re: Tournament Baseball is a scam

If i may chime in, but it probably won't be read since its on page 11 of the thread. I too coach kids in baseball, having played myself until 10th grade from age 8. I coach a rec team and a team i put together of my sons(twins) friends from the neighborhood. We played in 3 tournaments this past fall. We won a few, lost a few. The kids AND parents had a great time of it. WHY? BECAUSE it was fun for everyone. No pressure to win at all costs. We are hoping to play more weekend games closer to Lafayette without having to travel. My best advice is to have the kids learn how to field, throw, hit in their own backyard or an empty lot or schoolground etc. As far as the arguement of teaching mechanics at an early age, its all bull. Who taught Tim Lincecum how to pitch? His dad. Who taught Jim Furyck how to hit a golf ball. His dad. I'd say both are quite successfull at their profession. Also, i've read posts about kids playing wiffleball. I am fortunate enough that my twins play wiffleball 5-6 hours a day with those same neighborhood kids almost every day during the summer. their own rules, no coaches, no parents. just for fun. teaches them great hand/eyes coordination, fielding skills, hitting skills(esp. on a windy day). In my opinion, you can have your high dollar travel teams. Its all for the parents ego. Like i said, our team had fun getting their butts handed to them by Youth13 major teams, but did their share of handing it out also to Youth 13AAA and 13AA teams(we are a true 13AA team). We will see in a few years how these 'elite' players fair in high school and perhaps later in college, when the real cream rises to the top. Want to be a better player? Have him learn the through repetitive action, not traveling to baseball. How do you get better? PRACTICE! and put those skill to use in a game! Have fun everyone.....

As a high school football coach that is very involved in sports I will hesitate to have my son involved in any traveling baseball team. Hopefully he will focus on football and maybe golf. Baseball=more parent/kid/coach drama than any other sport and in the end you can teach your kids these skills at home. It boils down to being an athlete, your better off spending 2 grand brining them to speed/strength instructors.

It's been what 10-15 years since you were travel ball age? I'm 30 and we had 0 travel ball. The first team to really be put together in this area is now 22-23.

i would rather pay 2000 dollars than work at a bingo hall 2-4 times a week every week.

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It boils down to being an athlete, your better off spending 2 grand brining them to speed/strength instructors.

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if you are talking about baseball, then this post is so full of fail that it might crash the server.

there might have been, but not in jefferson parish where I grew up.

playground sports were competitive. The big 3 sports. Everyone wanted to give their best at each one. No one had time to concentrate on 1. Their were all star teams fielded from each playground and they all played each other, and everyone played each sport, with a few exceptions.

No one really focused on one sport until 8th or 9th grade when i was growing up.

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we played other sports in the offseason.

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My nephew's team plays Utrip Major and their last tourney was World in August. They all play the big 3 sports. Well, atleast football. Some don't play basketball as they take that time to have some time off before getting back to baseball.

Guys I've decided to start my own travel ball team. I looked into it but found out there really wouldn't be any players availableto me who are worth a crap, so I've scouted out 20 players from existing teams who I feel are "Major League" prospects adn I'm going to give their parents an offer they can't refuse. $4,000 to each kid who joins my team and attends all 265 practices we have each year plus all of the 42 weekend tournaments.

Now, the only stipulation is that if they are not playing up to my standards, I'll send them home and jerk their pay. They need to learn the valuable life lessons at 8 years old that if you don't perform, you get fired. It will serve them well down the road.

Now, that said, my team is really all about fun. I'm telling you I want these kids to remember the swimming pools, hotels, practical jokes, etc... they will make lots of memories during the 30 minutes a day we aren't scheduled to be practicing, driving, or reviewing film of tomorrow's starting pitchers. A lot of fun can be had during that half hour and my kids will LOVE IT!

What got me started in this is I've been working with my nephew and we hired a private coach to help him pitch better. It was made clear to me after our first session that with another 3 years of weekly sessions Jimbeaux will likely be throwing in the 90's with breaking stuff rivaling Bert Blyleven. We also made the tough choice to pull him out of the 4th grade and let him "home school" to focus more on 4 daily workouts and film sessions. The kid really wants this. We aren't forcing anything on him. The kid loves baseball so much I'm telling you he can name like 6 of the 8 regular starters on the New York Yankees. He lives and breathes this stuff.

But I digress. If any of you guys know of some studs who are looking for a better team to play for, let me know. The minimum is the kid must run a 4.8 40 and pitchers need to be at least 5'11 and throw in the 70's. I'll teach them how to throw breaking balls and split fingers--trust me. I played organized ball until I was 12 years old and I was an all-star right fielder one time until I broke my pinky going after a ball in the corner.