My coworker he very involved with their rec league. He says they have had a record number of kids sign up this year because parents cannot afford travel ball. They had to add two teams after sign up.
Dads on facebook are complaining about playing time...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
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I'd rather spend the money on a good hitting/fielding coach when the kid is young. See how hard the kid is willing to work, and where they grow athletically. I probably wouldn't put my kid in travel ball until they're 10+ even on the local level.
Wrong. It’s bigger than it’s ever been. Overall participation in baseball is what is down.
And overall participation is down because travel ball participation is up. It's killed local leagues and opportunities for poor kids to play.
Correct. And it will eventually collapse. But you can’t convince any parents of that so I quit trying.
My 8yo daughter plays rec league softball. Last year was her first time ever playing and she had fun but was 8-9th best hitter on her team. Some travel ball coach apparently got my number from her application and called me after the season trying to "recruit" her.
Not sure how common this is, but it seems that a lot of kids in our social circle quit baseball after a two or three years of travel ball and some teams have consolidated and they're not even to jr. high yet. Not sure if they get burnt out playing that much or if the parents encourage them to quit or if maybe being exposed to more competition makes them feel like they aren't good enough to bother or what, but it seems like a lot more of them quit than rec players used to. Or maybe it's just they don't get replaced where as rec leagues used to have attrition but also have new players.
But I could definitely see travel ball driving down participation in baseball overall, as it simultaneously kills off rec leagues and then kids quitting travel ball aren't replaced as there is no rec league to speak of to draw from.
My 5 year old plays rec soccer through a local club here. They've spent the last couple weeks trying to get us to allow him to join their "Center of Excellence". All I can do is roll my eyes because I'm not paying over 1K for my 5 year old to play a sport. IF he sticks with a sport, and he needs to join a club, travel ball, aau whatever to advance we'll cross that bridge in a few years. At this point I want him to have fun and just learn how to be part of a team.
Legitimacy is inverse to the size of the dad’s penis.
You're the one that made the assertion, so I asked for a source. I can tell you that is not the case in North Mississippi.
USSSA registrations are down because more teams are playing PG. But that doesn't mean participation is down. It was down from 20-22 for obvious reasons.
It happens. Kids are stars early because they hit a growth spurt early or because they started sooner, then around 12u all the other kids start catching up and there becomes a realization that they weren't as good as they thought they were, and many parents don't want to accept this. Other kids are late bloomers and maybe was the kid relegated to RF in 10u but all of the sudden they're taking spots from other kids who remembered them when they sucked.
The other part of that is putting in the work. Baseball is fun 12u and under. But when you start getting up to 14u and over those kids have to put more work into it. It kinda separates the kids with real potential from the kids who just are out there to have fun.
Yeah I coach rec ball in Tupelo, and they said there was about 100 more kids playing baseball across the age divisions this year compared to last year.
And you can find a travel team if u want. My kid and his best friend are both 50 lbs and can barely roll a hit to the edge of the outfield; but they got asked to play travel ball last year.
It seems lots of kids don’t make a primary travel team, so they go find a team in like Mantachie or Ingomar that will take them.
Again wrong. It’s very simple to look up, the data is easily available Go ahead and check the numbers. Again all travel tourneys both pg and u-trip are down. Tournaments teams and players
Again. It’s easy to look up. Go back thru. If you’ve been versed in this for 20 years you know this. I have 3 kids of my own currently in it, 2 nephews and 2 nieces… numbers are easy to look up, and all the numbers are down
Man I hope you guys that are saying travel ball is decreasing in popularity are right. My son is 5 and it scares me to death that we could be running all over the state at travel ball tournaments every single weekend in a few years. I don't know how people do it, sounds miserable to me but I understand everyone is different. Some people are crazy about it. My question to them is when do you get time to play golf, go to state games or saints games or take a vacation? I wish it would go back to rec leagues in the spring with all stars in the summer until you get to high school ball.
Yea, these are kids quitting before that. These are kids that were playing travel ball for coach pitch and are out of baseball before they leave elementary school. Quitting around Jr. high makes sense to me. At that point, depending on whether they've hit puberty, they kind of know whether they are going to be competitive for playing time and if not, whether they like it enough to keep training in the hopes they make a jump later. But it seems crazy to play travel ball at 8 and not playing the sport at 11. Whether it's getting tired of practice or travel or getting discouraged by the competition, it all seems stupid to happen well before they've even hit puberty.
If it makes you feel any better, you'll probably have plenty of people to socialize with in the stands because you'll probably be playing other teams from your area after driving a couple of hours for the tournament.
Oh yeah I’m sure there will be some other parents to hang with. I remember my dad and other dads sneaking out to the parking lot to have a drink during our all star tournaments.
I’d still rather not spend every weekend at a youth baseball complex while missing out on CFB in the fall or playing golf in the spring and summer. And some of these dads/coaches acting like 8 to 10 year old baseball tournaments are game 7 of the World Series make my skin crawl.
To look on the bright side, it gives time for the kids to fight other shlt they want to play moreso than baseball.
And THAT is the unintended consequence that so many, including MLB, are missing. It’s not just about development….because many of these kids won’t go past high school at best. What they are doing…..is killing future fans of the game.
Why are you telling me to go look it up. I'm telling you that you're full of shlt as a statement of fact. Prove me wrong or stfu.
Any increase in rec ball is likely going to be first year kids. But you hardly ever see any that go from rec to travel and back to rec. it happens, but it’s rare. Once parents get a taste of travel, they quickly get caught up in the lifestyle.
A lot of kids have to choose a sport in HS. You could play all three when I was a kid but now a days, when you get to HS, it’s really hard to play football and another sport or baseball and another sport and Coaches discourage it. football is year around with daily lifting and practice sessions year around even if it’s not official. same goes for baseball. Kids pick their favorite not necessarily the one they are best at. I think that sucks and in the long run they aren’t as well rounded athletes as the old timers Who played everything.
You also have to remember that so many more kids are at these mega schools now, which adds to that. If you come up at a 3A school or lower, you can still play multiple sports. But the majority of the country doesn’t live in small towns these days.
Father Mike had a stroke and i haven't heard how he is doing ..
.but I sit a few rows behind the OBrien's they make the trip up for every weekend game ...a few weeks ago the i do know another player who thought he was going to start the Samford game ... his dad drove four hours to see him and he didn't sniff the field ... the dad was texting and venting and walking the concourse furious ..wishing his son had been cut in the fall...he is realistic to know that his son only has two more seasons of baseball left and his son has to decide if he wants to stay here or go somewhere where he can get on the field.
Nah. I don’t need to prove the board idiot wrong. Again when all teams have to register with rosters and all tournaments are documented it’s very easy for anyone to figure out that has passed 7th grade math. They have website and everything. When 30 teams showed up for a tournament last year and only 18 are now. And when the younger tournaments have gotten smaller and smaller by the year… but again it’s all documented and easily to find
you and goat have a lot in common. Angry old men that eant people off their lawns.
Im not going to go post information that is very easy to find especially for someone that has supposedly been in travel ball for the last 20 years… my guess is you know a little about a lot… your kid got cut or couldn’t pass the mustard and your bitter with the entire situation.
Typically a couple things:
1. in coach pitch no fear of HBP - get to kid pitch and that fear gets real. some are able to work through it and some check out - you get to 11 and you have some kids that are mid to upper 70s - my 10yr old playing up in a 11u tourney in ATL spent a month in concussion protocol after his 3rd HBP to the head (last at 74) - no symptoms till the following Tuesday - the fear can become real very quick - luckily for him he has zero fear (having 6 surgeries before 7 can do that)
2. parents realizing the work it will take to be even decent start pushing their kid to other activities
3. Parents mistake lack of skill as lack of effort and make life miserable for kid and they just begin to hate it
for 2 and 3, parents don’t want to play the long game (be good by 17-18) because they want their kid good now because it’s more fun on the socials and in friend circles
People clamoring for more Rec ball crack me up. The rec leagues are not teaching kids anything anymore. There is no development happening. I'm speaking from experience.
We just got our new rec league roster. This is 8u. We have 3 that have never touched a baseball before. That is awesome that they want to play. You know what is not awesome? The fact we only got 2 practices before games started up. I can't take the time to teach little George anything in 2 practices. I'm going to set the infield with the 4 players that are getting reps in travel ball, and they also are the best hitters too ( again, no surprise). I'm done with rec league after this year, unless they let me enter my tournament team in an age class up. My son's travel team that I coach practices at least once a week. We focus mostly on fundamentals. Guess who isn't going to ever do that ? Rec league.
There is no development happening in the current rec system. It's just another check to the parks and rec.
We just got our new rec league roster. This is 8u. We have 3 that have never touched a baseball before. That is awesome that they want to play. You know what is not awesome? The fact we only got 2 practices before games started up. I can't take the time to teach little George anything in 2 practices. I'm going to set the infield with the 4 players that are getting reps in travel ball, and they also are the best hitters too ( again, no surprise). I'm done with rec league after this year, unless they let me enter my tournament team in an age class up. My son's travel team that I coach practices at least once a week. We focus mostly on fundamentals. Guess who isn't going to ever do that ? Rec league.
There is no development happening in the current rec system. It's just another check to the parks and rec.
You can always tell your son no; you are not playing travel ball. It is hard to tell your kid no, but they will be better adults if they hear it a lot.
He's not wrong. I can tell you there are travel ball teams (in every sport) that focus solely on winning and some that focus on making money. Invitational only versus vs write a check and you're on the team.
Our age group had 6 weeks of preseason practice this spring, and the younger kids got 4. I’m afraid your issue is your park.
its very clear there are people in here that had a bad travel ball expereince that have warped their idea of travel ball.,
While i agree the fact that they set these tournaments up to make money is very real.. and players/families pay a lot of money to be part of it..
the reality of it is.. good travel teams are good experiences.. and for the most part you can find one that meets whatever needs you have if you really look for one. Whether that be playing 2 times a month, hardly ever practicing, picking up players.. or even teams that practice 2 times a week and play every weekend. Its all out there.... and it is all worlds better than any rec ball league.
AND yes travel ball teams and numbers are shrinking.. largely due the fact that some people are realizing its not for them or the money isnt worth it. Travel ball peaked some 5-7 years ago.. there has been a huge drop off since then.. and the numbers of teams, tournaments, and players have dropped each year for the last 3 seasons.
You've said before you are in the B'ham OTM leagues, if I remember correctly. Just know, you are in one of the last rec ball holdouts.
None of what you said is true. But you keep doubling down on it.
Perhaps speak on topics you know something about going forward.