re: Do 90% of these kids really need to be on these competitive travel ball teams?

I know they are destroying arms at a much higher rate trying to squeeze every ounce of velo out of arms from 8-13.

Do you like your college’s baseball team?

I grew up a realist. My dad taught me that. In 6th grade all my friends were trying to go All Stars. Most made it that I remember.

I went up to the coach after one practice and asked "Am I even good enough to get playing time?"

Guy goes "We'd love to have you on the team."

I said, "Thank you, I didn't think so either."

I spent my summer instead fishing in Grand Isle. Spending my summer on the bench seemed like a waste of time to me even in 6th grade.

These parents need to have frank discussions with their kids.

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if you have talent you have talent… 3/4’s of the kids playing travel ball aren’t worth a $&@$

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Several years ago I went to my nephew’s travel ball game in Carencro. He’s playing ball for ULL now, so he has some talent. Anyway, the kids on that team were terrible. Their defense was atrocious. Saw several fielding errors in the couple innings I watched. I told my sister, “I thought travel teams were like all-stars. This is terrible.” She did not like that.

Then their fricking pitcher throws 12 balls in a row and walks the bases loaded, then throws a 5 pitch walk to walk in a run. I was like WTF? I said, “This kid can’t find the strike zone. They need to pull him.” She fricking flipped her lid because the pitcher’s mother was within earshot of us and starts telling me to shut up. I’m like frick you, and frick her if she can’t take it. I didn’t say he sucked, I just said he’s having a bad night. fricking women.

I guarantee you that the rec ball all star teams we had when I was a kid would have destroyed most of these travel ball teams.

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Comparing him to mine he is head and shoulders above.

It's a gift. Some people have it. He's fun to watch.

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I talked to a friend of my brother-in-law years ago about this and he was telling me that he knew a guy that was currently in MLB and he got to see him for years in little league ball. He said the same thing. Kid was just a natural and head and shoulders above everyone in the league near and far. He said, “I remember thinking how much better he was than everyone else and wondering if he would eventually make it to the big leagues. I knew he was definitely going to play college ball or get drafted out of high school, but you know how few actually make it to the bigs.”

If I remember correctly, the kid had a fantastic high school career, got drafted pretty high, spent a few years in the minors then got called up. This was in the Maryland/DC metro area. I can’t recall the players name as I had never heard of him before.

No, but u11-u14 club soccer has a huge impact on player development, especially on the girls side, and it pays off in high school. Now as far as D1 scholarships go, that ain’t happening for 99% of the club soccer players.

Is everyone mainly talking about baseball?

If so, give me the layout? Traveling around as a team etc etc. Is every kid on the team good? I get that there are kids who are better than others, but are there kids that don’t really contribute to the team?

I know they are destroying arms at a much higher rate trying to squeeze every ounce of velo out of arms from 8-13. "

Youth coaches are often faulted for having too many youth pitchers throwing curve balls prior to being ready.
You can thank college coaches for the arm injury issue in pitchers and it's typically from being over-used.

Just out here supportin my youngans you damn bastards.

I’d like to see some analytics during every major league game showing the percentage of players on the field who played travel ball.