I ran across this rant today on Facebook. It was, ironically, posted by one of my son’s former coaches. I do have to say, this is SPOT on when it comes to travel baseball.
Youth Travel Baseball
Excellent, so true, 100% agreed! The state of youth travel baseball (8-14) is horrendous. I’m beginning to see why every parent who’s kids are 17,18 or older all say the same thing.
- There are too many teams. Your little community of 15,000- 25,000 people doesn’t need 7-8 teams at every age group. Thanks for watering down the competition. Half your team(s) should be playing rec ball.
- Kids are not pro free agents. Let them play with their friends. They’re not going pro and even if they do go pro, nobody cares what their team’s record was in youth baseball. Stop trying to be their “agent” every tryout season to satisfy your ego and move them to a “better” team.
- Gamechanger is a joke at the youth level. Get off of it. Most “scorekeepers” are busy parents who are multitasking and have no real baseball experience. One team’s .350 hitter could be a much better hitter than another team’s .450 hitter. Some team’s 25-5 record could be against lesser competition and they could actually be an average team that just plays below average competition.. it’s all smoke and mirrors that you and your kid shouldn’t even be concerned with.
- The pitching stuff is out of control. Parents letting their kids throw 200 pitches in a weekend to win a plastic ring sums up exactly where this game is right now. Most tommy john surgeries are being done on 14-18 year old kids in this country. When your son is washed up at 17 because he blew his elbow out, at least he’ll be able to tell his buddies about the cool plastic rings he won at 13u… Coaches who do this should be banned from the sport.
- Don’t get me started on the absolute money grabs that are most tournaments and “showcases”. Despicable. No your 12 year old doesn’t need to showcase his 62 mph fastball for $795 with perfect game. Nobody cares. Save your money and buy him a weight set or a full year of lessons with a reputable trainer.
– a parent who is starting to see the light
