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re: Who actually likes “travel ball”
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:13 am to LSUFanHouston
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:13 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
So we are spending 20M plus in government money to build a facility that exists basically to make money for travel ball tournament directors... and telling the local rec ball playing citizens... well you can use the fields if we don't have a tournamnent going on.
And... it's actually the STATE that is paying for this / but it appears the parish will run it once open.
its not for that. this is huge economics of families coming to town and spending money at local restruants hotels etc
go see crowley adn tlak to business owners. they are able to stay in business becuase of the deal with 2D and the tournaments.
if you are not pursing this...with local money, you are losing a huge economic opportunity. i have seen it first hand over and over.
1
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:13 am to lsu777
You seem like a sucker for people trying to sell you shite. 
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:14 am to Jenious
quote:
A guy I went to high school with was probably the best athlete I've ever seen in every sport, did travel baseball, basketball camps, football camps, etc. He was never offered any scholarships after high school.
Was dude like 5’6”?
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:14 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
The "you have to play travel ball to play high school ball" I think is kind of a coincidence, not a cause. The kids who are the most talented are being drawn to travel ball, along with a lot of other kids who are not talented at all.
The best 25 kids in your school district are going to play varsity baseball, whether they played travel or not. It's just that... 100 kids in your district are playing travel ball, including the 25 that will make the varsity team.
This is why I brought up Barbe/SWLA earlier. This same sort of developmental and segregation system existed in SLC as a pipeline to Barbe 25+ years ago. Playing SLC rec instead of travel ball didn't negatively affect Barbe becoming the dominant high school baseball school.
The only difference is now the coaches and their friends make bank off the travel teams and individual coaching that replaced the SLC all star system.
Calcasieu Parish produces so much talent there's no reason why a rec league here from the same population/talent pool wouldn't be just as demanding or developmental (for the elite, at least).
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:17 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
Exactly. If the tourney/travel ball culture was just for the actually elite kids, like I said earlier, nobody would bat an eye. It's the population below that which gives all the stereotypes (and spends the major $ chasing the dream). This population basically destroyed rec options and created the culture of perceived inclusion that's a black hole for so many kids/families who don't have a shot at playing HS ball.
Nailed it.
Things have changed considerably since I was a kid 20 years ago but back then the elite guys were getting invited to travel and weren’t paying for anything. Now anyone with a checkbook can play in the Elite bash at the beach.
I really really miss American Legion baseball but it’s gone forever
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:18 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
It's like everything else in this world right now. If 10,000 people changed their mindset, it would not have to be this way, but if only 10 people change their mindset, those 10 will get left behind.
Thank you
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:20 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
But they wouldn't be if those non-elite kids from travel ball played rec after their parents stopped deluding themselves.
kind of, but you literally have to make a choice if you want your kid to have a chance at HS ball at 9 at the latest. the LL in SWLA stops at 12. 9-12 gives the kids a chance to develop so its more a symptom of the HS teams not taking but 10-12 kids. i agree after 12.
but even 10-12, if you arent putting in the work outside of practice year around...way behind.
quote:
This is another thing I saw last night but couldn't respond to. Nobody is batting an eye at $1500/year. Parents are investing 10x+ that (and I use invest purposefully) in many cases. THOSE are the people who created the culture that is being criticized.
not in swla they arent. unless its spent on private lessons but thats on the parent.
quote:
But the problem is the vast majority of the kids who do put in the work but have a near 0% chance of even playing high school, whose time/money investment negatively affects other things in the kid's life/future. You make your kids study and work in school, but many of the other parents don't because baseball is the focus. You also underestimate the parents who think this will pay for the kid's college (you need to start hanging out with my client base more to understand this). These are the same parents who are more likely to add unnecessary Xs, Ys, and Is to their child's name and who created that stereotype.
but these kids dont stand a chance anyways. they have shitty parents. i dont worry about them. shitty people and shitty parents are just that. no reason wasting time critizing them.
they are the same one that you dubbed...classroom disrupters about a decade ago. not bad enough to be sent off and removed but never paying attention. those parents are those kids all grown up and most are raising minitures of themselves. they have always been losers and always will be.
plain and simple if you allow your kid to make below a B and accept it...you are shitty parent. my personal opinion is Bs in general are not acceptable as they are only slightly above average. average is the worst thing in the world you can be imo.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:21 am to lsu777
quote:
umm what has happened is the better kids wanted more instruction and better competition so they started going to travel and leaving the leagues.
Which is fine.
That's the top 5-10% of kids. The rest shouldn't be in that sort of system because they have no shot of any meaningful playing time in high school.
quote:
other parents saw how much their kids were falling behind just being in rec so they pulled theirs out and started going to travel.
This is the irrationality and delusion I was speaking about earlier. "Falling behind" becomes irrelevant when they have statistically no shot of meaningful ball. The difference today is that parents believe their kid has that shot, and they're willing to spend 5-figures/year to prove it.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:23 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
The only difference is now the coaches and their friends make bank off the travel teams and individual coaching that replaced the SLC all star system.
bro nobody is making bank off travel ball in swla, except maybe 1 guy adn he isnt making that much to be honest from just the org. sure the lesson guys make good money but that would exist travel or no travel.
quote:
Calcasieu Parish produces so much talent there's no reason why a rec league here from the same population/talent pool wouldn't be just as demanding or developmental (for the elite, at least).
no they really dont. trust me i have coached in westlake/MB LL and slc/GL LL and not even close to true. even at the lower tball levels which is the only level that is really feasable at. maybe coach pitch at best. by 9...not enough talent.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:32 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
It's like everything else in this world right now. If 10,000 people changed their mindset, it would not have to be this way, but if only 10 people change their mindset, those 10 will get left behind.
i actually agree with this.
problem is parents that are involved and good parents are always going to look to give their kid the best chance to reach his goals. so it would slow go back to how it is now. you cant get the genie back in the bottle.
I really only see a couple different classes of people complaining about travel ball
1) parents who dont want to put that time & fincial committment into a sport but still want their kid to play HS sports. Well unfortunately you cant have it both ways in louisiana. apparently HS in texas take a lot more kids so its possible, but it isnt here. just wotn be good enough to make it
2) Baws that want it to be like it was back in their day. this is usually the new parent or the one that doesnt have kids and they just dont like the setup and dread the day they have to get involved or make the choice or its the old BAW who thinks drinking at the camp is peak life and anything that interferes with that is bullshite
3) parents of kids that have gotten left behind. maybe that was kids only playing rec or AA kids that parents spent all the money on just to turn around and have them not make a HS team.
4) Guys that act liek females and are very very concerned how others spend their money. usually make comments about putting the money away for college...my answer to that...is why not both?
sorry but it isnt going back to the way it was. HS baseball is being played at a higher level than ever before and there is a reason for that. kids come in more prepared than ever.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:34 am to lsudocts
Me. I played it from 8 years old until Senior year. Some of the most fun I’ve had playing baseball. It definitely is over the top now but I don’t think I would’ve been able to play in college if not for travel ball.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:34 am to lsu777
quote:
kind of, but you literally have to make a choice if you want your kid to have a chance at HS ball at 9 at the latest.
I understand, but by 10 you should know (if you're not being irrational or deluding yourself). This was the same back in the 90s when I was playing baseball. I didn't live in SLC so I wasn't part of that clique, but I was about a tier below SLC all star level, maybe a 1.5 tiers. I theoretically could have busted arse to try to get an opportunity to compete for an invitation at that tier but at 12 I knew I didn't want to (also my dad is the one who pushed baseball and that was during the nasty part of my parent's divorce so I will admit part of quitting was to stick it to him).
quote:
but even 10-12, if you arent putting in the work outside of practice year around...way behind.
If you are already outside of the "High school" tier, then being behind means nothing. You are already behind and will never catch up. All you're doing is now competing with the non-elite and your shot at HS is effectively 0. What does "being behind" matter at that point?
quote:
unless its spent on private lessons but thats on the parent.
It's all on the parents
Lessons, showcases (as you said), multiple tourney teams, etc. Parents whose kids are "behind" (but have no chance to catch up) and irrationally chasing that dream.
quote:
but these kids dont stand a chance anyways. they have shitty parents.
Yes and there are a lot of those shitty parents and they tend to dominate the population of the travel leagues, leading to threads like this. Like, I get that YOU and your direct social groups involved aren't these people, but I'm trying to explain that population is a lot larger than the social circle you run in.
When people criticize "travel ball", THAT is the population they're criticizing. Overzealous parents with kids who aren't going to make it, but the parents invest insane time/money into chasing the dream and have created a ridiculous culture around it.
If those people stopped acting irrationally, rec ball would have plenty of solid kids to pair with the current population. Would it be elite? No, but who cares? Well, other than the infrastructure making bank off these parents
quote:
plain and simple if you allow your kid to make below a B and accept it...you are shitty parent.
These are parents of C students
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:35 am to lsu777
quote:
no they really dont. trust me i have coached in westlake/MB LL and slc/GL LL and not even close to true
Then where are all the travel ball teams and their elite 5-10% to feed the local high schools coming from?
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:36 am to FlyTheW08
quote:
You seem like a sucker for people trying to sell you shite.
99% of what i just named puts out tons of stuff for free. hell heenan put out the whole damn formula and sample plans for free. Jaegar, driveline, Bill miller, thread all have shite tons of free stuff. same with hitting, bill, driveline, hitting done right, out front hitting, teacherman, jake epstein etc etc all have whole courses for free.
hell westside has enough free info anyone can learn and if they put in the work, make shite loads of progress.
just because you are ignorant in the field of sports performance doesnt make others who arent, wrong.
I dont say that to be mean, i promise i dont, 5 years ago i was in the same boat when it came to baseball and rotational training and rotational training. I knew the strength and power side only. Now all the info is out there, just takes effort to find it and more importantly implement it and stay consistant with the training, in the weight room, in the kitchen and more importantly for teens...putting the phone away and getting 8 hours of sleep daily.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:40 am to lsu777
quote:
1) parents who dont want to put that time & fincial committment into a sport but still want their kid to play HS sports. Well unfortunately you cant have it both ways in louisiana. apparently HS in texas take a lot more kids so its possible, but it isnt here. just wotn be good enough to make it
2) Baws that want it to be like it was back in their day. this is usually the new parent or the one that doesnt have kids and they just dont like the setup and dread the day they have to get involved or make the choice or its the old BAW who thinks drinking at the camp is peak life and anything that interferes with that is bullshite
3) parents of kids that have gotten left behind. maybe that was kids only playing rec or AA kids that parents spent all the money on just to turn around and have them not make a HS team.
4) Guys that act liek females and are very very concerned how others spend their money. usually make comments about putting the money away for college...my answer to that...is why not both?
5) People who criticize the population with a particular class mentality. Again, why "travel ball names" is a meme.
The cultural memes are abundant for this population. Same people who get criticized for having 84 or 96 month notes on their 2021 Yukon and who think 30A is Fiji.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:40 am to chalmetteowl
quote:
Was dude like 5’6”?
No, probably 5'10". Everyone thought he'd get a scholarship somewhere.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:45 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
I understand, but by 10 you should know (if you're not being irrational or deluding yourself). This was the same back in the 90s when I was playing baseball. I didn't live in SLC so I wasn't part of that clique, but I was about a tier below SLC all star level, maybe a 1.5 tiers. I theoretically could have busted arse to try to get an opportunity to compete for an invitation at that tier but at 12 I knew I didn't want to (also my dad is the one who pushed baseball and that was during the nasty part of my parent's divorce so I will admit part of quitting was to stick it to him).
no i agree to an extent but even at 10 you dont want to give up on the kid yet. by 12 you should know if their is any chance. some kids are late bloomers but by 12 and at most 13 you should know if your kid has the work ethic
i think biggest problem though is parents dont know cause they arent exposed to anything outside their bubble. thats why i like travel at the majors level. I know every good team in the state in our age group and most in the one above and below too. i try to get out of my bubble and actually have some self perception instead of just daddy eyes.
the other thing is parents dont look at how their kids move either. to me at the young ages, how they move and how their hips work are the big things i look for when it comes to potential.
quote:
If you are already outside of the "High school" tier, then being behind means nothing. You are already behind and will never catch up. All you're doing is now competing with the non-elite and your shot at HS is effectively 0. What does "being behind" matter at that point?
we are in agreement here for sure.
quote:
Lessons, showcases (as you said), multiple tourney teams, etc. Parents whose kids are "behind" (but have no chance to catch up) and irrationally chasing that dream.
there are maybe 1-2 kids per class that should ever have mroe than 1 tourney team. and its only the kids that need to be on the national team along with the local team. stupid to play for more than one team. I see parents getting their kids to pick up all the time...its dumb AF unless its a huge PG or 2D NIT. retarded otherwise. and thats only to see top teir competition. if its AA ball and doing that
quote:
Yes and there are a lot of those shitty parents and they tend to dominate the population of the travel leagues, leading to threads like this. Like, I get that YOU and your direct social groups involved aren't these people, but I'm trying to explain that population is a lot larger than the social circle you run in.
When people criticize "travel ball", THAT is the population they're criticizing. Overzealous parents with kids who aren't going to make it, but the parents invest insane time/money into chasing the dream and have created a ridiculous culture around it.
If those people stopped acting irrationally, rec ball would have plenty of solid kids to pair with the current population. Would it be elite? No, but who cares? Well, other than the infrastructure making bank off these parents
see i havent seen that very much. and maybe i am in a bubble because i only deal with our team and parents from the private schools so maybe im not seeing the a-hole population.
but to be fair to me...my kids play higher level travel, well middle does and youngest will. Not nearly as much drama on the majors teams...lose and the parents are like...oh well, we will play them again soon as their are only like 20 in the state lol.
i will say my youngest 7u team has way way more drama than older teams. nature of 7u where many times parents want it way more than the kid.
quote:
These are parents of C students
not surprising. shitty parents and people are just shitty
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:46 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
Like, I get that YOU and your direct social groups involved aren't these people, but I'm trying to explain that population is a lot larger than the social circle you run in.
The biggest change in baseball in the last few generations is the parental investment needed
And not just in money, but in time and knowledge. If you don’t have motivated and knowledgeable parents…
I feel like back in the day they would have been able to play high school ball but not now
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:49 am to SlowFlowPro
quote:
5) People who criticize the population with a particular class mentality. Again, why "travel ball names" is a meme.
agreed. people get pissed cause otehr people can afford things they cant or peopel get pissed because they know someone cant afford it yet they try and rub it in everyones face. i get that for sure
quote:
Same people who get criticized for having 84 or 96 month notes on their 2021 Yukon and who think 30A is Fiji.
to be fair....96 month notes was a smart financial decision until covid and crazy interest rates
and 30A is awesome. its not fiji but im a sucker for a good beach. you dont have kids so you dont get it. as a dad to 3 boys....the beach is one of the only family vacations i can actually relax on. But that aint the only place we go for sure and it sure as frick aint fiji.
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:49 am to chalmetteowl
Baseball has become a country club sport. It is pretty sad.
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