re: Youth travel ball has to be the dumbest waste of time and money.

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But dismissing the fact that it's become extremely expensive as well doesn't make sense.

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no i dont. but in general baseball has been like that because even if the rec model was still in play the better and more affluent kids still be taking private lessons.

I know a couple of kids who can barely afford travel so what they do is they participate in the fund raisers, mutiple ones and then they make sure they stay on teams that travel an hour at most to keep cost down.

they have parents that care about their kids and put in tons of work themselves becasue they cant afford lessons.

thats great

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He thinks it’s good to “weed out” the kids who can’t make the semi-pro team at Barbe.

Basically his argument seems to be that it’s good that a ton of hs kids can throw 90 mph now, even if that means far fewer kids are playing baseball in their communities now.

I don’t see how anyone who coaches Rec baseball can say that’s a good trade.

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no i dont because the ages 12-14 can be game changers if the proper training is applied.

but rec is still an option for 12 and below. I do think its good that by high school the lower achievers are weeded out. because by then, you either have it or you dont.

sorry but high school coaches shouldnt have to waste time on kids just so the kids can be apart of the team.

baseball is a sport where in most cases, the kids putting in the most work, are the ones that achieve success. atleast through the high school ranks.

sorry but hard work should be rewarded.

and i coach rec...12 games plus 2 playoff games plus all stars is not nearly enough to develop a kid. so what 2 practices a week for 4 weeks plus total of maybe 16 games for most kids. sorry that is not nearly enough games and practice for most kids to develop. its certainly is not enough for high achievers because you spend most of practice working to bring up the lower level kids and the high achievers dont really get much better.

it is what it is

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The elite high schoolers would be elite either way.

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elite high school players are elite because they put in the work. its very very very rare in todays game for a kid to not be putting in as much or more work than his peers to be elite. it just doesn happen.

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It’s all the other kids who are missing out on playing baseball.
And it’s not just the kids. Rec sports are much more important for the community, and the impact goes beyond the sport played on the field.

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i didnt say rec sports should go away. I coach rec sports and put my money where my mouth is when i say rec sports are important. I have for 8 years now.

i also understand the limitations of rec sports. We have whoel teams that dont even wont to participate in the playoffs, much less kids playing all stars because the parents have had "enough".

the problem is parents have changed, not the kids. they dont want to be bothered with showing up to practices or putting in work outside of practices and frankly they treat the coaches like shite.

so the good kids got pissed and left and the problem has grown more and more to the point now any kid worth a shite at all is pretty much playing travel with the exceptions being kids that want to take a break from highly competetive ball for one reason or another.

i love rec sports but it absolutely has limitations and as with anything people are goign to seek better alternatives.

i get the arguement about leaving the less fortunate behind. i do. and unfortunately you lose some really really good athletes because of that. but those parents can also seek sponsorships and do fundraising. i see it happen all the time for those that really really want it.

but also understand that is not an arguement to hold high achievers back. its just not. If someone wanted to move their kid to the best school...everyone would applaud it. If that means moving to a private school....people applaud it.

its the same thing. rec league is just public school, travel is private school.

i can afford it no problem so why shouldnt i?

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and if tony thought he was right then why was he such a hypocrite in recruiting???

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Some people have the mental capacity to realize the current model is unsustainable or not ideal while simultaneously being a part of that system.

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My kid is playing 11U right now and my wife and I have already had the “what are we doing this for” discussion between the 2 of us a few times this spring. We played 3 weekends in March, 3 in April, and we play every weekend from this past weekend to late June with the exception of Memorial Day weekend. That’s too much.

My son loves it, and we constantly ask him if he’s still having fun, and he assures us he is. His team is pretty decent and his coaches aren’t the head cases we’ve had on other teams, but it’s a big commitment for something we know he’s not going to play in or near high school. We’ve talked with him about just doing rec ball, but he’s been resistant to do that, and our area rec leagues have been talent pillaged by the sizeable travel ball community and number of teams in the area. As he puts it “I don’t want to go play with a bunch of kids who are just going to boot the ball around the infield.” There’s got to be a middle ground between that and almost every weekend and 2 nights a week being eaten up for 9 months out of the year, especially as he’s starting to get back to doing other sports as well now that we’re on the other side of Covid.

On that note, we faced a few teams in a tournament this weekend who were single A and had never won a game. I’m by no means a “ball is life” ring chaser parent, but I simply can’t understand paying thousands of dollars to get run ruled every game of every tournament. That’s a lot of money and time spent on something you could probably enjoy more with rec ball.

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well if its what he likes and wants to do..i personally would sacrifice. but damn thats a lot of tournaments.

im in a damn good org so i may be spoiled but we try to play every other weekend until end of may where it can get out of wack due to state tournaments.

it can be alot though and i get it. I personally find the ball park relaxing.

Everyone i know is like myself and looks back and thinks...damn I wish i would have worked harder.


This....

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because it doesn’t start until high school / end of junior high… not 11 year olds

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plenty of middle schools that do it. Especially in texas. Many of the junior highs in Texas have better strength and conditioning facilities than high schools here.

and absolutely the best kids start training year around with private coaches at 11.

and in baseball you get offers at 14 & 15 many times. shite sometimes as early as 13. By senior year its usually too late to get a D1 offer and you have to go juco because the D1 classes are full already.

the recruitment is accelerated.

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My kid is playing 11U right now and my wife and I have already had the “what are we doing this for” discussion between the 2 of us a few times this spring. We played 3 weekends in March, 3 in April, and we play every weekend from this past weekend to late June with the exception of Memorial Day weekend. That’s too much.

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Holy shite, that is insane for kids that age. At that point the parents need to step up and say something to whoever it was the schedules that many tournaments.

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My kid is playing 11U right now and my wife and I have already had the “what are we doing this for” discussion between the 2 of us a few times this spring. We played 3 weekends in March, 3 in April, and we play every weekend from this past weekend to late June with the exception of Memorial Day weekend. That’s too much.

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You are nuts.

My boy has played travel from 8 and just turned 13. Never would I agree to that schedule. They are the same core and have been a majors team for their existence. We are forced to go a couple/few hours to play. Nothing like looking across the lines at a team that brought 18 w four or five flown in to pitch.
The hold their own and keep most close against the regional powers but lose most.

I would never play that much. He picks up w some teams occasionally and that is fine. He loves it playing w bee kids. It’s a nice break

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It's not that their vacations really "register on my radar" but I do know people who have done it so I'm just aware that it happens. I don't see how it would be much of a vacation if you spend so much of it at a ballpark rather than vacationing.

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I just thought to myself, "I'd let my kid ride with someone else to the ballpark and I'd go do my own thing."


And then I just realized that's super shitty parenting, hence why I don't have children

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You are nuts.

My boy has played travel from 8 and just turned 13. Never would I agree to that schedule. They are the same core and have been a majors team for their existence. We are forced to go a couple/few hours to play. Nothing like looking across the lines at a team that brought 18 w four or five flown in to pitch.
The hold their own and keep most close against the regional powers but lose most.

I would never play that much. He picks up w some teams occasionally and that is fine. He loves it playing w bee kids. It’s a nice break

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i agree and am in the same boat. thats way too much.

for example we are a majors team and have played the following

Dec- 1 tournament
Feb- played 2 tounaments the last 2 weekends
March- 1 tournament
April-2 tournaments
May- 3 tournaments (only because the state tournament fell weird this year)
June- 2 tournaments

my kid picked up for 1 weekend and will prolly pick up one more in july...maybe. we do have 2 players that play on national teams that played 1 tournament during the year and will play 2 in july and they will travel to orlando.

all our tournaments have been within an hour drive except the 1 last weekend which was in houston area.

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plenty of middle schools that do it. Especially in texas. Many of the junior highs in Texas have better strength and conditioning facilities than high schools here.

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well, most of the country laughs at the seriousness of texas high school football

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and absolutely the best kids start training year around with private coaches at 11.

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the actual best kids, future 4* recruits? maybe.

the point and fact is basketball and football do not require a travel ball commitment for 10-13 year olds and to suggest otherwise is very disingenuous. i know a lot of current and former D1 football and basketball players and the vast majority were not training with private coaches at age 11. many of them weren't even playing their sport at that age. and again, these are legit d1 athletes, not kids trying to make a swla high school team.