Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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It absolutely works in the opposite. Tons of kids burn out when they get to college because mom and dad aren't there to force anything anymore, they don't actually have the drive and it just isn't fun anymore because it has been constant for 12-14 years

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Believe it or not I make it a point to ask the older one whether or not he wants to keep putting in the extra work and let him know that he has to do it because he wants it not because we as parents want it.

But it's also a friends and family environment where there are a lot of current and former athletes who played collegiate sports, some who played pro, and some who are going off to play college soon.

That's great. Sadly many parents don't or do it in a way there's only one right answer.

And when I talk about the next level all of that goes away. There is no friends and family environment. Most of the time you're in a new city without anyone you know. Lots of kids are now in worse facilities than they had in high school and the kids on your team are your team but they're also your competition. Add to that, baseball now consumes your life daily and when you're not practicing you have school.

I formerly coached and saw it. My wife is still in education and sponsors the girls group for the baseball team so we're friendly with lots of the players and their parents many who are also her students. I believe 8 she knows we'll have signed multiple D1. 2 are still playing, other 6 have all given up the dream including a D1 player

No matter the sport it all ends for us eventually. Some are fortunate to be able to do it for longer.

TAM85 said:

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One in four Texas 6A high school teams are still practicing this week, and we are one of them- on to the Area round of playoffs.

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hoping for the best with weather this week for the playoffs in Houston. Could be a mess.

Yes, we will not get a home game for that reason. Our games will all be at neutral site that has turf.

Seems like just about everybody in Houston is opting to play on turf with most choosing CFISD for neutral sites.

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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That's great. Sadly many parents don't or do it in a way there's only one right answer.

And when I talk about the next level all of that goes away. There is no friends and family environment. Most of the time you're in a new city without anyone you know. Lots of kids are now in worse facilities than they had in high school and the kids on your team are your team but they're also your competition. Add to that, baseball now consumes your life daily and when you're not practicing you have school.

I formerly coached and saw it. My wife is still in education and sponsors the girls group for the baseball team so we're friendly with lots of the players and their parents many who are also her students. I believe 8 she knows we'll have signed multiple D1. 2 are still playing, other 6 have all given up the dream including a D1 player

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When I talk "friends & family environment" I'm talking about being surrounded by people who were college and professional athletes.

And it for sure becomes a job in college. You have to love it to put in the necessary work.

WES2006AG said:

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Seems like just about everybody in Houston is opting to play on turf with most choosing CFISD for neutral sites.

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Part of the Humble ISD bond issue last year was putting down turf on all of the baseball & softball fields in the district specifically to cut down on rain out days. They're doing it in stages though so things can rotate around and all the fields aren't down at once. AFAIK, all the schools except Summer Creek and Kingwood Park are done, I know Humble was the first while Atascocita and Kingwood are done now too.

Klein and Tomball I believe are also all doing the same.

WES2006AG said:

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Seems like just about everybody in Houston is opting to play on turf with most choosing CFISD for neutral sites.

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Yes, CFISD has been putting in turf on all their baseball fields over the last two years. Cy Fair is one of the few remaining schools in the district that played on grass this year. It will have turf by next spring.

We do not have any turf fields in our district yet.

For the most part I'm anti-turf because I just believe baseball belongs on dirt but we lose so many days to rain here in the Houston area I'm resigned to the fact that facilities need to be turf.

Yep, I preferred playing on grass fields too. But with the weather around Houston and the high school coaches doing a lot of the maintenance on the fields, the coaches are pushing for turf. But you typically have to do it for all the high schools in the district for baseball and softball, so it is a big ticket item.

I just with they would at least keep natural mounds

There has been a clear change in attitude by players too.

I'm old and played on the old astroturf, but in all sports me and my friends much preferred real grass over turf. We hated playing on turf.

Everything I hear from you go today is they prefer it greatly.

My son 9, hates turf. He's at the age where he loves sliding and getting dirty. Somehow he actually taught himself to slide really well. Last year in his all star tournament he executed the perfect slide by and tap with your hand slide at home. The parents loved it and lost their minds

Speaking of grass though I think our league might be on the verge of canceling our playoffs with all of the current rain and the projection for the next two weeks

agsalaska said:

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There has been a clear change in attitude by players too.

I'm old and played on the old astroturf, but in all sports me and my friends much preferred real grass over turf. We hated playing on turf.

Everything I hear from you go today is they prefer it greatly.

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Even with as fast as turf plays, modern turf isn't remotely the same as old AstroTurf and kids always get good, true hops. That doesn't happen on natural surfaces unless they're meticulously maintained.

At the major league level all the turf fields have dirt mounds and infield dirt where it should be vs. the old AstroTurf where a lot of fields in the past (like the Astrodome) just had small dirt areas around each base and home plate.

I think most major college fields with turf have dirt mounds.

I think that's right. They are all real.

I've never seen that at the youth level, and mind you my son is 11. But generally they are all fake mounds so they can move them around to fit the age groups.

Most youth fields want the flexibility to handle softball too, so removable mounds.

I agree most HS fields going turf still have a real mound.

FrioAg 00 said:

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Most youth fields want the flexibility to handle softball too, so removable mounds.

I agree most HS fields going turf still have a real mound.

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Yeah, we play tons of games on softball fields up until 11U because coach-pitch and kid-pitch at 9U/10U are all on 46/60 fields with fences somewhere around 200'. That's the same size as softball fields as even college softball is on 60' bases.

My beef with the portable mounds is that they're generally crap. First, facilities try to get away with the smallest ones they can so that even at 9U a tall kid is often going to have his stride land right at the bottom lip of the mound and slip off. Then there's some of these portable mounds that are actually really slippery, especially if they get damp at all. And then there's the ones that are old and worn out and if the turf is worn down to the base it's slicker than snot.

Of course, most dirt mounds kids play on aren't much better. They'll have big holes in the dirt at the base of the rubber and in the landing zone because the don't fill them back in or maintain them.

The turf is great this time of year. Takes a lot of stress off of our crew knowing we likely won't have to move sites to chase a dry field for the series.

It does suck during the summer when it is 90 plus outside though. Have had the glue on the soles of my shoes melt and separate due to the heat. The newer fields with the green pebbles instead of the black are noticeably cooler though.

WES2006AG said:

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The turf is great this time of year. Takes a lot of stress off of our crew knowing we likely won't have to move sites to chase a dry field for the series.

It does suck during the summer when it is 90 plus outside though. Have had the glue on the soles of my shoes melt and separate due to the heat. The newer fields with the green pebbles instead of the black are noticeably cooler though.

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I forget the specifics but somebody was telling me about fields that use some sort of crushed nut shells. Maybe it was walnut shells? Ever heard of that?

That's how most all pro turf fields are done. Much truer bounces

TarponChaser said:

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WES2006AG said:

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The turf is great this time of year. Takes a lot of stress off of our crew knowing we likely won't have to move sites to chase a dry field for the series.

It does suck during the summer when it is 90 plus outside though. Have had the glue on the soles of my shoes melt and separate due to the heat. The newer fields with the green pebbles instead of the black are noticeably cooler though.

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I forget the specifics but somebody was telling me about fields that use some sort of crushed nut shells. Maybe it was walnut shells? Ever heard of that?

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Haven't encountered that. Rice just put in brand new turf at Reckling. Wonder if they went with those shells.

Can I get yalls thoughts on the facility in Franklin?

We are playing in a tournament there in June. They also run a league during the spring where you play 16 games over four weekends with your times and opponents set in advance. That is pretty appealing to us. Our older team won that league a few years back but we never joined because we didn't feal like we were there competitively. But that's changed.

Thanks

Also,

did anyone see the video of the softball girl throwing the ball into the face of the batter. Trying to figure out what she thought she was doing.

Causing hitter interference. There are numerous videos of her doing the exact same thing and supposedly she's coached to do it.

So I am not fully up to date on softball rules, but there was no runner and nobody even covering the bag. How could that be batter interference?

Going to have to google that.

Bad umpires and worse coaching

OK Article

I just read this article.

She should have been thrown out of the game. Have no idea why she was not.

Just watched the video. That was what the NFHS baseball rulebook calls malicious contact. It is an automatic ejection and supersedes any penalty for interference from the batter.

Trash tactics and if it is coached that coach should face penalty as well.

I saw videos online saying this has happened numerous times with this catcher and she's never been ejected or even warned

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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I saw videos online saying this has happened numerous times with this catcher and she's never been ejected or even warned

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It comes down to judging whether it was intentional or not. And it could be completely different for softball. The two instances that I saw looked like they could have been intentional but that is something that needs to be judged in the context of the rest of the game.

Maybe the tournaments should stop inviting/allowing her team to participate.

agsalaska said:

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Can I get yalls thoughts on the facility in Franklin?

We are playing in a tournament there in June. They also run a league during the spring where you play 16 games over four weekends with your times and opponents set in advance. That is pretty appealing to us. Our older team won that league a few years back but we never joined because we didn't feal like we were there competitively. But that's changed.

Thanks

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Never played there but everybody I know who has said the facility is top notch. The only issue is location and lack of amenities/lodging in close proximity.