or hit off the tee I had. I would collect loose change and ride my bike a mile down the road to the batting cages on my own. I wanted to get better on my own, not because my dad made me or pushed me or had a rivalry with other dads over whose son was the best baseball player.
I believe this helped me become a better baseball player rather than my dad pushing me hard and throwing me on a select team.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:11 pm to BigEdLSU
quote:
Why is it outrageous to train athletes? It's proven that boys have a skill window from about 6-9 to train and gain proper technique
I disagree
I played football at TCU and didn't play my first football game until I was in 7th grade. Never played pee-wee.
In baseball I was one of the worst players on my teams from the 6-9 age group. It wasn't until I turned 10 until I started to get better and was the best player on my team at 12 years old.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:11 pm to Shoulderchoke
quote:
If you are not selected you play National league which is just your local community with in the parish.
American teams play against other American and National only plays against other National.
Been that way for years here in St. Charles. There have been travel teams here for a long time but most kids on those played both rec and travel and played all-stars (we did this back when my son was playing). The big downfall started when Larry Matson moved the league from Dixie and changed affiliations a few times in a short time. People got tired of the way things were run and went to just travel.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:11 pm to BigEdLSU
quote:Same here.
We wrap our travel into a mini vacation. Nationals in San Antonio? Six flags! Tourney in Pensacola? Beach trip! My family LOVES road trips. To each their own. Let me just ask this, if you had a 7 year old doing advanced academic studies, would it be outrageous to pay for a tutor? How about driving them to a university on a regular basis? Why is it outrageous to train athletes? It's proven that boys have a skill window from about 6-9 to train and gain proper technique.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:15 pm to BigEdLSU
quote:
Let me just ask this, if you had a 7 year old doing advanced academic studies, would it be outrageous to pay for a tutor? How about driving them to a university on a regular basis?
Don't equate having a child prodigy (doogie houser style) to a kid getting hitting instructions and playing baseball 53 weekends a year.
But because you're paying for those instructions, your kid will be that 1 in a million to make it to the mlb.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:21 pm to goldennugget
I agree with that sentiment as well. For me, it was purely voluntary. I got home from school most days and watched the last half of afternoon Cubs games on WGN, then watched the entire Braves game on TBS. My dad coached my rec team every year starting at age 5 and he made us work harder than any other rec team typically (we won the league every year from age 10-14). But it wasn't to serve his own interest, he didn't even play high school baseball. He just knew I was seriously interested and figured if I was that interested then he should make it a point to coach me the right way (to the fullest extent that he was capable of and drastically better than many other rec coaches I could have ended up with).
He did however force me to play football the first year I was eligible. Told me I could do that or take ballet with my sister, but I wasn't going to sit on my arse. Pretty easy decision for me.
He did however force me to play football the first year I was eligible. Told me I could do that or take ballet with my sister, but I wasn't going to sit on my arse. Pretty easy decision for me.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:28 pm to Coon
I have coached travel softball for a number of years...had a core team when we started the majority of these girls graduated this year some year before some next year...of the 23 girls I have coached 16 of them are/will be going to play in college...that was our goal all these years..there are 3 that will graduate next year that will probably be playing in college also at some level....we did not play every weekend usually 2 a month. We charged 250-500 a year depending on if we got new uniforms...the coaches paid their own way..we won numerous state and national titles and our parents and kids loved every minute of it...so you negative people out there have No idea...and BTW if you ask kids who sit the bench if they played travel or rec ball the answer would be rec. Are there some bad travel ball experiences certainly but there are more bad rec coaches..Oh and we do not tolerate bad parents..we have kicked a couple off team
This post was edited on 6/2/14 at 12:41 pm
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:28 pm to double d
quote:
Been that way for years here in St. Charles. There have been travel teams here for a long time but most kids on those played both rec and travel and played all-stars (we did this back when my son was playing). The big downfall started when Larry Matson moved the league from Dixie and changed affiliations a few times in a short time. People got tired of the way things were run and went to just travel.
One of the most asinine things to me is that during fall and summer rec seasons the boys use 2 3/4" bats but in all-stars for Babe Ruth they have to use 2 1/4".
I've been coaching baseball in St. Charles for 5 years and all on all I think the rec does a good job. But it's unfortunate that we've lost a lot of really good kids in the. 8-11 age group to travel.
This post was edited on 6/2/14 at 12:31 pm
Posted on 6/2/14 at 12:28 pm to Coon
God did bless me with a prodigy
Posted on 6/2/14 at 1:04 pm to Jim Rockford
Does travel ball rule the day in Metairie and Kenner or are the local ball fields still the most popular ( Miley, Girard etc. Kenner league)??
Posted on 6/2/14 at 1:06 pm to man in the stadium
quote:
munity baseball
Does travel ball rule the day in Metairie and Kenner or are the local ball fields still the most popular ( Miley, Girard etc. Kenner league)??
they still exist but by and large they are picked clean...
JPRD west still holds on to a few but not many
Posted on 6/2/14 at 1:09 pm to nevilletiger79
I have to agree here. We started in Rec ball but had to move to travel ball because of the talent gap that is ever present between travel and rec ball. In my experience there was better talent, coaching, resources, etc. in travel ball overall. We set out to earn scholarships for our kids and that is what we have done. There were a few bumps in the road and yes, there seemed to have been a bit of drama around, sometimes. But our kids learned how to compete. If asked they would say that they would prefer travel ball hands down. Rec ball has a purpose, it's just not what it used to be. We don't travel every weekend and only go to certain tournaments. We don't chase trophies, we only go for exposure. We don't tolerate bad parents or bad kids. Good parents, good kids, quality teams and great times.
Posted on 6/2/14 at 1:12 pm to goldennugget
Nugget- what years did your dad pitch? my pops played 3rd base for two years and we're around the same age
Posted on 6/2/14 at 1:12 pm to justusstone
How dare you keep kids active and engaged? Haven't you heard? They are supposed to play xbox 20 hours a day or they aren't a kid.
Brony training.
Brony training.
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