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Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:17 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
Travel ball and its expenses are a perfect example of why middle class families have to have both parents working
Oh bullshite. The majority of Tournament Ball teams are free and coached by parents. And blaming youth baseball on why today's generation need two working parents is laughably bad.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:20 pm to thejudge
It's already happening... they have made it so expensive they're half the teams they were. Greed has ruined it.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:31 pm to Lgrnwd
This dude makes no good points at all. Kids don’t play rec baseball w friends. They are forced on new teams every 6 months with randoms and have no control over the bullshite politics that rec brings upon themselves. Travel ball is for fun too. The lazy narrative is that it’s only for winning or rings is lazy and simply not correct.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:38 pm to thejudge
Not long ago I saw a post where the local rec league I played in growing up was begging for a few more kids to sign up so they could field 2 teams that year, just 2. Now it’s been quite a while but when I was a kid there was regularly ~8+ teams per age group in a relatively rural small town. Travel ball/select teams have all but killed off the rec leagues that made competitive sports so accessible and cheap to practically everyone, I know my parents couldn’t afford weekly hotel rooms and travel out of town, and I’m damn sure all those inner city kids I grew up playing with damn sure can’t either.
This post was edited on 3/25/25 at 8:42 pm
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:42 pm to Lgrnwd
I've got an interesting travel ball story;
In 2015 I was dating a girl that had a 15 year old in it. He was in a tournament in the Little Rock area. They had a pitcher that was throwing low 80's easy and maybe mid 80's. She said he was their best player. A couple weeks later she told me that he wasn't on the team anymore b/c his parents couldn't afford it.
Now that I type this and think about it, I wonder if she was lying. Is that really how it works? I just played local American Legion in the 90s
In 2015 I was dating a girl that had a 15 year old in it. He was in a tournament in the Little Rock area. They had a pitcher that was throwing low 80's easy and maybe mid 80's. She said he was their best player. A couple weeks later she told me that he wasn't on the team anymore b/c his parents couldn't afford it.
Now that I type this and think about it, I wonder if she was lying. Is that really how it works? I just played local American Legion in the 90s
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:42 pm to YOURADHERE
quote:
Not long ago I saw a post where the local rec league I played in growing up was begging for a few more kids to sign up so they could field 2 teams that year, just 2.
We went around asking kids to ask their friends.
Some.of it is parents. The travel ball type will support their kids.
The rec type at least would coke out to keep their kids occupied.
Now there is a lot more online video games that they can stick their kid on while they play on social media they don't need to leave the house.
They are fine with that arrangement.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:45 pm to YOURADHERE
$$$. Mom and dad might not pay the mortgage in summer months but they will pay the SUV note so they can haul arse everywhere and stay in hotels and go shopping where Junior can bat 4 times Saturday and maybe twice Sunday. Moms enjoy hell out of it too. While dads get to live through their sons.
And these asses putting on the tournament are making bank.
And these asses putting on the tournament are making bank.
This post was edited on 3/25/25 at 8:47 pm
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:58 pm to Lgrnwd
My son is 12, hasn't played baseball in 2 years. It's sad, he doesn't care about the sport, doesn't know much about it. He plays travel soccer and runs, which fit him better. I played football, but also rec baseball. I feel it taught me an appreciation for the game, which I think you have to have (especially today with so many distractions) to continue to watch and enjoy the game.
Our playground (large playground in Metry) had rec leagues that had 5 to 8 teams. Then they got the travel ball coaches to come in to coach the teams (many of them use the playground facilities for the travel teams), and those coaches just used the rec team as an extra practice for their players. It killed the league, I head they only had 30 players or so turn out this year.
Our playground (large playground in Metry) had rec leagues that had 5 to 8 teams. Then they got the travel ball coaches to come in to coach the teams (many of them use the playground facilities for the travel teams), and those coaches just used the rec team as an extra practice for their players. It killed the league, I head they only had 30 players or so turn out this year.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 8:59 pm to makersmark1
quote:
Daxton is a left handed pitcher. I’ve got him throwing tons of curves in spite of tendinitis. He will have his fourth Tommy John surgery next week. We don’t rehab bc we know those orthos are just trying to hold him down.
Yawn… Baze has never struck out. He’s started 489 consecutive games.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:15 pm to Lgrnwd
There’s a balance to it. Rec league should always have a place as a low cost alternative. I think it was $50 when my kids played.
But the high level ball has a place too. Most kids that everyone says play travel ball don’t really travel more than a town or 2 over. Certainly some do but there’s options for plenty of ball with no hotels at all.
But these kids playing in college….Juco all the way to SEC level played a ton of true travel ball. It’s insane what it takes for a kid to get a college offer at a high level juco or higher. The real money is spent on summer ball for high school kids.
But the high level ball has a place too. Most kids that everyone says play travel ball don’t really travel more than a town or 2 over. Certainly some do but there’s options for plenty of ball with no hotels at all.
But these kids playing in college….Juco all the way to SEC level played a ton of true travel ball. It’s insane what it takes for a kid to get a college offer at a high level juco or higher. The real money is spent on summer ball for high school kids.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:23 pm to Lgrnwd
His initial argument is trash. Parents are putting those kids in the paid leagues to get trophies.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:24 pm to HoboDickCheese
To be fair, I was a horrendous sore loser as a kid.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:27 pm to Lgrnwd
As someone pushing 40, it blows my mind a bit how different youth sports are compared to when I was a kid. Growing up, there were enough teams playing rec little league that tryouts were a big deal to start the year, and making the all star team after the season felt like a genuine honor, like being able to travel to play was a reward for the elite players. I honestly have a hard time wrapping my head around a paradigm in which kids do nothing but travel and play tournaments all year. I know it’s some get off my lawn shite, but I would much rather a long haul season than a never ending series of short attention span tournaments.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:28 pm to Stevo
quote:
Oh bullshite. The majority of Tournament Ball teams are free and coached by parents. And blaming youth baseball on why today's generation need two working parents is laughably bad.
If “tournament ball” is not expensive, how come every time you turn around you see someone pushing a “fundraiser” for their kids team? Whiskey raffle, meat raffle, pastalaya plate lunch etc etc
This post was edited on 3/25/25 at 9:35 pm
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:32 pm to Lgrnwd
Guess it depends on the city. Lafayette rec up to about 11-12 is as strong as it’s ever been. Now the travel ball dads/commissioners are easy to pick out but most of us normal folk just laugh at them.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:34 pm to thejudge
The rec league close to my house has about 4 teams per league age. I watched a couple of 9-10 year old kid pitch games and it was brutal. Just Walks annd 5-6 hit balls in an 1 1/2 hour ball games. And, only about 3 kids per team can field and catch and throw and that’s a generous comment.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:35 pm to Lgrnwd
I sold raffle tickets for both Little League and Pop Warner. I've also bought for AAU Basketball and Cheer teams. The fact remains that Dads still coach a majority of the teams and any kid who wants to play baseball still can regardless of skill level.
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:36 pm to Bussemer
quote:
Guess it depends on the city. Lafayette rec up to about 11-12 is as strong as it’s ever been. Now the travel ball dads/commissioners are easy to pick out but most of us normal folk just laugh at them.
As someone who played Lafayette little league, that makes me happy to hear. I grew up in that park in Broadmoor. I remember being proud as shite switching to my all star uniform at the end of the year to go on the road to represent my home town.
This post was edited on 3/25/25 at 9:37 pm
Posted on 3/25/25 at 9:38 pm to HoboDickCheese
quote:
Here’s a clip from the last travel ball tournament I went to
On January 31st 1959? That’s an extraordinary video camera for that era
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