Fall 2020/Spring 2021

I am with Steve on this one. Just reading this thread it is no wonder parents start having anxiety about college baseball when kids are 11 and 12 years old and have not even close to fully developed yet. The best way for a ball player to become a better ball player is by playing baseball. That means placing your player on a team that competes at a level that challenges him, yet he can handle and earn a lot of playing time (if either of these is not occurring, consider moving him up a level or down a level based on the competitive nature of said team). Having been through this a couple of times now I can promise every parent that if your kid is throwing 80+ mph with command and/or consistently (in competitive play) hitting baseballs 350-400+ feet with BBCOR or Wood at the age of 14 to 16 you can have them guest play in showcases anytime you feel like it. Almost no team will turn them away and some will even allow them to just come in to pitch a game or hit for a day. Hopefully your main team will get to that level as well and if not and your player is that talented he should consider moving to one of these "national" programs. Otherwise, playing as much ball as possible at the right level of competition and using your money for independent pro trainers (no "team" can give your kid the same level of attention to details as this) for your players specialization(s) is the way to go in terms of developing him. I have nothing against all of the excellent organizations by the way. I just think that it confuses parents and kids and causes unnecessary anxiety as mentioned with all of the bickering and comparing. It's kind of a shame as it doesn't need to be that way wand with putting programs down as Steve also mentioned above...whether they are local, regional or national my observation is the majority are doing this for the kids not to get personal adult accolades. To jump on a thread and be so quick to put a program down really looks like someone has an axe to grind. Be careful it may be your time who goes 0-3 on an anomalous weekend or your son who goes 1 for 10 that particular weekend at the plate and has a couple of bad days. These are kids and adolescents/teens our primary job is to teach them how to behave and communicate properly. 95% of them will wind up in the normal workforce and society like the rest of us old farts out here. Set them up for success.