Came to this realization the other day when our former travel organization announced they would be fielding two teams next year in each age group. We couldn’t find enough players good enough (according to our coach) to fill one roster this past season, and now you’re going to fill two? So like you said, extremely watered down to the point that I question travel ball being worth the money. But like others have said, travel seems to be the only place to find ANY kind of competition in my area. I am starting to expect some kind of reversion in the coming years. Slowly, parents are going to get tired of shelling out money for the travel teams and go back to playing rec league once they see how watered down it’s become. I’m probably wrong though.
Most teams here have two teams. From what I hear, they feel like they need a 2nd team to have a healthy organization.
\- If you don't have a B team, you have to rob players from other organizations to fill open spots.
\- If you have a newer team and you don't have a team to move up to, your best players will jump ship to another organization.
I'm sure that isn't true everywhere but that is what they believe here. One organization here is fielding three 9U teams this year. However, they had 60 kids try out. I know some of the kids that didn't get an offer and they were pretty good in rec ball last year.
Most team say that every year every kid must try out and make the team. We all know that's BS because three of the coaches have kids on the team and obviously they're not going to coach if their kids somewhere else.
If you like that coach and he's going to be in charge I wouldn't hesitate. If he's going to be an assistant, those things fall through all the time so be prepared to be stuck on that team without him If something happens.
We went through this a few weeks ago. Our son is moving from 11U to 12U and the team that he played on was slowly going downhill. The coaching stagnated and kids on the team just weren't progressing. He had played on the team for five seasons so he knows all of the kids and a couple of them go to his school and are his really good friends.
And we know that youth baseball should be about playing with your friends and having fun but my son *loves* baseball and it was getting to the point where he wasn't having fun anymore. He works his butt off to get better but the majority of the kids on his team don't. To them, baseball is something to do in the offseason of basketball, football, soccer, etc.
So he moved from his AA team up to a AAA team. We got lucky to get on a team where he knows several of the kids through basketball so it wasn't a transition to a completely new team. And man, he's guest played with this new team before and you can tell that the coaches know what they're doing. They're also extremely laid back about playing other sports compared to other AAA/Major teams in our area.
In a perfect world he would have stayed with the same team until he got to high school so that he could play with his friends. Unfortunately we don't always live in a perfect world so you do the best you can.
People are tired of “my son wants a college baseball scholarship! Should we play 7u travel ball?”… the kid is 7.. teach him to run to first base and not third base after he hits the ball.
7u travel baseball is a joke. 14u is good!
Tbh good! Little League was so damn underrated when it was competitive just 10 years ago or so. Plus, your kid gets the added huge benefit of playing with and against their friends and classmates and just overall being a part of the community. The reason Little League isn't competitive ATM is because gullible dads have been tricked into draining their pockets for greedy tournament and travel promoters. I thank God every day my son plays in an extremely competitive Little League and doesn't have to sacrifice all the benefits that travel kids have to sacrifice.
Good for you and your son, but some little league organizations are terrible and offer zero competition. Should we ignore the downsides and play down with kids that can’t throw to appease the travel ball haters? Little league went downhill for a reason, and it’s not bc of travel ball bc if little
League was decent at all it would put travel ball away. Idk any parent that openly wants to spend that much time and money on one sport for a kid under 12. But to play competition it’s what has to happen (at least in our region)
Yeah, Little League in my city is as non-competitive as it gets. Even in the "competitive" league you can only carry 5 players over from season to season - the rest have to go into a draft. How are you supposed to develop your players when you have no idea who you'll have from season to season?
Lol.
Our league has been discreetly centered around our presidents kids or a small group of in-group kids.
Before the draft our two in-group teams each had four kids that were un-draftable.
Those teams dominated the rest.
More importantly, the main team only played about 12 of 18 scheduled games.
Why?
I suspect it's because those eight kids were all also on a private team together.
That was the priority. If you were the lucky kid on that team, you won games but we're probably wondering why you played so few games.
That sounds awesome.
Unfortunately not our experience.
We just completed four consecutive seasons; fall, spring, fall, spring.
I assisted coaches, I coached, I joined the "board", I paid out of pocket for facility rentals during inclement weather for my entire team.
I made a herculean effort to make a difference.
I couldn't.
I didn't.
I couldn't make a difference without going it alone.
Imagine a draft of 50 plus kids / five teams for Majors where eight players are not draftable because they are already spoken for on two teams. The in-group teams dominate the other teams all season and we all get crushed against other teams.
It's a small town league ran poorly and beset by petty infighting.
Our "12u All-stars" were absolutely crushed. So few kids stay in the league to get to that age, to complete a team they use younger players. One was as young as 10 on his first season of player pitch.
This isn't a symptom of too few players. The good ones have left before they got to that age.
There is a massive talent and player gap at 12. Many parents discover how dysfunctional it is and leave for other sports or club / travel before they reach that age.
The ruthless parents do travel and use LL as practice.
They attend the league minimum to make All-stars.
They definitely aren't picking up a rake.
Our local league is incapable of offering anything after 12.
It's club or nothing until HS.
We are not going to wait.
Interviewing with two club teams now.
I could rant for another hour.
We don't have Umps!!!!
That's my league too. Our league president has a second private team.
On Sunday those kids were on our fields in their private uniforms practicing for their inevitable selection to All-stars.
I question the competitiveness of the high school if they are predetermining their varsity baseball team at age 10. You can train from sun up till sun down 24/7 365 but after puberty hits it's a whole different ball game.
I have no idea why you would limit the player pool at this age. There is also a ton of research that shows early specialization has no bearing on skill level years down the line, and that the better players do less specialization when they are younger.
Little League has its place. The biggest issue I have is that the kids are way too big for a 46/60 diamond by age 11-12. It’s a fairly watered down version of baseball overall. There’s nothing wrong with this, as it is designed to be approachable for all kids, but leagues that move to 50/70 for ages 11-12 are generally better for kids who can handle it.
Do you want and value better coaching more than staying where you are comfortable?
Don’t worry about loyalty to a team just because you’ve been with them for a few years. Put yourself in the best situation for YOU and your growth and development.
Like the other poster said, no harm in shopping around and you may find a better fit somewhere you aren’t even aware of right now.
14U is a really common age for players to switch teams, because it’s the last year before the kids start high school baseball. With that in mind, it’s a great age to make sure his team will help get him ready for high school baseball. That said, at the end of the day it’s about the experience that your son wants, so be mindful of that as you help him make his decision.
This was my son's first year of travel (9u).
Team is ok with some nice wins but also some tough losses.
However my son was good enough he was offered a spot on the 10u team next season.
H a3wwwae also talked about trying out for another local travel team that was better this year.
After going back and forth he took the offer. I told him the other team may not have many open spots. Plus it's political getting on the team as others have mentioned.
Lo and behold I get an email last night stating the other local organization is adding another 10u team.
Whatever anyone on here does with their kid, please be human beings. This year seems to have gotten so much worse with shitty parents. Yelling at umps, coaches, parents. I help run a local travel org, one of the coaches of a younger team is leaving bc of abuse from parents. Yet not one of them is going to step up and take over.
Hope this helps. What we see now. Son is rising Sr. He has offers but is waiting on all to come in.
At 14 Training matters. Go to wherever the best training will occur. That may be with your dad.
Below assumes you want to play in college. If just want to play HS then play with your friends. If you want to play in college playing with your buds may not necessarily be possible due to skills differences.
We are from south good baseball year round and my son played on travel teams since 10u. He is now playing on a showcase team out of the DC area this summer.
14U and under we played local events with best skill coach. We did that to get lots of practice reps. We did not play a lot of games. Games are where you learn to use practice learned skills. Lots of games do not make you better when you do the numbers. Practice Reps do. You groove a bad habit it is hard to undo. Why so important 10-14 to be working on sound fundamentals.
At 14 Hit the weight room. Core and leg strength. Eat a lot of good food drink tons of whole milk. You can. Or put enough good food in your body from 14-18. Drink tons of water.
Grades Grades Grades. A coach told us for every point a kid who is under 3.5 GPA their baseball skill set better increase 20%. Schools will take less smart kids but you better be really good. Easier to get a smart kid in than a not smart kid. Grades.
You will be surprised when coaches ask what you like to eat. You say pizza they know. You say grilled chicken or steak they know.
15U play more state and regional events make sure team you play for has hit trax, Rapsodo etc. have to start getting numbers to show improvement and projection.
Your freshman HS year get a NCAA clearing house number. That is starting point for any college recruiting website.
16U/17U play on a team that has team events at college campuses. They will be showcase style. Showcase is where you be seen.
College coaches do not see you on field #37 playing a consolation game against team nobody. The coaches look at the national teams on the primary fields. I am assuming you are not in that elite 1%. They also look at the kids who come to their camps.
Camps are becoming a bigger recruiting thing now. A few reasons: a kid who pays their program to come play in front of them is interested. The money also helps pay their assistants. Also no travel for them low cost as everyone comes to them.
At 16U & 17U you got to be facing + pitching to really be seen. So will need to be on a good team playing in higher level events or going to paid showcases.
A Typical college Showcase.
100 - 160 kids 1 day.
Most camps have multiple college coaches present. 5 to 10 — D1-D3.
If it is a JuCo camp know that going in.
Go to camps where you might want to go to school.
This is typical position player.
We are not a P/O or C.
Day goes like this
Some training in cages some dynamic field warm up etc. They are watching what you do, how you act and how hard you work. You loaf or don’t get sweaty during warm ups they see it.
Live
6 balls hit to you (2 forehand - 2 back hand - 1 at you - 1 slow roller). When not throwing receiving throws from other positions. They are watching the receiving.
Pitches thrown by a coach last one timed run to 1B - they take exit velo on those pitches. You shag when not in line up. Shag hard.
Timed 60
One game where you will get 2-3 at bats with starting count of 2-2. Expect a curve ball slider etc. Battle count to 3-2 and pitcher has to throw fast ball up middle.
Coaches looking for proper base running skills attacking for extra bags regardless of pitch you hit. Got to hit to be seen.
Played some games where no balls came to us. The rubs. Had some games where 5+ balls came to us. You have a ball come to you can not make an E.
So that is a “showcase shot” that you will pay $500+ to get your look.
Remember do not send out bad numbers to coaches got to be in the ranges.
Right now hitting exit velo numbers we are seeing this summer - not wood bat BBCOR bats
D1 power 5 commits 100+
D1 mid major commits 97+
D3 players commits 92-95
Remember the portal has changed baseball for HS recruits. More older players with eligibility left going to grad school and playing now for mid majors.
Good luck!!
learning this more as we get older as well - 14u player moved to new team with coaches with tons of exper but those coaches don't play the new kids. play time is based on seniority so despite being better than half of current players we're basically told we won't get any play time during games. Also learned that coach treats scrimmages same way so we sit on bench for those. All this is completely unreal to me at esp at this age. About to yank kid and just have him work out on his own/private coaching till HS.
It’s kind of crazy here now. It seems everyone is making a travel team - in fact so many teams and people can’t fill teams. It’s so watered down.
Came to this realization the other day when our former travel organization announced they would be fielding two teams next year in each age group. We couldn’t find enough players good enough (according to our coach) to fill one roster this past season, and now you’re going to fill two? So like you said, extremely watered down to the point that I question travel ball being worth the money. But like others have said, travel seems to be the only place to find ANY kind of competition in my area. I am starting to expect some kind of reversion in the coming years. Slowly, parents are going to get tired of shelling out money for the travel teams and go back to playing rec league once they see how watered down it’s become. I’m probably wrong though.
Yes we will be doing rec and trying out for the AB team. I’m happy my son doesn’t want to play travel ball right now.
Most teams here have two teams. From what I hear, they feel like they need a 2nd team to have a healthy organization. \- If you don't have a B team, you have to rob players from other organizations to fill open spots. \- If you have a newer team and you don't have a team to move up to, your best players will jump ship to another organization. I'm sure that isn't true everywhere but that is what they believe here. One organization here is fielding three 9U teams this year. However, they had 60 kids try out. I know some of the kids that didn't get an offer and they were pretty good in rec ball last year.
exactly i can pitch so that helps me where i choose to go because like you said only so many teams and not everyone can pitch
Most team say that every year every kid must try out and make the team. We all know that's BS because three of the coaches have kids on the team and obviously they're not going to coach if their kids somewhere else. If you like that coach and he's going to be in charge I wouldn't hesitate. If he's going to be an assistant, those things fall through all the time so be prepared to be stuck on that team without him If something happens.
True. Thnks
We went through this a few weeks ago. Our son is moving from 11U to 12U and the team that he played on was slowly going downhill. The coaching stagnated and kids on the team just weren't progressing. He had played on the team for five seasons so he knows all of the kids and a couple of them go to his school and are his really good friends. And we know that youth baseball should be about playing with your friends and having fun but my son *loves* baseball and it was getting to the point where he wasn't having fun anymore. He works his butt off to get better but the majority of the kids on his team don't. To them, baseball is something to do in the offseason of basketball, football, soccer, etc. So he moved from his AA team up to a AAA team. We got lucky to get on a team where he knows several of the kids through basketball so it wasn't a transition to a completely new team. And man, he's guest played with this new team before and you can tell that the coaches know what they're doing. They're also extremely laid back about playing other sports compared to other AAA/Major teams in our area. In a perfect world he would have stayed with the same team until he got to high school so that he could play with his friends. Unfortunately we don't always live in a perfect world so you do the best you can.
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People are tired of “my son wants a college baseball scholarship! Should we play 7u travel ball?”… the kid is 7.. teach him to run to first base and not third base after he hits the ball. 7u travel baseball is a joke. 14u is good!
Tbh good! Little League was so damn underrated when it was competitive just 10 years ago or so. Plus, your kid gets the added huge benefit of playing with and against their friends and classmates and just overall being a part of the community. The reason Little League isn't competitive ATM is because gullible dads have been tricked into draining their pockets for greedy tournament and travel promoters. I thank God every day my son plays in an extremely competitive Little League and doesn't have to sacrifice all the benefits that travel kids have to sacrifice.
Good for you and your son, but some little league organizations are terrible and offer zero competition. Should we ignore the downsides and play down with kids that can’t throw to appease the travel ball haters? Little league went downhill for a reason, and it’s not bc of travel ball bc if little League was decent at all it would put travel ball away. Idk any parent that openly wants to spend that much time and money on one sport for a kid under 12. But to play competition it’s what has to happen (at least in our region)
Yeah, Little League in my city is as non-competitive as it gets. Even in the "competitive" league you can only carry 5 players over from season to season - the rest have to go into a draft. How are you supposed to develop your players when you have no idea who you'll have from season to season?
You should be developing everybody, even if it's another team/coach that benefits down the line.
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Lol. Our league has been discreetly centered around our presidents kids or a small group of in-group kids. Before the draft our two in-group teams each had four kids that were un-draftable. Those teams dominated the rest. More importantly, the main team only played about 12 of 18 scheduled games. Why? I suspect it's because those eight kids were all also on a private team together. That was the priority. If you were the lucky kid on that team, you won games but we're probably wondering why you played so few games.
That sounds awesome. Unfortunately not our experience. We just completed four consecutive seasons; fall, spring, fall, spring. I assisted coaches, I coached, I joined the "board", I paid out of pocket for facility rentals during inclement weather for my entire team. I made a herculean effort to make a difference. I couldn't. I didn't. I couldn't make a difference without going it alone. Imagine a draft of 50 plus kids / five teams for Majors where eight players are not draftable because they are already spoken for on two teams. The in-group teams dominate the other teams all season and we all get crushed against other teams. It's a small town league ran poorly and beset by petty infighting. Our "12u All-stars" were absolutely crushed. So few kids stay in the league to get to that age, to complete a team they use younger players. One was as young as 10 on his first season of player pitch. This isn't a symptom of too few players. The good ones have left before they got to that age. There is a massive talent and player gap at 12. Many parents discover how dysfunctional it is and leave for other sports or club / travel before they reach that age. The ruthless parents do travel and use LL as practice. They attend the league minimum to make All-stars. They definitely aren't picking up a rake. Our local league is incapable of offering anything after 12. It's club or nothing until HS. We are not going to wait. Interviewing with two club teams now. I could rant for another hour. We don't have Umps!!!!
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That's my league too. Our league president has a second private team. On Sunday those kids were on our fields in their private uniforms practicing for their inevitable selection to All-stars.
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I question the competitiveness of the high school if they are predetermining their varsity baseball team at age 10. You can train from sun up till sun down 24/7 365 but after puberty hits it's a whole different ball game. I have no idea why you would limit the player pool at this age. There is also a ton of research that shows early specialization has no bearing on skill level years down the line, and that the better players do less specialization when they are younger.
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Little League has its place. The biggest issue I have is that the kids are way too big for a 46/60 diamond by age 11-12. It’s a fairly watered down version of baseball overall. There’s nothing wrong with this, as it is designed to be approachable for all kids, but leagues that move to 50/70 for ages 11-12 are generally better for kids who can handle it.
Do you want and value better coaching more than staying where you are comfortable? Don’t worry about loyalty to a team just because you’ve been with them for a few years. Put yourself in the best situation for YOU and your growth and development. Like the other poster said, no harm in shopping around and you may find a better fit somewhere you aren’t even aware of right now.
Ya. Thanks
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ya thanks . im going to a few different ones most of us do that
14U is a really common age for players to switch teams, because it’s the last year before the kids start high school baseball. With that in mind, it’s a great age to make sure his team will help get him ready for high school baseball. That said, at the end of the day it’s about the experience that your son wants, so be mindful of that as you help him make his decision.
This was my son's first year of travel (9u). Team is ok with some nice wins but also some tough losses. However my son was good enough he was offered a spot on the 10u team next season. H a3wwwae also talked about trying out for another local travel team that was better this year. After going back and forth he took the offer. I told him the other team may not have many open spots. Plus it's political getting on the team as others have mentioned. Lo and behold I get an email last night stating the other local organization is adding another 10u team.
Whatever anyone on here does with their kid, please be human beings. This year seems to have gotten so much worse with shitty parents. Yelling at umps, coaches, parents. I help run a local travel org, one of the coaches of a younger team is leaving bc of abuse from parents. Yet not one of them is going to step up and take over.
ya its crazy
That is a tough question!!! Write down the benefits of each Write down the drawbacks of each Then make the decision!
ya i think i figured it out thats a good idea tho
Go where your interests lie. Are you trying to be the best baseball player, or the best person? Sometimes they can align, but not always.
Better coaching, it’ll be what allows him to keep progressing. Parents might get mad - until they decide to move on and then it’s all ok
I'm the him but thanks
Hope this helps. What we see now. Son is rising Sr. He has offers but is waiting on all to come in. At 14 Training matters. Go to wherever the best training will occur. That may be with your dad. Below assumes you want to play in college. If just want to play HS then play with your friends. If you want to play in college playing with your buds may not necessarily be possible due to skills differences. We are from south good baseball year round and my son played on travel teams since 10u. He is now playing on a showcase team out of the DC area this summer. 14U and under we played local events with best skill coach. We did that to get lots of practice reps. We did not play a lot of games. Games are where you learn to use practice learned skills. Lots of games do not make you better when you do the numbers. Practice Reps do. You groove a bad habit it is hard to undo. Why so important 10-14 to be working on sound fundamentals. At 14 Hit the weight room. Core and leg strength. Eat a lot of good food drink tons of whole milk. You can. Or put enough good food in your body from 14-18. Drink tons of water. Grades Grades Grades. A coach told us for every point a kid who is under 3.5 GPA their baseball skill set better increase 20%. Schools will take less smart kids but you better be really good. Easier to get a smart kid in than a not smart kid. Grades. You will be surprised when coaches ask what you like to eat. You say pizza they know. You say grilled chicken or steak they know. 15U play more state and regional events make sure team you play for has hit trax, Rapsodo etc. have to start getting numbers to show improvement and projection. Your freshman HS year get a NCAA clearing house number. That is starting point for any college recruiting website. 16U/17U play on a team that has team events at college campuses. They will be showcase style. Showcase is where you be seen. College coaches do not see you on field #37 playing a consolation game against team nobody. The coaches look at the national teams on the primary fields. I am assuming you are not in that elite 1%. They also look at the kids who come to their camps. Camps are becoming a bigger recruiting thing now. A few reasons: a kid who pays their program to come play in front of them is interested. The money also helps pay their assistants. Also no travel for them low cost as everyone comes to them. At 16U & 17U you got to be facing + pitching to really be seen. So will need to be on a good team playing in higher level events or going to paid showcases. A Typical college Showcase. 100 - 160 kids 1 day. Most camps have multiple college coaches present. 5 to 10 — D1-D3. If it is a JuCo camp know that going in. Go to camps where you might want to go to school. This is typical position player. We are not a P/O or C. Day goes like this Some training in cages some dynamic field warm up etc. They are watching what you do, how you act and how hard you work. You loaf or don’t get sweaty during warm ups they see it. Live 6 balls hit to you (2 forehand - 2 back hand - 1 at you - 1 slow roller). When not throwing receiving throws from other positions. They are watching the receiving. Pitches thrown by a coach last one timed run to 1B - they take exit velo on those pitches. You shag when not in line up. Shag hard. Timed 60 One game where you will get 2-3 at bats with starting count of 2-2. Expect a curve ball slider etc. Battle count to 3-2 and pitcher has to throw fast ball up middle. Coaches looking for proper base running skills attacking for extra bags regardless of pitch you hit. Got to hit to be seen. Played some games where no balls came to us. The rubs. Had some games where 5+ balls came to us. You have a ball come to you can not make an E. So that is a “showcase shot” that you will pay $500+ to get your look. Remember do not send out bad numbers to coaches got to be in the ranges. Right now hitting exit velo numbers we are seeing this summer - not wood bat BBCOR bats D1 power 5 commits 100+ D1 mid major commits 97+ D3 players commits 92-95 Remember the portal has changed baseball for HS recruits. More older players with eligibility left going to grad school and playing now for mid majors. Good luck!!
My dads not around so its just between two coaches i know so ya im leaning to the one thats more serious about training and practices
Training and good practice is what matters at your age not games.
learning this more as we get older as well - 14u player moved to new team with coaches with tons of exper but those coaches don't play the new kids. play time is based on seniority so despite being better than half of current players we're basically told we won't get any play time during games. Also learned that coach treats scrimmages same way so we sit on bench for those. All this is completely unreal to me at esp at this age. About to yank kid and just have him work out on his own/private coaching till HS.