jja79 said:

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Does he know how little scholarship money there is in college baseball?

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I mean this cat works in schools, so I assume so.

So he knows it's a losing proposition if his son only plays in college.

That's some serious vicarious living to have already planned to take off 7 years down the road to follow his baseball playing son.

This is why this is a thriving business.

chico said:

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my son is now in college. We did the balance of local little league and select teams. The local little league made him feel like a star as he was one of the better players throughout. He made terrific friends that he's still close with and it's been a few years since they last played. He played little league until he was too old to continue. We were careful with the select teams so that we stayed only in Houston (home for us) on weekend tournaments. Select ball would be during the off-season from little league. Only had low stress coaches in select ball; I avoided opportunities to go with the more hard core route. He was plenty good enough in select ball, but rarely the best player on the team. They won a couple tournaments but lost plenty of games as well. No thoughts of ever getting scholarships or anything crazy like that. That combination of little league & carefully-chosen select fostered a real love of the game, lessons learned from sports that translate to real life, ongoing friendships, and many proud moments as his dad.

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This is the route we have gone, but on the softball side, we travel twice in the summer, but during the school year it just in and around Houston. My girls love it so far, and it any time and point they are done, then they are done. They want to play college softball, but we will see how they goes, as they are in HS now, and social life begins takeover.

All in all, our experiences have been good, we simply couldn't stay in league ball anymore as one of daughters almost killed a kid when threw the ball to her.

Thank you for all the feedback.

BohunkAg said:

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Mas89 said:

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Marauder Blue 6 said:

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A bunch of parents wasting a lot of $$$ forcing their kids to live someone else's dream because they can't be honest about how much talent their kid has.

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Almost all kids who go to the next level in baseball today- high school, college, pros are playing select ball at an early age in a good program. Obviously only a few continue to advance to the higher levels but the chance and experience is once in a lifetime. Those who don't like it can always go play another sport or hobby. But they had the chance- they won't forget.

A handful of the current A&M baseball team players will be drafted this summer into the pros. One will probably be in the top 10 picks overall. He played select ball and developed into a great pitcher. You should ask Mr. Lacy if he wasted his money on select baseball.

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There's a guy my son's age (10) who told me this past year during Little League season that he plans to take two years off during his son's junior and senior years in high school so he can travel to all of his son's baseball games and tournaments. He went on to tell me "your son's scholarship money will probably come from football, he should probably focus on that."

If I didn't halfway like the guy I would've laughed his ass off the field.

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That's beyond absurd and a perfect of somebody lacking perspective who should be roundly mocked.

I don't care how good a kid is at 10 projecting that far out is ridiculous. I don't know the genetics there but those are every bit as important in baseball as the reps and fundamentals. A kid who tops out at 5'7" is highly unlikely to be the next Altuve and a kid who can throw in the 80's in HS can be successful but no matter how many reps or hard you work if God intended for you to throw 85, you ain't improving to 90+ and if you don't have the stuff you'd better be the next Greg Maddux (who, by the way, was a very good HS point guard).

Fundamentals and reps are important but you've got to have the raw materials too. But unless you're a world class talent you've got to have those fundamentals and reps to be successful in baseball.

People who lose their minds over potential future of kids who haven't hit puberty yet need a reality check.

TarponChaser said:

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BohunkAg said:

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Mas89 said:

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Marauder Blue 6 said:

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A bunch of parents wasting a lot of $$$ forcing their kids to live someone else's dream because they can't be honest about how much talent their kid has.

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Almost all kids who go to the next level in baseball today- high school, college, pros are playing select ball at an early age in a good program. Obviously only a few continue to advance to the higher levels but the chance and experience is once in a lifetime. Those who don't like it can always go play another sport or hobby. But they had the chance- they won't forget.

A handful of the current A&M baseball team players will be drafted this summer into the pros. One will probably be in the top 10 picks overall. He played select ball and developed into a great pitcher. You should ask Mr. Lacy if he wasted his money on select baseball.

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There's a guy my son's age (10) who told me this past year during Little League season that he plans to take two years off during his son's junior and senior years in high school so he can travel to all of his son's baseball games and tournaments. He went on to tell me "your son's scholarship money will probably come from football, he should probably focus on that."

If I didn't halfway like the guy I would've laughed his ass off the field.

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That's beyond absurd and a perfect of somebody lacking perspective who should be roundly mocked.

I don't care how good a kid is at 10 projecting that far out is ridiculous. I don't know the genetics there but those are every bit as important in baseball as the reps and fundamentals. A kid who tops out at 5'7" is highly unlikely to be the next Altuve and a kid who can throw in the 80's in HS can be successful but no matter how many reps or hard you work if God intended for you to throw 85, you ain't improving to 90+ and if you don't have the stuff you'd better be the next Greg Maddux (who, by the way, was a very good HS point guard).

Fundamentals and reps are important but you've got to have the raw materials too. But unless you're a world class talent you've got to have those fundamentals and reps to be successful in baseball.

People who lose their minds over potential future of kids who haven't hit puberty yet need a reality check.

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Well i was rather amazed to hear it. Without giving up too many details the guy should know better. Man he's really cozying up to our HS baseball coach. Who is a great guy I have known since we were kids. But it's like "is he even gonna be here?" Man I don't know. Stuff is crazy. Do what you feel is best for you kids. Don't let anyone else dictate. Bottom line.

BohunkAg said:

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TarponChaser said:

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BohunkAg said:

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Mas89 said:

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Marauder Blue 6 said:

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A bunch of parents wasting a lot of $$$ forcing their kids to live someone else's dream because they can't be honest about how much talent their kid has.

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Almost all kids who go to the next level in baseball today- high school, college, pros are playing select ball at an early age in a good program. Obviously only a few continue to advance to the higher levels but the chance and experience is once in a lifetime. Those who don't like it can always go play another sport or hobby. But they had the chance- they won't forget.

A handful of the current A&M baseball team players will be drafted this summer into the pros. One will probably be in the top 10 picks overall. He played select ball and developed into a great pitcher. You should ask Mr. Lacy if he wasted his money on select baseball.

---

There's a guy my son's age (10) who told me this past year during Little League season that he plans to take two years off during his son's junior and senior years in high school so he can travel to all of his son's baseball games and tournaments. He went on to tell me "your son's scholarship money will probably come from football, he should probably focus on that."

If I didn't halfway like the guy I would've laughed his ass off the field.

---

That's beyond absurd and a perfect of somebody lacking perspective who should be roundly mocked.

I don't care how good a kid is at 10 projecting that far out is ridiculous. I don't know the genetics there but those are every bit as important in baseball as the reps and fundamentals. A kid who tops out at 5'7" is highly unlikely to be the next Altuve and a kid who can throw in the 80's in HS can be successful but no matter how many reps or hard you work if God intended for you to throw 85, you ain't improving to 90+ and if you don't have the stuff you'd better be the next Greg Maddux (who, by the way, was a very good HS point guard).

Fundamentals and reps are important but you've got to have the raw materials too. But unless you're a world class talent you've got to have those fundamentals and reps to be successful in baseball.

People who lose their minds over potential future of kids who haven't hit puberty yet need a reality check.

---

Well i was rather amazed to hear it. Without giving up too many details the guy should know better. Man he's really cozying up to our HS baseball coach. Who is a great guy I have known since we were kids. But it's like "is he even gonna be here?" Man I don't know. Stuff is crazy. Do what you feel is best for you kids. Don't let anyone else dictate. Bottom line.

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Are there at least some solid genetics from the parents?

For example our closest family friends are a couple that Mrs. TC has been close with since A&M. She's sorority sisters with the wife and they were roommates at A&M for 3 years. I'm the late-add to the group.

Anyway, the wife is like 5'9" and the husband played basketball at A&M (Barone era) and is about 6'10". Their oldest daughter plays volleyball and is really good and pretty hardcore about it. She's in 8th grade and then spend far more on club volleyball than we do for baseball but their daughter is already 5'9" and still growing. She is going to be about 6'2" and she wants to play volleyball at A&M. It's probably going to happen too.

I'm 6'3" and Mrs. TC is 5'8"- projections are generally pretty much nothing more than SWAG's but the doctors say both our boys will most likely be in the 6'4"-6'5" range. So, I need to put the fear of God into them now when they're young before they begin to think they can whip their old man's ass.

What's the right age to get my daughter into select cheerleading to maximize the number of "National Championships" she can win?

Back to the select baseball, a guy I went to school with went total gung-ho baseball dad to the point of ridiculousness -- tournaments every weekend (including Thanksgiving and Christmas) for 7-8 years, batting cage in the backyard, change of jobs to get more flexible hours for lessons, practices and tournaments. Multiple National Championships and listings on the particular select league's prospect rankings. Both his kids played at Strake, so at least there was that. But they kept playing club ball and their prospect rankings kept going up to the "can't miss" status.

Neither kid is playing baseball now. I don't know if it is by choice/burnout of lack of college attention.

Mine's been playing select since he was seven. Played all sports through middle school but baseball's always been his favorite. Knew all along he would have to play a lot of competitive ball if he wanted to make the high school team at one of the top programs in Texas. Always asked me to hit and throw with him.

So far he's played in the State Tournament at Dell Diamond, lost in a regional final, and played in the Juco World Series last summer. Has a huge D2 offer but wants to play D1 baseball (will probably end up at a mid-major). We love watching him play and high school on has been "found money".

Very proud of the kid, academically he's made a 4.0 two of his three college semesters and stays out of trouble.

It's all about knowing your kid.

Thinice said:

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It's all about knowing your kid.

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Strange how simple it sounds when it gets right down to it. But unfortunately, the simple doesn't fit with the "well actually" vibes of internet 2020. Hence, this thread.

Select ball will eventually be the death of high school baseball in Texas as we know it. Select ball has all the money and no rules, high school ball has all the rules and no money.