Youth Sports

[Irishize]

I didn’t see a thread that addresses this so I hope I’m not duplicating anything.

I assume most folks on here are parents and that some have kids involved in youth sports. Hopefully, we have some youth or school coaches on board as well to get their perspective.

Two things I’ve noticed that have changed since my days playing organized youth sports:

1. Kids are specializing at a much younger age. I hate this b/c I think it takes away the experience for the kids to truly compete in different settings & teams. Also, I believe it ensures young athletes use the majority of their muscle groups vs overworking the same muscle groups while the underutilized muscles set them up for injury.

2. At the school athletics level, I’ve noticed “team punishment” rarely works. For instance, a few of the starters on the basketball team get caught cutting corners of sneaking out of drills. The coach has been taught to punish the team w/ wind sprints, up/downs, etc. That definitely worked when I was a kid b/c the peer pressure was immense & you better not be the one forcing your teammates to incur more conditioning drills b/c you screwed up. Nowadays, they don’t care. The starters I mentioned earlier NEVER change their ways & don’t seem to mind the consequences because, at the end of the day, they aren’t losing any playing time & seem to not mind what used to be seen as negative attention.

Now, my comments are purely anecdotal so I can’t speak for everyone of you and what you or your kids experience. I’m sure there are plenty of kids who play 3-4 seasonal sports & there are some coaches who enjoy great results from “team punishment”. I would just be interested in your feedback, experiences & opinion overall.

Thanks

 

[Blazers46]

I didn’t see a thread that addresses this so I hope I’m not duplicating anything.

I assume most folks on here are parents and that some have kids involved in youth sports. Hopefully, we have some youth or school coaches on board as well to get their perspective.

Two things I’ve noticed that have changed since my days playing organized youth sports:

1. Kids are specializing at a much younger age. I hate this b/c I think it takes away the experience for the kids to truly compete in different settings & teams. Also, I believe it ensures young athletes use the majority of their muscle groups vs overworking the same muscle groups while the underutilized muscles set them up for injury.

2. At the school athletics level, I’ve noticed “team punishment” rarely works. For instance, a few of the starters on the basketball team get caught cutting corners of sneaking out of drills. The coach has been taught to punish the team w/ wind sprints, up/downs, etc. That definitely worked when I was a kid b/c the peer pressure was immense & you better not be the one forcing your teammates to incur more conditioning drills b/c you screwed up. Nowadays, they don’t care. The starters I mentioned earlier NEVER change their ways & don’t seem to mind the consequences because, at the end of the day, they aren’t losing any playing time & seem to not mind what used to be seen as negative attention.

Now, my comments are purely anecdotal so I can’t speak for everyone of you and what you or your kids experience. I’m sure there are plenty of kids who play 3-4 seasonal sports & there are some coaches who enjoy great results from “team punishment”. I would just be interested in your feedback, experiences & opinion overall.

Thanks

1. I agree. I own a Play It Again Sports store and parents sometimes refuse to let their kid play a particular position and insist their kid has to be a SS or C even when they are only 6 or 7.

2. I think team punishments dont work because kids these days either have 4 other teams they play on or have choices. We have a term here "if you can't coach, poach", a lot kids and parents jump jump as soon as they get a little feeling hurt. With travel ball, rec ball, and other leagues I have seen instances where the kid or parent has no clue who some of the other kids or parents are. Its hard to hold your teammates accountable or take a bullet for the other guy when you dont even know who they are.

 

[Irishize]

1. I agree. I own a Play It Again Sports store and parents sometimes refuse to let their kid play a particular position and insist their kid has to be a SS or C even when they are only 6 or 7.

2. I think team punishments dont work because kids these days either have 4 other teams they play on or have choices. We have a term here "if you can't coach, poach", a lot kids and parents jump jump as soon as they get a little feeling hurt. With travel ball, rec ball, and other leagues I have seen instances where the kid or parent has no clue who some of the other kids or parents are. Its hard to hold your teammates accountable or take a bullet for the other guy when you dont even know who they are.

I agree on both points. EVERY parent thinks their youngster is a SS and that playing the OF is a dent to their egoes. By the time they are teenagers, most of those kids have matured enough to tell mom/dad that they really don’t like baseball (as much as mom & dad do anyway).

Regarding punishment, I was speaking more to the organized school ball where it’s not some dad but an actual paid coach. These dudes/gals love to punish the entire team for a few knuckleheads. Again, if it works...great. But when the same offenders don’t change their attitudes/work ethic...whose really being punished here?

 

[phork]

1. Specialization is a definite issue as is travel teams. Travel teams full of kids who shouldn't be on a travel team but their parents will fork over their money because they think they are. Its killing house league teams.

2. I coach and seldom use team punishments unless the whole team seems to be half assing it. Punishments come to players who earn it.

 

[NDRock]

The goal of all these clubs is to monopolize your time and money. The youth sports industry is insane. I enjoy my kids playing for their school (so have they) much more than the club teams they have played for.

 

[IrishLax]

The goal of all these clubs is to monopolize your time and money. The youth sports industry is insane. I enjoy my kids playing for their school (so have they) much more than the club teams they have played for.

Yup. I coach HS lacrosse and parents ask me about this all the time. I tell them do not, do not, DO NOT pressure your kids to specialize at a young age. This used to be a huge problem in our sport with early recruiting... you had kids getting offers as 8th graders or 9th graders so it felt necessary to specialize as soon as possible. With new NCAA legislation, the recruiting calendar got pushed back significantly.

What I tell parents is that college coaches like multisport athletes and that as long as they are dedicating enough offseason time to participate in tournaments, camps, etc. where they get exposure to the coaches that will recruit them that’s enough. They do not need to sacrifice other sports to be year round dedicated to lacrosse. Same logic basically applies to all “club”/“travel” heavy sports like soccer and baseball. A lot of the people that run those clubs are awesome people whose focus is on developing and helping young athletes, but many are there to run a full time business and when that’s your focus the $$$ comes first.

 

[IrishLax]

I agree on both points. EVERY parent thinks their youngster is a SS and that playing the OF is a dent to their egoes. By the time they are teenagers, most of those kids have matured enough to tell mom/dad that they really don’t like baseball (as much as mom & dad do anyway).

Regarding punishment, I was speaking more to the organized school ball where it’s not some dad but an actual paid coach. These dudes/gals love to punish the entire team for a few knuckleheads. Again, if it works...great. But when the same offenders don’t change their attitudes/work ethic...whose really being punished here?

There are lots of different coaching styles and I’m not a big punishment guy. What I tell my players before every season is that the team is a strict meritocracy and I expect 100% buy in at every practice for every player... I’m not there to waste their time, and they shouldn’t be there to waste their time either.

If I don’t get that then the player doesn’t play, and the problem works itself out. When coaches play their best players despite bad habits or rule breaking they are truly doing them a disservice... it’s a horrible life lesson that goes beyond sports. Remember, kids are there to play in the games and have fun so if I need to correct practice habits, attitude, behavior, etc. that’s a much more natural way to do it than draconian punishment. I’m about accountability and clear expectations and it tends to work for my teams. How much you want to bet that those players stop screwing around if they start missing PT?

 

[Irish#1]

Pretty sure there is a thread on this somewhere on this board, but no biggie. I coached youth football and Little League for 13 years and coached wrestling for close to 20 years. My kids played football, wrestled, baseball and basketball until HS. I let them decide from there. Two continued to play football and wrestle in HS. The other two only wrestled.

I remember specialization and travel teams starting to take hold in the early 90's. I won't comment on the muscle groups, but from a mental aspect kids should play multiple sports so they don't get burned out. I recently heard something on TV that said kids who played multiple sports actually performed better in their primary sport compared to those who specialized in one sport.

Travel teams have certainly hurt the local leagues. Back when I coached, travel teams were all star teams that were formed after the season to play in one or two tournaments against other leagues all star teams. Now travel teams play year round and the kids don't play in the local leagues. Along with specializing and playing one sport, travel teams use kids. When a coach finds a kid that is better, he'll replace the worst kid to upgrade the team.

My biggest concern are the parents. Most are not knowledgeable enough to tell the difference between a good player and a really good player, let alone a great player. They have ambitions to push the kid in hopes of earning a D1 scholarship. I don't see things changing.

 

[EddytoNow]

I coached basketball at the middle school and high school level for 14 years, both boys and girls. There are some keys to successful school coaching:

1. Make your expectations known up front. If parents and/or athletes can't accept the expectations and consequences, they can self-cut before the season gets underway.
2. Be honest with your players concerning their role on the team.
3. Enforce consequences equally when one of the expectations is not met. Both "Star Players" and "The Last Players Off the Bench" should face the same consequences when one of the rules is broken.
4. Make it fun.
5. In school sports be very selective in moving younger players ahead of older players on the depth chart. If you want to have a mass exodus of players, the quickest way is to start playing your freshmen ahead of your juniors and seniors.
6. Be very conscious of playing time. Its okay to lock up the win, but everyone wants to play. Get everyone in the game as early as possible and coach your subs as hard as you coach your starters. It won't hurt the starters to sit on the bench occasionally and cheer on their teammates.
7. Remove "cancerous" players from the team. In the long run, the team is better without disruptive players.
8. Let the players decide what other sports, if any, they wish to play. It's a new world out there. AAU and travel teams are not all bad. If a kid wants to play one sport year round, that is his or her choice. If he or she wants to play multiple sports, that is also his or her choice.

It's all about the team. In 14 years of coaching, my teams won just under 80% of their games following these rules. I never once told a kid to play multiple sports or to specialize in a single sport. In fact, I had to change jobs once when the athletic director/principal told me to force the basketball players to run cross-country. I told him I was more than willing to coach cross-country (in addition to basketball), but I was not going to force a basketball player to run cross-country as a prerequisite to being on the basketball team. He was bound and determined to start a cross-country team at the school despite their being very little interest on the part of the students. In a closed-door meeting with no witnesses, he threatened my teaching job if I wouldn't buckle under to his demands. He even went to the trouble of erasing and changing positive comments on my teaching evaluation to follow through on his threat. I took my teaching and coaching skills elsewhere before he could follow though on his threat to fire me.

The guy was a scumbag, but I believed then and still believe today that a kid should not be forced or pushed into an activity in which he or she does not wish to participate.

 

[EvilleIrish]

I am a HS baseball coach but coached a 12u travel team last summer in order to make some extra cash. It was an absolute eye opening experience. The organization I coached for picked the team, so I had no idea who any of these kids were when we started. At least half of my players had absolutely zero business playing any kind of travel ball. However, every parent was completely blind to that fact and had zero issue forking over thousands of dollars for this experience.

My thoughts on travel ball changed throughout the summer as I used to say 100% that these kids should still play in their spring house leagues. The only problem now is that there are no players left for the spring leagues, so the leagues themselves are terrible with basically zero instruction. I'm not sure I know the correct answer but I can tell you it's a massive issue by the time these kids get to HS, as they now think they're a sure fire star since they played on some travel team at 11 years old. Only problem though is that they're realistically good enough to barely make a HS freshmen team.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I played 3-4 sports a year from 1-12 grade. I liked most of it.

But as a parent, the time demands, specialization, and all around fanatism in contemporary sports culture are are ruining sports. You shouldn’t have to choose between investing all of your family’s free time in sports, and not playing at all. But if everyone is overdoing it, it seems like you either have to overdo it too, or sit it out.

 

[Irishize]

I am a HS baseball coach but coached a 12u travel team last summer in order to make some extra cash. It was an absolute eye opening experience. The organization I coached for picked the team, so I had no idea who any of these kids were when we started. At least half of my players had absolutely zero business playing any kind of travel ball. However, every parent was completely blind to that fact and had zero issue forking over thousands of dollars for this experience.

My thoughts on travel ball changed throughout the summer as I used to say 100% that these kids should still play in their spring house leagues. The only problem now is that there are no players left for the spring leagues, so the leagues themselves are terrible with basically zero instruction. I'm not sure I know the correct answer but I can tell you it's a massive issue by the time these kids get to HS, as they now think they're a sure fire star since they played on some travel team at 11 years old. Only problem though is that they're realistically good enough to barely make a HS freshmen team.

Yes, I’ve seen some organizations “hire” their baseball coach. It’s usually a name brand program like “Rawlings Prospects” or some other national brand. You hit the key point, though; money. Parents never hesistate to fork over the insane amount of money some of these organizations demand.

We keep our USSSA team down to the bare minimum. Enough to pay for two jerseys, two hats, balls, insurance & tourney fees. Whatever is left at the end of the year is dispensed back to the parents. We also intentionally started at the AA level to focus on fundamentals vs advancing through the ranks. The only kid that we asked to leave the program was due to his father being a royal pain in the ass as he mirrored the description all of the posters listed as a delusional parent.

Our local league is down to bare bones but it was of their own doing. Because our community had a reputation of producing state champs & future D1/pro players, it had a cult like following from HS all the way down to t-ball. Parents couldn’t wait to slap a Bryant All-Star sticker on the back of their SUV. It was sickening the stuff these parents would put up with. It got worse after a team made the Cal Ripken WS that was broadcast on ESPN over a decade ago. After that, every dad who had delusions of grandeur wanted to drive his team to ESPN for his own glory.

Fast forward and the psycho dad coaches ran all the good kids off for my son’s age group. We found a safe haven in travel ball. BTW, “travel” was a misnomer as we never traveled more than 45 minutes away.

My point is both travel ball & local ball have their pros & cons depending on where you live. There’s good folks leading team in both organizations & there’s d’bags doing the same. It’s up to us parents to decipher & not tolerate the d’bags. Most of these kids will not play college ball, so let them have fun, compete, and learn valuable life lessons on character & perserverance.

Ironically, if most of these parents would simply save the money they spend on camps, travel ball, lessons, etc to earn a D1 scholarship...they could pay for it and let the kid avoid debt.

 

[Irishize]

There are lots of different coaching styles and I’m not a big punishment guy. What I tell my players before every season is that the team is a strict meritocracy and I expect 100% buy in at every practice for every player... I’m not there to waste their time, and they shouldn’t be there to waste their time either.

If I don’t get that then the player doesn’t play, and the problem works itself out. When coaches play their best players despite bad habits or rule breaking they are truly doing them a disservice... it’s a horrible life lesson that goes beyond sports. Remember, kids are there to play in the games and have fun so if I need to correct practice habits, attitude, behavior, etc. that’s a much more natural way to do it than draconian punishment. I’m about accountability and clear expectations and it tends to work for my teams. How much you want to bet that those players stop screwing around if they start missing PT?

Yes! Thank you for your feedback. This is what drove my son to opt not to go out for HS basketball. He was NOT one of the best five so it wasn’t about starting. He was tired of a couple of the starters jacking around in practice forcing the entire team to spend most of the practice running vs getting better fundamentally. The guilty party never changed their way b/c they ALWAYS started regardless. The coach was a nice kid & meant well but it was like he felt pressured to play the same starting five for the entire game if it was a close game. The thing is, most games were close b/c his starters couldn’t hit a FT or a jump shot & even missed easy layups b/c they were focused on “looking good”. They were all AAU kids who were exceptional athletes but could not play as a cohesive unit.

 

[Irishize]

Another thing I’ve noticed (at least at my kids’ schools) is that nobody cuts rosters down anymore. They like to brag that “they cut themselves”. In other words, 100 kids can show up for the baseball workouts w/ no concern of being cut & they have to decide if it’s worth their time/effort to stick around for the sake of wearing a jersey one day.

My thought is that the coach is supposed to be the adult in this situation. Have the balls (no pun intended ) to cut the roster down to a manageable size. Don’t be lazy and not evaluate what you have. Then, if a kid gets cut, they need to decide how much they love that sport & how hard they want to work to EARN a roster spot. Cutting a kid is not the end of the world for the kid. It’s doing them a favor IMO...and I include my kid in that thought. Nothing should be “given” to them b/c they show up. Earn it.

 

[EvilleIrish]

Another thing I’ve noticed (at least at my kids’ schools) is that nobody cuts rosters down anymore. They like to brag that “they cut themselves”. In other words, 100 kids can show up for the baseball workouts w/ no concern of being cut & they have to decide if it’s worth their time/effort to stick around for the sake of wearing a jersey one day.

My thought is that the coach is supposed to be the adult in this situation. Have the balls (no pun intended ) to cut the roster down to a manageable size. Don’t be lazy and not evaluate what you have. Then, if a kid gets cut, they need to decide how much they love that sport & how hard they want to work to EARN a roster spot. Cutting a kid is not the end of the world for the kid. It’s doing them a favor IMO...and I include my kid in that thought. Nothing should be “given” to them b/c they show up. Earn it.

Couldn't agree more. One thing to remember though is you can't legally cut before the dates of the actual tryouts, at least that's the way it is in Indiana. So every kid in the school can come to your offseason program, but you can't get rid of anybody until the tryouts are over. However, I'm completely on board with the notion of getting rid of kids that won't see hardly any time in game action.

 

[EvilleIrish]

Yes, I’ve seen some organizations “hire” their baseball coach. It’s usually a name brand program like “Rawlings Prospects” or some other national brand. You hit the key point, though; money. Parents never hesistate to fork over the insane amount of money some of these organizations demand.

We keep our USSSA team down to the bare minimum. Enough to pay for two jerseys, two hats, balls, insurance & tourney fees. Whatever is left at the end of the year is dispensed back to the parents. We also intentionally started at the AA level to focus on fundamentals vs advancing through the ranks. The only kid that we asked to leave the program was due to his father being a royal pain in the ass as he mirrored the description all of the posters listed as a delusional parent.

Our local league is down to bare bones but it was of their own doing. Because our community had a reputation of producing state champs & future D1/pro players, it had a cult like following from HS all the way down to t-ball. Parents couldn’t wait to slap a Bryant All-Star sticker on the back of their SUV. It was sickening the stuff these parents would put up with. It got worse after a team made the Cal Ripken WS that was broadcast on ESPN over a decade ago. After that, every dad who had delusions of grandeur wanted to drive his team to ESPN for his own glory.

Fast forward and the psycho dad coaches ran all the good kids off for my son’s age group. We found a safe haven in travel ball. BTW, “travel” was a misnomer as we never traveled more than 45 minutes away.

My point is both travel ball & local ball have their pros & cons depending on where you live. There’s good folks leading team in both organizations & there’s d’bags doing the same. It’s up to us parents to decipher & not tolerate the d’bags. Most of these kids will not play college ball, so let them have fun, compete, and learn valuable life lessons on character & perserverance.

Ironically, if most of these parents would simply save the money they spend on camps, travel ball, lessons, etc to earn a D1 scholarship...they could pay for it and let the kid avoid debt.

Your last point is spot on. I was lucky enough to play at the D2 level, and my scholarship was for only half of the tuition. Hardly anybody gets a full ride in college baseball, so it would make more financial sense to just save that money and invest it towards future tuition money.

 

[Irish#1]

I coached basketball at the middle school and high school level for 14 years, both boys and girls. There are some keys to successful school coaching:

1. Make your expectations known up front. If parents and/or athletes can't accept the expectations and consequences, they can self-cut before the season gets underway.
2. Be honest with your players concerning their role on the team.
3. Enforce consequences equally when one of the expectations is not met. Both "Star Players" and "The Last Players Off the Bench" should face the same consequences when one of the rules is broken.
4. Make it fun.
5. In school sports be very selective in moving younger players ahead of older players on the depth chart. If you want to have a mass exodus of players, the quickest way is to start playing your freshmen ahead of your juniors and seniors.
6. Be very conscious of playing time. Its okay to lock up the win, but everyone wants to play. Get everyone in the game as early as possible and coach your subs as hard as you coach your starters. It won't hurt the starters to sit on the bench occasionally and cheer on their teammates.
7. Remove "cancerous" players from the team. In the long run, the team is better without disruptive players.
8. Let the players decide what other sports, if any, they wish to play. It's a new world out there. AAU and travel teams are not all bad. If a kid wants to play one sport year round, that is his or her choice. If he or she wants to play multiple sports, that is also his or her choice.

It's all about the team. In 14 years of coaching, my teams won just under 80% of their games following these rules. I never once told a kid to play multiple sports or to specialize in a single sport. In fact, I had to change jobs once when the athletic director/principal told me to force the basketball players to run cross-country. I told him I was more than willing to coach cross-country (in addition to basketball), but I was not going to force a basketball player to run cross-country as a prerequisite to being on the basketball team. He was bound and determined to start a cross-country team at the school despite their being very little interest on the part of the students. In a closed-door meeting with no witnesses, he threatened my teaching job if I wouldn't buckle under to his demands. He even went to the trouble of erasing and changing positive comments on my teaching evaluation to follow through on his threat. I took my teaching and coaching skills elsewhere before he could follow though on his threat to fire me.

The guy was a scumbag, but I believed then and still believe today that a kid should not be forced or pushed into an activity in which he or she does not wish to participate.

The problem today is the HS programs are now looked at as a lower tier activity compared to the AAU/Travel leagues. Coaches don't have the authority they used to. They can threaten to cut a kid or kick them off the team, but they know they can still play on the travel team and more college coaches show up for those games than they do HS games.

 

[irishtrooper]

I’ve coached a travel girls basketball team for 6 years. I mostly took girls from my daughter’s school. I had a couple girls from nearby schools, but the primary focus was to improve cohesion as a team and improve fundamentals. I held a mandatory players/parents meeting each year to clearly explain the reasons and goals of the program and that if their ideas of what they wanted didn’t fit-they should find a new program. I wasn’t about winning, although we did win a few tournaments, but the girls seemed to enjoy it. The HS team (full of our girls) won 3 section titles in 4 years and may win this year, so it as payed off. I’ve decided to dissolve the team for various reasons (second daughter graduates this year, new position at work, etc), but I have noticed 2 things that stand out more and more each year

1) The burnout is real. Some of the girls just don’t enjoy the game if they’re being forced (by parents) to play all year (or 10 months). There’s a few that would play 365 days a year, but more and more get sick of it and it has showed in their lack of improvement. It’s almost as if they want to “get through it” and don’t enjoy it.

2) a lot of parents have the ridiculous idea that because their kid plays travel or AAU, that they get some golden ticket that ensures they’ll be a star and have colleges throwing themselves at their kids. I try to tell the parents and kids that just showing up ensures nothing other than an opportunity to improve. They only hear what they want though. Two of the stronger young players have just joined an AAU team because they know about one of their players that went D1. That kid was so far above anyone in this area athletically, but they believe they’ve found the holy grail and they will now be recruited by UCONN and ND.

These developments are unfortunate because the game will never be as fun as the high school level for these girls and it’s being made into a pressure cooker where if you don’t become an all-time great, you are a nobody. Everyone cares more about scoring points than how the team does. I’ve literally had girls cry AFTER A WIN because they had a subpar scoring game. That same kid was all smiles though after scoring 20 (on 23 shots btw) in a 15 point loss. I was a pretty good player and I rarely ever knew how many points I had until someone told me or I saw it in the paper. I think the unrealistic parental expectations on these girls lead them to being little too self centered. Almost every parent that does it is completely clueless about the game, probably didn’t play and tries to live through their kid’s achievements.

 

[Irishize]

The problem today is the HS programs are now looked at as a lower tier activity compared to the AAU/Travel leagues. Coaches don't have the authority they used to. They can threaten to cut a kid or kick them off the team, but they know they can still play on the travel team and more college coaches show up for those games than they do HS games.

For some sports in some regions, you are correct. I know kids that play strictly Showcase baseball b/c of all the college coaches who attend the big tourneys. My understanding that it’s not even a baseball game where either team tries to win or lose. It’s literally a venue for a kid to show his wares to the coaches who are scounting. For instance, if you kid was a CF they may tell you to throw every ball home to show off your arm strength even if the play isn’t at home. Or a pitcher is told that you will throw the first 3 innings regardless of how well you do. After that the kid packs up and goes home.

I’m hoping my kid sticks w/ HS during the Spring & American Legion in the summer but those coaches are far from perfect as well.

 

[EddytoNow]

The problem today is the HS programs are now looked at as a lower tier activity compared to the AAU/Travel leagues. Coaches don't have the authority they used to. They can threaten to cut a kid or kick them off the team, but they know they can still play on the travel team and more college coaches show up for those games than they do HS games.

I have no problem with kids playing on travel teams. If a kid loves to play the game and won't get that opportunity on the school team, there's nothing wrong with them playing AAU or travel ball. However, one thing needs to be made clear to parents from the get go. There are no guarantees. Everyone earns their share of playing time and no AAU or school coach can guarantee you a college scholarship. Because the AAU team (if it is not sponsored) or travel team can be quite expensive for parents, they often believe they have paid for a future scholarship. It needs to be made clear up front that any money paid is for the opportunity to play, not the purchase of playing time or a future scholarship. IMHO there should be at least two divisions for AAU, one for the sponsored teams that can be joined by invitation only and one for the unsponsored programs that are just offering an opportunity to play.

In addition to my school coaching days, I volunteered as a coach for the local AAU team. About half the players were local high school players. The other half were kids from larger local high schools who had been cut during basketball try-outs but loved the game and wanted to continue playing. We had no delusions of sending anyone to college on a basketball scholarship. The young men on the team became friends, enjoyed a number of weekend tournaments together, and continue to communicate today through social media. None of the players went on to play college basketball, but one did earn a full-ride to play Division I football.

My son was one of the players. He loved basketball and during the off-season for high school basketball, he preferred playing on the AAU team with his many friends from around the county to either running track or playing baseball on the local high school team. We let him make the choice. He tried them all when he was younger (baseball, football, basketball, soccer, etc.) but decided the only one he really liked was basketball. By the time he reached high school, he had no desire to play any of the other sports. If he hadn't played basketball he would have played video games. By then, he had decided he had no interest in playing the other sports.

 

[ACamp1900]

I just recently found El Paso doesn't have a little league, they have a bunch of travel and indy leagues scattered about. The only league on my side of town has no softball just mixed baseball... this should be interesting.

 

[Irish#1]

I have no problem with kids playing on travel teams. If a kid loves to play the game and won't get that opportunity on the school team, there's nothing wrong with them playing AAU or travel ball. However, one thing needs to be made clear to parents from the get go. There are no guarantees. Everyone earns their share of playing time and no AAU or school coach can guarantee you a college scholarship. Because the AAU team (if it is not sponsored) or travel team can be quite expensive for parents, they often believe they have paid for a future scholarship. It needs to be made clear up front that any money paid is for the opportunity to play, not the purchase of playing time or a future scholarship. IMHO there should be at least two divisions for AAU, one for the sponsored teams that can be joined by invitation only and one for the unsponsored programs that are just offering an opportunity to play.

In addition to my school coaching days, I volunteered as a coach for the local AAU team. About half the players were local high school players. The other half were kids from larger local high schools who had been cut during basketball try-outs but loved the game and wanted to continue playing. We had no delusions of sending anyone to college on a basketball scholarship. The young men on the team became friends, enjoyed a number of weekend tournaments together, and continue to communicate today through social media. None of the players went on to play college basketball, but one did earn a full-ride to play Division I football.

My son was one of the players. He loved basketball and during the off-season for high school basketball, he preferred playing on the AAU team with his many friends from around the county to either running track or playing baseball on the local high school team. We let him make the choice. He tried them all when he was younger (baseball, football, basketball, soccer, etc.) but decided the only one he really liked was basketball. By the time he reached high school, he had no desire to play any of the other sports. If he hadn't played basketball he would have played video games. By then, he had decided he had no interest in playing the other sports.

At it's core, I don't have a problem with AAU/travel teams either. Two of my boys played travel baseball until their freshman year before quitting. One wanted to focus on wrestling in HS. The other played football and wrestled in HS.

My problem with AAU/Travel teams is the erosion it has had on HS teams and just as important parents expectations. Coaches and program directors can be very clear on what to expect and not expect, but the fact of the matter is not all coaches and directors are up front and even if they are, there are a lot of parents who only hear what they want to hear.

 

[NDRock]

Your last point is spot on. I was lucky enough to play at the D2 level, and my scholarship was for only half of the tuition. Hardly anybody gets a full ride in college baseball, so it would make more financial sense to just save that money and invest it towards future tuition money.

This exactly. My daughter is a sophomore right now and wants to play soccer in college (now, at least). The feedback we get is she is a low DI/high DII level athlete. She is on a club team out of Chattanooga. Last year, only one kid (a boy) in the entire club got a full ride scholarship. I tell my wife we are spending thousands to potentially save hundreds.

That being said, she enjoys playing and if she decides to quit after high school, I would have zero regrets. She's definitely benefited from all the positives team sports provide. You really need to be enjoying the ride and not just look at it as a destination to something else.

 

[irishtrain]

As a former baseball player I can tell you (since now I do a little private coaching for fun not $$$$$) that what I see happening today is crazy. The parents really need to sit down and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about and let these little people play for fun until the time comes for them to make serious decisions about a possible career. I am the biggest anti travel ball guy there is until these kids are at minimum 15 yrs old. Its an epidemic case of the dumb%*#. I didn't play travel ball as a child until I was 16 yrs old-parents need to understand you can't buy your way in to notoriety.

 

[Irishize]

As a former baseball player I can tell you (since now I do a little private coaching for fun not $$$$$) that what I see happening today is crazy. The parents really need to sit down and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about and let these little people play for fun until the time comes for them to make serious decisions about a possible career. I am the biggest anti travel ball guy there is until these kids are at minimum 15 yrs old. Its an epidemic case of the dumb%*#. I didn't play travel ball as a child until I was 16 yrs old-parents need to understand you can't buy your way in to notoriety.

With rare exception, there’s no money in lessons. At least that’s what my buddies who played pro or college ball have told me. They do it for love of the game & to pay it forward. Again, there are excepetions.

As far as travel ball, it’s all based on perspective. Our local Cal Ripken league was ruined by the two All-Star coaches who yelled & berated kids until they ran them off. Ironically, both coaches’ own sons quit baseball soon thereafter. The local league wanted their cake & eat it too. They put together a travel team consisting of the presumptive all-stars to get experience so when it came time for post season leading up to Cal Ripken WS, they would be ahead of the other teams who typically still needed to gel as a team since they were true all-stars off various teams. It didn’t help, they still got their asses kicked. Plus, they had to play on a league team to qualify for Cal Ripken. The league teams consisted of a few kids who were good, a few who were decent & wanted to be there and a handful who sat in the outfield and picked weeds b/c their parents insisted they play baseball.

My son went to watch his buddies played and volunteered to me that he wanted no part of that or playing on three teams for the sake of “All Stars”.

 

[pumpdog20]

I see a different perspective on the aspect of travel ball. I think it's great that former players (whether college or pro depending on the sport) have an avenue to stay in the sport they enjoyed and make a living coaching it without having to get into teaching.

*not sure about other states, but in Iowa the rite of passage to coaching is to become a teacher.

 

[irishtrain]

I see a different perspective on the aspect of travel ball. I think it's great that former players (whether college or pro depending on the sport) have an avenue to stay in the sport they enjoyed and make a living coaching it without having to get into teaching.

*not sure about other states, but in Iowa the rite of passage to coaching is to become a teacher.

Booking agents/local parks/coaches who are in it to make$$$ off parents-I don't believe its a good thing-the game is not being taught properly in many cases and the $$$ spent in equipment dues travel is a hardship on many when they could be taught the game for much less cost and not try to create a big league atmosphere. Winning over rides everything and it shouldn't until they know how to play. When you pay the $$$ these people are paying they want an experience that is akin to a pro program-the accent is on the wrong thing. Obviously as an ex big leaguer I know the importance of teaching in a manner that brings wins but not when they are too young. Pivotal point-having them play as the parents say 'real' baseball (leading off first base). They should concentrate more on fundamentals. Otherwise the game turns into a track meet that doesn't even resemble baseball. It comes down to why are you doing this?- both from the coaches and the parents. Take a hard look at the $$$ being spent it will blow you away. And don't get me started on the fact that tikes are being overplayed/pitched too much and worn out on baseball by the time they are 12. Until I got into pro ball the most innings I pitched in one year was like 80 innings. I have kids who do that by June and I'm constantly telling the parents tell the coach to back off your little stud because their bodies cant handle the work load. But hey we paid our $$$$ for this tournament and why doesn't Little Johnny pitch another game on Sunday he only pitched 4 innings Friday in the qualifier and 1 inning on Saturday in that game we needed to win-check with an orthopedic and he'll tell you its too much. Baseball was not meant to be played like a slow pitch softball tournament especially when your between 8-15

 

[Irish#1]

This exactly. My daughter is a sophomore right now and wants to play soccer in college (now, at least). The feedback we get is she is a low DI/high DII level athlete. She is on a club team out of Chattanooga. Last year, only one kid (a boy) in the entire club got a full ride scholarship. I tell my wife we are spending thousands to potentially save hundreds.

That being said, she enjoys playing and if she decides to quit after high school, I would have zero regrets. She's definitely benefited from all the positives team sports provide. You really need to be enjoying the ride and not just look at it as a destination to something else.

Good attitude.

My oldest granddaughter played AAU basketball since she was 7. There was a core group of girls on her team from the same school and my son in law coached them. They were very good and usually placed in the top 3 or 4 at tournaments even placing fourth one year at the AAU Nationals. My son in law would talk about the future and how good this team will be when they get into HS. I told him to temper his thoughts as too many things can interfere. Well they go through middle school undefeated and most of them made varsity their freshman year including my granddaughter. They did pretty well, but after their sophomore year my granddaughter and all but two of the other girls in her class quit. My granddaughter quit because the coach was a major dick and she was feeling too much pressure from her dad even though he wasn't coaching anymore. She could have played D-I at the MAC level, but it wasn't fun. She decided to play volleyball starting her sophomore year in HS and turned out to be pretty good. She decided she didn't want any pressure and picked a college that fit her academically first and offered volleyball. She's playing at the D-3 level and having a blast. After her sophomore year she already is in the top three in most school womens v-ball records and will be the leader in most when she graduates.

Her dad is a nice guy and not a screamer, but refused to see what was going on. Too many parents like that.

 

[Irishize]

Booking agents/local parks/coaches who are in it to make$$$ off parents-I don't believe its a good thing-the game is not being taught properly in many cases and the $$$ spent in equipment dues travel is a hardship on many when they could be taught the game for much less cost and not try to create a big league atmosphere. Winning over rides everything and it shouldn't until they know how to play. When you pay the $$$ these people are paying they want an experience that is akin to a pro program-the accent is on the wrong thing. Obviously as an ex big leaguer I know the importance of teaching in a manner that brings wins but not when they are too young. Pivotal point-having them play as the parents say 'real' baseball (leading off first base). They should concentrate more on fundamentals. Otherwise the game turns into a track meet that doesn't even resemble baseball. It comes down to why are you doing this?- both from the coaches and the parents. Take a hard look at the $$$ being spent it will blow you away. And don't get me started on the fact that tikes are being overplayed/pitched too much and worn out on baseball by the time they are 12. Until I got into pro ball the most innings I pitched in one year was like 80 innings. I have kids who do that by June and I'm constantly telling the parents tell the coach to back off your little stud because their bodies cant handle the work load. But hey we paid our $$$$ for this tournament and why doesn't Little Johnny pitch another game on Sunday he only pitched 4 innings Friday in the qualifier and 1 inning on Saturday in that game we needed to win-check with an orthopedic and he'll tell you its too much. Baseball was not meant to be played like a slow pitch softball tournament especially when your between 8-15

There’s no question that arms get overused through the negligence of both coaches & parents. Plus, you have so many kids playing on multiple teams in multiple leagues & you know the coaches are not comparing notes so it’s encumbent on the parents to monitor their son. The amount of major surgeries that I’ve seen at the 12-15 y/o level is crazy. Torn ACLs, strained UCLs, bone spurs, dead arm. The human arm was not meant to throw a baseball overhand but it can be done w/ proper instruction and limitations. The torque these kids place on their elbows & shoulders is incalculable. At the end of the day, it’s the egoes of both the parents & coaches that get in the way of the kids enjoying baseball (or any sport).

I agree with focusing on fundamentals for the early years & beyond. I remember our Cal Ripken League interviewing me after I volunteered to help coach. Turns out they needed Head Coaches so I relented. A panel of knucklehead dads who were undoubtedly frustrated jocks proceeded to ask me questions like, “What will your practices look like?”. That sounds benign out of context but they should’ve been focused on my character & ultimate goals for these SIX YEAR OLD boys....not what kind of drills & strategies we were going to install. I pulled my kid after that first year & we found a USSSA team w/ like-minded coaches & parents who were more focused on fundamentals & developement vs winning $4 trophies. Since then we’ve weeded out the parents obsessed w/ winning & posting their kids’ exploits on social media. It’s been refreshing to have a good group of kids & parents w/ the goal of simply getting them prepared for High School ball. There’s always bumps in the road but it’s so much better than the drama we left behind.

 

[GowerND11]

Another thing I’ve noticed (at least at my kids’ schools) is that nobody cuts rosters down anymore. They like to brag that “they cut themselves”. In other words, 100 kids can show up for the baseball workouts w/ no concern of being cut & they have to decide if it’s worth their time/effort to stick around for the sake of wearing a jersey one day.

My thought is that the coach is supposed to be the adult in this situation. Have the balls (no pun intended ) to cut the roster down to a manageable size. Don’t be lazy and not evaluate what you have. Then, if a kid gets cut, they need to decide how much they love that sport & how hard they want to work to EARN a roster spot. Cutting a kid is not the end of the world for the kid. It’s doing them a favor IMO...and I include my kid in that thought. Nothing should be “given” to them b/c they show up. Earn it.

My school has a no cut policy, therefore I can't do that. I have to use a self cut policy. It works out well enough. I coach freshman boys' basketball. We run nonstop for the first three practices to get into gameshape. They MAYBE touch the basketball once or twice. It serves two purposes: Conditioning and cuts. Kids that just want to be there and have fun with their friends, or think, "Hey, I want to give this a try" and are god awful usually don't hang with it.

I found this year to be extremely difficult with player discipline. Some of you may remember, last year I had an awesome team, with most of the talent playing up from 8th grade on the freshman roster. 7 8th graders saw extensive minutes with only 2 freshmen. Flash forward to this year, all of those 8th graders are not with me (to be expected). 5 are up on JV/Varsity, 1 couldn't stay eligible, and another (who dunked as an 8th grader) transferred (recruited) to a local Catholic school.

As such, my roster was mostly kids with minimal talent and experience, plus some 8th graders and a 7th grader or 2 if needed. The problem was, kids just didn't get it this year. I practice with the 7th/8th grade team, and both the other coach and myself just could not get them to "get it." Kids talking on the sideline during drills or 5 on 5. Kids not taking drills serious, etc. It didn't matter how much they ran. It didn't matter they lost their starting spot, sat for a quarter, etc. They looked at us like we were being unfair. In reality, it was extremely unfair to their 4 or so teammates that just wanted to win and do everything right.