re: Who actually likes “travel ball”

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Our high school which is highest level in TX takes 9 to 12 freshman each year. Ridulously small amount compared to the amount of kids playing pretty high level travel in the district. Probably 30 to 36 really good kids. They take 10 or 12.

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yea apparently there are some around dallas that take 25 to 30. and i know some of the schools with multiple fields around houston sometimes do too. this thread sparked my interest to ask some friends. but those schools have 2 fields for both baseball and softball which is insane compared to Louisiana.

but yea in general in LA...the 5a schools are taking around 8-10. sometimes a few more, sometimes less.

i know how many barbe took and i know how many couple of the 3a schools took. i know of 2 3a schools that took 5 this year another plans to take 10 but they took a big class last year and are cutting half this year.

so in general and on average. I say average cause i have seen 3a schools take 12 one year and 3 the year before that class and 3 after that class. just depends.

5a-around 10
4a- around 8
3A- 5-8

FTR i prefer the dallas model of 75-85 kids on the team overall and let the kids develop, but Louisiana just doesnt have the resources to do that. Hell most football teams only have that many.

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But remember, we don't have any baseball in Jr. high

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we dont either. thats why i laugh when people say dont have to play travel...so what you just gonna sit around for 2 years playing other sports...then suddenly make a HS baseball team

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lso, 25-30 freshman get dropped down into a varsity team of 25-30 boys. That's 10th-12th grade and potentially includes a few freshman who are talented enough to make the varsity team. In many Houston suburban schools you are talking about a high school class size of 600-800 kids. That's a tiny % of kids. Football is a no cut sport in Texas. You can warm the bench forever. Baseball cuts.

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exactly. even a 3a team keeping 8 kids....thats what 10% of the males in a school at most.

even in texas....its only the best athletes that can not play travel and make the team and apperantly the rec ball there is a lot better. here in louisiana there are only like 10 or so 13/14u leagues in the whole damn state

you arent making a Sinton, pearland, a Flower Mound, Westlake, Rockwall, a katy, a cinco ranch, woodlands, grapevine, Cy woods etc by playing in some local rec league....people that beleive that are the real delusional ones.

Look imo until the kid hits puberty, you really don’t know what you will actually end up with. Typically smaller kids are more “skilled” than bigger kids at an early age; however, the bigger kids quickly catch up when they eventually grow into their body in my observations. And there is always the 12 yr thar hit puberty early that dominates as a 5’7” 160# twelve year old but quickly falls back to the pack as a 5’8” 170# 16 year old.

I guess my point is the stud at 12 very well may not be the stud at 16.

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No argument here. But a late bloomer isn't gonna magically aquire the skill needed to compete at the HS level just because he gets taller and weighs more.

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How many years of travel ball is necessary to acquire the skills necessary to make a HS team? Is it necessary to be in travel ball at 7 or can you wait until 12 assuming you are gaining the basic skills playing rec.

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I guess my point is the stud at 12 very well may not be the stud at 16.

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This is true with every sport. Bodies change. But in every single sport, if you're not learning the fundamentals and spending more time learning skills and doing drills when the kids are young, they are going to be behind that kid with a great body who doesn't know the fundamentals. That great kid better be able to show they pick up on things quickly and are extremely athletic or they will not make it.

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It’s insanely competitive, and that’s 100% due to travel ball, which has simply made baseball more important to more kids and families.

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I think you've got it backwards. Families in the last 20 years have been much more willing to focus on putting everything they can into their kid who wants to do a sport. Travel ball exists because of these families, not the other way around.

Somebody mentioned tennis earlier. Tennis laughs in the face of travel ball. So do many other individual sports. With golf, tennis, gymnastics, swimming and diving, track and field, etc. you better have a great private coach and club you belong to, because high school is not what it's all about.

People who haven't been a part of the upper level of kids sports do not have any understanding of what it takes to be good. There are lots of kids out there who think being good is fun and are very willing to put in the time.

It sounds like you and your family are incredibly passionate about baseball and have prioritized it. I hope that your sons' passion for baseball translates to other pursuits and that the lessons they take away from baseball benefit them in the long run.

I think your post gets to the heart of the issue, just not in the way you think. The vast majority of kids playing high school sports will not play in college, even at the Juco or NAIA or Division III level. The purpose of high school athletics is to supplement book learning with the learning of how discipline, hard work, subordinating the ego to the team, sportsmanship, etc. High school sports (outside of a few powerhouses) are supposed to facilitate turning boys into men and the equivalent for women. The purpose is not to cater to players of average ability whose dedication to the sport will result in a pwo or partial scholarship to McNeese State or regular playing time at UNO.

It's an indictment of society that we've gotten to the point where families have to invest beaucoup bucks and lots of time in order for Junior to have the opportunity to see the field in high school sports. Especially if high school ball is the pinnacle of Junior's athletic career.

Even though the more culty travel ball parents expose themselves to the derision they receive, its hard to fault most families and parents for responding to the way the world works.

Perhaps school districts should force families to make a choice by middle school: either play junior high/high school ball exclusively, or play for a travel team. Then people can self-select: either all baseball all the time or baseball is your spring sport and maybe in the summer if there is American Legion or AAU ball.

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It sounds like you and your family are incredibly passionate about baseball and have prioritized it. I hope that your sons' passion for baseball translates to other pursuits and that the lessons they take away from baseball benefit them in the long run.

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Way more passionate about academics and just as passionate about other sports they are interested in.

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you think. The vast majority of kids playing high school sports will not play in college, even at the Juco or NAIA or Division III level. The purpose of high school athletics is to supplement book learning with the learning of how discipline, hard work, subordinating the ego to the team, sportsmanship, etc. High school sports (outside of a few powerhouses) are supposed to facilitate turning boys into men and the equivalent for women. The purpose is not to cater to players of average ability whose dedication to the sport will result in a pwo or partial scholarship to McNeese State or regular playing time at UNO.

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Nobody mentioned college nor is it about that at all like has been mentioned 100 times. Annoying af when y’all bring up college. No offense it’s just it’s the go to for people here

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It's an indictment of society that we've gotten to the point where families have to invest beaucoup bucks and lots of time in order for Junior to have the opportunity to see the field in high school sports. Especially if high school ball is the pinnacle of Junior's athletic career.

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You don’t have to, your kid just want make it. So should the coach play your junior who isn’t nearly as good over someone else’s junior who is way better? Thanks a dumb argument imo. High school sports is about a lot of things but most importantly should be about the better person winning the job. Life isn’t fair and you have to learn to compete in everything and the one who performs gets the job aka playing time

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Perhaps school districts should force families to make a choice by middle school: either play junior high/high school ball exclusively, or play for a travel team. Then people can self-select: either all baseball all the time or baseball is your spring sport and maybe in the summer if there is American Legion or AAU ball.

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In high school many timesyou play HS then with your school travel team unless you are legit badass then you go play with national team.

You can’t tell a kid he can’t play something outside of school

And Louisiana doesn’t have middle school baseball

And if you want to force people to make that choice…high school baseball would be over within 10 years in this state.

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Even though the more culty travel ball parents expose themselves to the derision they receive, its hard to fault most families and parents for responding to the way the world works.

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How is it culty to be in a club sport? The rest of the damn world does this and every other sport but football and baseball have for years…now baseball is and it’s a cult? Wtf

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I’m not per se blaming the existence of tournament ball. It’s more that tournament ball existing has given people a means to obsessively chase the high they get from seeing their kids do well in sports, even when the kids are at an age that used to be about playing for fun. I’m not saying that’s why any one person does it, but I do think that’s why it exists the way it does.

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Maybe, I haven’t seen that. Been more about rec leagues are horrible(I know I have coached last 8 years and thankfully last night was the last time) and have turned into nothing more than babysitting. We were one of the better teams in the league and had kids at 12 that couldn’t catch, like 4. That’s why people have left

The leagues have turned into a mess so people sought better opportunities. Especially in smaller towns.

It sucks when two 8 year olds out of 10 take it seriously and work outside of practice and are head and shoulders above the other kids. In fact by 8, it becomes almost dangerous to have the upper level travel kids in same league with the normal rec kids

For example, in the 12 year old league, we didn’t have a single kid throwing more than 60 in the league. Yet my 10 year old sees 60+ every weekend, up to 65. He has 4 kids plus himself that can hit 60 on his 10u team. How would it benefit them to go play in the 9-10 year old league?

Eh. not wanting to argue.

Fair response from you, thanks. No time now for me to flesh out a worthy response to the previous post.