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re: Travel Ball Parents Transitioning to High School
Posted on 6/24/22 at 8:15 am to cjohn1290
Posted on 6/24/22 at 8:15 am to cjohn1290
Travel ball has become daddy ball and completely watered down. Too many helicopter parents who don’t want their kids to fail or work through adversity.
When I was growing up there was 1 travel team in our association and they were elite and competed on a national level. I didn’t even bother trying out because I knew I had no shot. Then they decided one year to have a 2nd team and I was fortunate to make it. We had plenty of talent with one kid playing AAA for years and some D1s but we couldn’t compete. Wow how things have changed.
When I was growing up there was 1 travel team in our association and they were elite and competed on a national level. I didn’t even bother trying out because I knew I had no shot. Then they decided one year to have a 2nd team and I was fortunate to make it. We had plenty of talent with one kid playing AAA for years and some D1s but we couldn’t compete. Wow how things have changed.
2
Posted on 6/24/22 at 8:55 am to tress4pres
It is still the case that only elite teams qualify for the elite tournaments.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 8:58 am to tress4pres
Also, Travel Ball is somewhat of a misnomer. A more descript term would be Tournament Ball for the format most kids play nowadays. The vast majority of teams rarely travel out of their region, except for maybe an end of the year tournament.
This post was edited on 6/24/22 at 8:59 am
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:06 am to UncleRuckus
quote:
Lol. Jaxxyn will start at SS all four years of HS.
And never playing division 1 college baseball
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:12 am to Jumpinjack
I see several travel ball parents in here already trying to deflect blame onto high school coaches. Exactly what OP is talking about. In a lot of cases you travel ball parents are creating spoiled, delusional brats.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:17 am to High C
quote:
I see several travel ball parents in here already trying to deflect blame onto high school coaches. Exactly what OP is talking about. In a lot of cases you travel ball parents are creating spoiled, delusional brats.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:22 am to CP3LSU25
quote:weird flex, most kids don’t
And never playing division 1 college baseball
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:27 am to High C
quote:
I see several travel ball parents in here already trying to deflect blame onto high school coaches. Exactly what OP is talking about. In a lot of cases you travel ball parents are creating spoiled, delusional brats.
This 100%. Our local HS program had 1 varsity starter who played travel ball.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 9:35 am to XenScott
quote:
The 2 years previous to last my kid has been coached by: 1. Former HS state championship, juco national championship, current wood bat instructional league coach. 2. Former college and professional pitcher. As 8th grader played at Dudy Noble, Hoover Met, USM. The past season, first year in high school,he was coached by a teacher. Your logic does not compute
Sometimes, they just shine the spotlight on themselves!
Self awareness seems to be lacking here
Posted on 6/24/22 at 10:36 am to tress4pres
quote:
This 100%. Our local HS program had 1 varsity starter who played travel ball.
And your local high school won a total of 1 game.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 10:55 am to cjohn1290
quote:
I have been noticing on Facebook that the 2022 Summer Slam World Series Part 6 (Red Bracket) is wrapping up so I figured this would be an appropriate time to give a few tips to the parents who are sending kids to high school in a few months.
1. There’s a good chance your kid will not play his first season (or more).
2. There’s a good chance your kid will not play the position he has been playing for the last 4-5 years.
3. The high school coach you send your kid to probably knows more baseball than you do.
4. Do not ruin the best 4 years of your kids life by gossiping about his teammates that he should be playing over or the horrible head coach.
5. If he has been playing rec or AA baseball, I would suggest sending him to a Class C-2A school if you want him to play.
6. If he hit 5-10 on his travel teams lineup he probably won’t play much.
7. It’s time to let go and let him grow up.
Please use these next 4 years to enjoy your child’s high school experience and not let the $5 rings, jumbling of teams, etc to ruin his or others experiences. Seeing more and more of that as the years go on. Cheers!
agree with all of the above. other thing i will say is....he should have already been strength training, but if he isnt, he needs to start now and he needs to learn to eat. sorry but a pop tart and a red bull is not gonna cut it for breakfast. 1000 calories before 9am.
He needs to go follow dr josh heenan and all things related to the 90mph formula. follow eric cressey, follow driveline etc. he needs to learn and want it.
either your kid has to learn to love the sport and work his arse off on his own if he wants to play or he needs to learn to love sitting the bench and there is nothing wrong with that. be a good teammate and cheer them on and push them.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 10:58 am to AtlantaLSUfan
quote:
Most travelball parents are just making sure their kid is in a good position to make the high school team. We have had an absolute blast playing tournament ball, it is fun for all and helps kids develop.
I appreciate the OP for giving advice. It will be interesting to see some of the top youth players get passed-up after puberty.
100% truth. hate how everyone thinks travel ball parents think kids are going pro. its really about not deciding for the kid at 9 if they can play hs ball or not. let the kid play travel adn decide for himself later. give him the chance atleast.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:03 am to lsu777
quote:
100% truth. hate how everyone thinks travel ball parents think kids are going pro. its really about not deciding for the kid at 9 if they can play hs ball or not. let the kid play travel adn decide for himself later. give him the chance atleast.
I agree, there is a select few organizations who do it right. The majority though are full of kids who have played on 4-5 different travel teams because they can’t find the right “fit” aka not playing the position or batting in a certain spot in the lineup that mommy and daddy want him to be hitting.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:04 am to Potchafa
quote:
I agree with this. Time to stop living vicariously through your kids. Tell them the truth if they aren't top tier talent and get them outdoors, learn how to run hand tools and go fishing and teach them to change the oil in a vehicle. When my daughter decided to stop playing her sophomore year, we got closer than ever.
most arent and honestly sounds like you are with your kid.
its fine if a kid wants to stop playing, but dont encourage a kid that isnt as good to just quit. thats the wrong message. you sit them down, explain where they are....you look at the metrics (bat/throwing velocity, pop time, 60 time, throwing distance, strength metrics) and lay out the metrics they need to get to, to become a starter, to become all district potential and you see what their goals are. if its to play college ball you lay those metrics out too and you then lay out the plan and the amount of work its going to take to reach those metrics.
you then allow the kid to decide if they really want to put in that kind of work or not. but you dont encourage a kid to just give up and quit or give up on their dream at 12/13/14/15/16/17!! that is terrible terrible advice.
and understand the point of HS sports is not to earn a scholarship, or atleast shouldnt be. There are tons and tons of life lessons to be learned from just being a part of a team. learning that nobody cares about your feelings and you just need to work harder, how to be part of a team and work with others, in this day and age...social interaction face to face, how to support and push others to achieve their goals.....not to mention the life long memories and friends that become like siblings.
encouraging kids to play sports and being involved is not living vicariously through your kids and so tired of dumbasses making that statement. almost every time it comes from those without kids or those that never played sports and dont understand what it means to be committed to a team and what keeping your word means etc.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:06 am to cjohn1290
quote:
I agree, there is a select few organizations who do it right. The majority though are full of kids who have played on 4-5 different travel teams because they can’t find the right “fit” aka not playing the position or batting in a certain spot in the lineup that mommy and daddy want him to be hitting.
i wouldnt come close to saying thats the majority. but i have seen that and many times if you are on your 3rd or 4th team in 5 years....its kind of like divorces...at some point, its not them, its you.
but usually i see the kids/parents you describe weed themselves out by age 13 or 14.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:09 am to Stevo
quote:
This 100%. Our local HS program had 1 varsity starter who played travel ball.
quote:
And your local high school won a total of 1 game.
exactly. how the frick does that even happen when there are very very few 13/14 year leagues in the state.
i can tell you in lake charles area...you are not making barbe, sulphur, sam houston, st louis, westlake, iowa, south beau, grand lake by just playing in league ball. Its just not happening, the skill development is just not on par.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:11 am to XenScott
quote:
The 2 years previous to last my kid has been coached by: 1. Former HS state championship, juco national championship, current wood bat instructional league coach. 2. Former college and professional pitcher. As 8th grader played at Dudy Noble, Hoover Met, USM.
Bruh, your kid ready for the bigs, why U wasting time in HS?
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:18 am to WilsonPickett
quote:
Bruh, your kid ready for the bigs, why U wasting time in HS?
well to be fair....many high schools do have shitty coaches, especially once you leave the 5a schools and the better smaller programs.
and truth is many times the JV teams are coached by realyl shitty coaches. not always but outside the schools mentioned above...yea it happens. especially when not in the south.
to be fair though....many times travel ball coaches suck as bad or worse too.
thats why development really has to be sought by the kid. The parent can help find the right things, but it has to be the kid who wants it. its not gonna be the parent that is force feeding themselves, its not gonna be the parent lifting the weights, its not gonna be the parent doign the bat speed program, not gonna be the parent doign the arm care program etc etc
essentially your kid has to embrace the process or it doesnt matter who is coaching, they are goign to get passed by. we are in a day and age that the metrics are known, its about putting the effort in to get to them and then putting the work in to transition that to games.
sorry but going to hit off the tee and some soft toss 2x a week in the off season is not gonna get your kid on the field. they have to outwork those ahead of them and out work the naturally more talented kids. its a grind and the kid either wants it or he doesnt. either is fine, kid just needs to be honest about it.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:21 am to cjohn1290
High school coaches get paid to coach baseball. That is their job. Most are good at their job. High school baseball coaches don’t come to parents jobs and tell them how to do their job. Parents shouldn’t go to high school coaches and tell them how to do theirs. All coaches want to win and will put the best 9 out there unless politics are involved. Which happens more than you think but it shouldn’t happen and still isn’t all that common. Parent goggles are thick and parents need to understand that when their son gets to 9th grade.
Posted on 6/24/22 at 11:29 am to HottyToddy7
quote:
High school coaches get paid to coach baseball. That is their job. Most are good at their job. High school baseball coaches don’t come to parents jobs and tell them how to do their job. Parents shouldn’t go to high school coaches and tell them how to do theirs. All coaches want to win and will put the best 9 out there unless politics are involved. Which happens more than you think but it shouldn’t happen and still isn’t all that common. Parent goggles are thick and parents need to understand that when their son gets to 9th grade.
always cracks me up when parents think their kid isnt playing for political reasons......yea like a coach is gonan say...im not putting the line up i feel gives me best chance to win cause ......little johnnies dad is tight with the principle.
Like a high school coach is gonna risk his job over that
but not all hs coaches are good at their job. over half suck at it, just like any industry.
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