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Post by Dave S on Jan 25, 2019 19:24:13 GMT -5
I just want to rant a little. There are way too many travel/select baseball teams in Maryland. There are about 20 teams in each age group in Anne Arundel county alone. So what happens, all of these teams are watered down and usually will be looking for 1 to 2 players every winter which is comical (kids leave for another team, parents don’t like coach, kid quits). Head Coaches should communicate and be open to consolidating teams to provide a better competitive level of play: Take their egos out of the way and be open to helping develop these kids for high school baseball. A lot of lower level travel teams parents are spending thousands of dollars to get pummeled in league play and have no chance in tournaments. Not a great environment for anyone nor teaching the kids anything other than how to take beat downs with good sportsmanship. My hope is that eventually coaches will communicate with each other and look for ways to merge and reduce the nonsense going on. It has become a huge money grab and for what....
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Post by oldtimer on Jan 26, 2019 15:21:39 GMT -5
The biggest travel league in the area(MABA) has rules that basically do not allow consolidating teams as you suggest.
Not arguing(some ) coaches dont have big egos but that’s not why there are so mant travel teams. In fact the coaches with the biggest egos recruit and do whatever
They can to get the best players on their teams.
The biggest blame goes to the parents.
Why do you think so many organizations have B and even C teams.?Because Johnny got cut from the A team but wants to play travel and he’s too good for rec.
So let’s get a couple dads to coach and hey even if we only have 2 kids that can pitch and we can barely find enough kids that can even catch a ball
The uniforms are just as nice as the A team and I can still brag to my buddies at work that my kids a travel baseball player.
No going back now because since all these teams have all but killed rec ball even the B-C player whose parents have there priorities in order sign on
Just so their kid can play ball with kids with some semblance of ability.
After the parents #2 in the blame goes to coaches who hold “open tryouts” but keep their friends kid who gets 5 hits all year and leads the team in errors every year.
My thoughts are to get your kid on a team with a coach who has the right priorities and let him have fun.
If he loves the game and wants to play in HS maybe have him take some lessons outside the team .
And try not to worry about the other stuff . We may not have created this mess but like I said before no turning back.
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Post by Donnie Baseball on Jan 28, 2019 11:57:17 GMT -5
I look at a high number of teams as a good thing - that the sport is thriving. Rather than "recruit" and "consolidate" -- how about the coaches teach and improve their existing teams so that they are able to play the higher level tournaments and don't get trounced. A lot of work, but that's what it's really all about. Not winning 13U National Championships.
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Post by Dave S on Jan 29, 2019 20:55:56 GMT -5
The guy running MABA is a clown. Why doesn’t he want less teams by merging and consolidating?  maybe because that is less money in his pocket. He is also the one in years back to take teams money and not hold a league tournament which is part of the fee. I would disagree about Head Coach egos, many are living the dream through their kids. The problem with Donnie Baseball’s comments are these are dads coaching with limited experience besides youtube and may have played a little high school ball. The best players usually go where the best coaching and development is (top tier teams, depends on age group) which is why the lesser travel teams never get any better nor is there development. |
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Post by oldtimer on Jan 30, 2019 13:42:32 GMT -5
From my perspective at the youth level(8u-14u) team success has little to do with coaching and a lot to do with talent. And the talented players want to play with
other talented players and win(or at least their parents want them to).
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Post by Usedtobeacoach on Jan 30, 2019 14:48:42 GMT -5
Dave S- just wondering what you think non-elite players should do who want to play a lot more baseball than their local rec program plays? The kids I know who play travel love baseball and playing travel allows them to practice it/play a lot more than the rec programs' April-mid June season. I am a big fan of rec programs (because I think their should be a way to play the game for kids/parents who don't want to dedicate as much time as a travel team demands)- but it doesn't seem like you are ranting about making rec programs stronger (I apologize if I am wrong).
The worst part of my coaching experience was the tension of kids possibly leaving my team for some place else- but I have to say, every time a kid left, I was really happy to have the experience of coaching the kid that replaced him. I consider myself lucky. And overall- I am happy there are enough teams out there for kids who want to play.
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Post by Dave S on Jan 30, 2019 15:19:30 GMT -5
Usedtobeacoach:
I agree with you a lot in some aspects. I think the REC programs need a major boost in many ways (more games, all-stars, tournament teams, etc). But as others have mentioned the parents have been a big problem with letting their son play rec instead opt for a B or C level travel team which to me is a waste of money. The second issue is the head coach ego which I stated above. If you have 4-5 really good kids with normal parents and 4-5 kids that probably should be playing REC, pick up the phone and call an opposing coach probably 10 minutes away and merge teams. My whole point is coming from back in the 80’s/90’s there weren’t 30+ travel teams for each age group starting at 8u in Maryland. I just don’t see the benefit in many different aspects. Because as these kids get ready for High School there will be a lot of disappointed people.
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Post by Usedtobeacoach on Jan 30, 2019 15:44:40 GMT -5
I see what you are saying... but here is the interesting thing about reducing the travel teams at the younger level- I strongly believe that at 8 or 9- you don't know who is really going to be a good player after a couple of years. My son's 8u team had a kids that had were on their 2nd year of travel ball and kids that had never played more than rec before. We choose to play travel because my son wanted to play more than rec. I know that 8 yr olds playing in our rec league aren't even playing real games (coach pitch)- so an 8U team that gives kids who think they love the game more time to develop seems like a pretty good deal to me (especially if there are coaches with or without egos) who are willing to put the time in.
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Post by Donnie Baseball on Feb 1, 2019 10:58:39 GMT -5
From my perspective at the youth level(8u-14u) team success has little to do with coaching and a lot to do with talent. And the talented players want to play with other talented players and win(or at least their parents want them to). ESPECIALLY at those ages - if you think player development has little to do with coaching, trust me, you haven't seen good coaching yet. I hope you do at some point. |
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Post by oldtimer on Feb 1, 2019 14:27:47 GMT -5
Player development has a lot to do with good coaching(be it private or in a team setting) Agree 100 percent
My point was that the most successful teams are successful mostly due to talent (and also how coaches use/manage the talent)
At my kids age group i can think of some very good teams (win %) whose coaches leave a lot to be desired in my book.
And on the other hand i have seen some good coaching in my estimation by guys who may not win quite as much- but who get their teams to compete with more talented teams and whose players have improved.
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Post by Usedtobeacoach on Feb 1, 2019 16:10:04 GMT -5
So here is something that I never understood- and I would be interested in hearing other opinions about:
It would seem to me that if I was a parent of a good young player that really cared about individual player development- I would prefer to have my son (or daughter) play a premier position on a decent team instead of being just another good player on a really good team.
I understand leaving if you don't believe in the coach, or you are really unsatisfied with the competition level- but if I wanted my son to really develop as a pitcher (for example)- It makes sense to me that I would want my son to be the best pitcher on his team so that he has plenty of opportunities to pitch (as long as he is not being overused- that goes to believing in the coach). Or it seems to me obvious that a hitter who is at the top of the order would have more chances than someone just trying to make the lineup on a really good team.
At some point, I agree there is a real positive in putting your kid in a really challenging environment (I made the decision to do this at 13u)- but I'm a believer in the importance of opportunities at the younger ages.
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Post by oldtimer on Feb 2, 2019 8:22:42 GMT -5
So given the choice would a good player have a better chance to develop as a pitcher by being the #1 pitcher on a mediocre team or playing on a very good team and maybe not pitching as much?
At first thought i would say go with the better team , you only get better by challenging yourself and since good teams play a lot of games if you are good you will get your chance to pitch.
I can see and know of a few situations where kids were good enough to play on higher level teams but stayed with lower teams due to playing time(including mound time)
Regarding hitting you can look at it 2 ways.
Play on a mediocre team more at bats- play on a very good team maybe less at bats but theoretically against betting pitching.
So ultimately no right answer -depends on the kid. And to me the decision on what team to play on should go to the kid not the parent unless there are extenuating circumstances.
We all want our kids to fulfill their potential and be high school stars etc. Some kids would rather be the star or their youth team some are comfortable batting 10th(a lot probably dont care) There are so many variables that go into development and who will “make it” . A great coach can make a player better but getting better doesn’t mean even a driven kid has the ability to be a good high school player
My kid plays on a pretty good team and I like his coaches but the main reason he plays on his team is because HE likes it and HE has fun. There is a position he would like to play a little more and at times he wished he hit higher in the lineup but everything is done for the good of the team and he is good with that and never had any desire to leave.
If he played on a lower team and batted 4th or played on a better team with an ex pro as his coach would his skill level and performance be different right now? No idea and I don’t worry about it
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Post by Dave S on Aug 8, 2019 5:59:19 GMT -5
You can’t even count on 2 hands how many travel teams are “looking” for additional players. What a joke. Some are basically saying if you have $2k your son will be on a team. I just don’t get it. Consolidate! Travel ball is so watered down it’s laughable. All these organizations with multiple same age group teams. Give me a break. Kids are getting cut by 2 and 3 teams yet still can find a team to play on. How about save your money, play 10-15 rec games and a couple B level tournaments as an allstar team?
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maybe because that is less money in his pocket. He is also the one in years back to take teams money and not hold a league tournament which is part of the fee. I would disagree about Head Coach egos, many are living the dream through their kids. The problem with Donnie Baseball’s comments are these are dads coaching with limited experience besides youtube and may have played a little high school ball. The best players usually go where the best coaching and development is (top tier teams, depends on age group) which is why the lesser travel teams never get any better nor is there development.