Kids baseball and "competitive" teams

11,442 Views | 84 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by BurnetAggie99
Quito
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AG
I live in Overland Park KS and have a 1st grader.

Multiple Dads/Coaches want to take best kids from multiple teams and make one team and play in a different league.

They want my kid, but I find it sad they can't just play with classmates until maybe 5th or 6th grade.

I see the benefit of both sides, but find it rediculous and at some point this crap needs to stop.

Interested to hear from those with experience.
greg.w.h
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AG
Better competition will help make your kid better. Turning them down will allow you to manage only that your kid plays whatever competition is in the league.

Just decide which you prefer. I've had my kids get added to teams that wanted to escape standard league play. It wasn't much of a learning experience.
Quito
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Ever hear of playing on two teams...Rec and "competitive"?

Although this might lead to burnout. Right now my boy wears me out with wanting to play or watch football and baseball. I love it and will never say no, but he does wear me out. Can't wait till 4 year old little brother can do more.
greg.w.h
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Quito said:

Ever hear of playing on two teams...Rec and "competitive"?

Although this might lead to burnout. Right now my boy wears me out with wanting to play or watch football and baseball. I love it and will never say no, but he does wear me out. Can't wait till 4 year old little brother can do more.


I've heard of lots of things. The call usually comes down to whether you believe your "student athlete" is going to compete for an athletic scholarship someday.

Playing rec and competitive might work in different seasons. I think playing rec is fine if it's for fun. But as I said: the instruction at the competitive level and playing time tends to be poor for rec-level players.
Sandman98
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Unfortunately that's not the only team in your league that will try to improve and leave, further watering down the league in which you'd prefer to stay. If your son is good he's almost forced to leave unless he's ok with teammates and opponents who struggle to play catch. The ship has sailed in most areas around the country it seems.
Aggieangler93
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AG
Sandman98 said:

Unfortunately that's not the only team in your league that will try to improve and leave, further watering down the league in which you'd prefer to stay. If your son is good he's almost forced to leave unless he's ok with teammates and opponents who struggle to play catch. The ship has sailed in most areas around the country it seems.
+1

Same applies to coaches. We had to leave too, as we spent all our coaching time teaching those same non-throwers and non-catchers, non-hitters, to do their thing. The better kids basically only got reps, and sometimes reps of bad habits.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
Bassmaster
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I think some here are missing the point. OP's kid is in the first grade which is still coach pitch or machine pitch. I don't see how playing in a more competitive league at this age is going to make him much (if any) better. My kid is in the first grade also, and we are not doing the select thing until/if absolutely necessary. I certainly won't do it now because it seems pointless to do so before kid pitch.
Quito
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Yes, I think it's insane, but don't want my kid getting behind. He's definitely advanced on his team right now. He absolutely loves it and wears me out. Even when I can't play, he throws tennis ball against garage for hours.

I just find it sad and wish they would wait a couple years.
Sandman98
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Bassmaster said:

I think some here are missing the point. OP's kid is in the first grade which is still coach pitch or machine pitch. I don't see how playing in a more competitive league at this age is going to make him much (if any) better. My kid is in the first grade also, and we are not doing the select thing until/if absolutely necessary. I certainly won't do it now because it seems pointless to do so before kid pitch.


I understand and don't disagree. Our team waited until 10u but that's because we happened to be in a big rec league that was fairly decent. Our kids were surrounded by good players on our own team so practices were productive but games weren't. It starts to feel like you're hanging around to win a league trophy.

I wanted to wait until 12u but it doesn't work that way for good players. I'd hope most leagues could keep good 8 and 9 year olds around but sadly it's not common in my experience.
JavierC2005
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Try it out for a season. Better competition might make it even more fun for your boy.

Does your rec league use machines? If so, I'd play in the "competitive" league where it'll be coach pitch. I despise the machine.
Wicked Good Ag
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So we are talking a six and under travel team if I am not mistaken

Kids at that age should be playing multiple sports and not leaning towards any one specifically and excluding the other. These dads want to have the best team at this age for themselves not for the kids.
Quito
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AG
It's 7 and under (my boy is 6 until Dec 27).

It's not travel, just a different league.

My main concern is taking kids from multiple schools to form one "super" team.
JavierC2005
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I agree with the multiple sports. Two baseball teams, football and baseball or whatever. Makes them better athletes.

I don't see anything wrong with pulling good kids from rec teams to form a good team. It'll push them more.
Quito
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AG
Definitely a fan of multiple sports, but can see how they are already making it more difficult be demanding more time in one particular sport.

I teach my kid that their favorite sport changes with the season...football in fall, basketball in winter, and baseball in Spring/Summer
Wicked Good Ag
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Quito said:

It's 7 and under (my boy is 6 until Dec 27).

It's not travel, just a different league.

My main concern is taking kids from multiple schools to form one "super" team.


So who is this super team going to play that will be competitive if all the best players are on that team or is the league that it will be going to be that level of play. Because I will tell you this. This team will play one year and then will move to travel ball at 8 years old because it won't be enough competition
Quito
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We live in Overland Park, KS. It's a pretty big league
Aggie
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7 years old does not need to play any select or travel ball.

He is not gonna get "left behind" .. I promise

In all honestly.. no kid really needs to play travel or select until about 13 years old.
Waste of $ prior to that.
94chem
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Travel ball for 8 year olds to chase a scholly in the Southland. Just get Netflix, pay for A&M, and end up with more money and a better degree.
Quito
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Never mentioned travel ball.

Question was about combining teams using best players from multiple teams and playing in a more competitive local league.
Bird Poo
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My 16 year old didn't play "club" until he was 13. Now he's on the high school team (super 6A team) and the coach explicitly mandates that all of his players play summer ball with a club. We've gotten around it by playing on a club team in the fall only, but the coach hasn't said anything.

Summer club ball will absolutely destroy your summer. Every weekend until mid-July there are tournaments.

IF YOU ADD THE EXPENSES FROM 5-7 YEARS IN A "CLUB", YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO PAY FOR 1/2 OF YOUR KID'S COLLEGE.

Club ball is now a money-making industry, and money takes the fun out of everything. My son will probably get some baseball scholarship offers to Div II or III schools, but that is entirely due to his grades. The very first thing these college scouts want to know about is the kid's high school academic performance.

But he wants to go to A&M. He wants to have fun playing baseball in high school. Unfortunately, the system forces you down the club path which can be an enormous waste of time and money.
Wicked Good Ag
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Quito said:

Never mentioned travel ball.

Question was about combining teams using best players from multiple teams and playing in a more competitive local league.


So how will this super team of 7-8 years olds compete in the new league. Will it dominate or will it be just average. Because if they dominate the families will say still not enough and move to travel ball. Just be ready for that to occur
SenorAG
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I used to be completely against Select Ball as I feel it creates burn out and pre-mature injuries. After seeing how select ball has completely done away with any type of competitiveness in our local leagues I decided that it was not beneficial for my sons's development for him to stay play in rec leagues. I did however make the best choice I could as far as coaches and teams and helped one of my buddies I played with in college to coach. One of our things is that we do not play every weekend and we also take several months off during the year for the kids to play other sports. My little one is 7 and loves to practice and play tournaments because we don't overkill. Practice 2 times a week and play 2-3 tournaments max per month. People have criticized us saying we don't work enough but I think our 52-3 record last year would indicate otherwise.
94chem
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Anybody doing this travel /club stuff because they think it makes financial sense needs to quit. Just stop. You'd be better off buying lottery tickets. Pretend your child's sport is non-revenue and non-collegiate above club level, like badminton or handball. Okay, now pretend it's not Olympic either. Now devote effort accordingly.
GoAgs92
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My son is a good but not great ball player....unless you put him on a rec league team, then he is by far one of the best kids on the team.

I didn't even know about select til my kid was almost 9, your kid can always fillin on select teams especially in the fall to see how you like it....usually for free.
Quito
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GoAgs92 said:

My son is a good but not great ball player....unless you put him on a rec league team, then he is by far one of the best kids on the team.

I didn't even know about select til my kid was almost 9, your kid can always fillin on select teams especially in the fall to see how you like it....usually for free.



Funny you bring this up. He played with the 2nd grade team last night and did well...they were playing a team the really wanted to beat and wanted him to play...it was fun.

They want him to play in two weeks when they play a team made up of private school kids...they really want to beat them.
Sandman98
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Wicked Good Ag said:

So we are talking a six and under travel team if I am not mistaken

Kids at that age should be playing multiple sports and not leaning towards any one specifically and excluding the other. These dads want to have the best team at this age for themselves not for the kids.


This is a common misconception. Playing "travel ball" doesn't mean the kids don't play multiple sports. Good athletes play three sports AND travel ball. Many of the best baseball players are playing at least one other sport and the sane travel ball coaches want it that way.
Tex100
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Through 7U we played with friends in rec and then moved to select. The kids who had been playing select for a couple of years were more polished. It took a year for my son to catch up.

Do whichever as long as it is fun. Most kids on the select team played multiple sports.
Tex100
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If you go select, would play for coaches who played college or pro. Avoid daddy ball.
BurnetAggie99
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That's not always the case as their are a lot of Select Organizations that not every coach played college or pro. There are a lot of guys that are good coaches that understand baseball, some were great HS players that turned down offers to play to attend say A&M to get a good degree, some played HS and have coached in the public/private HS sector before, some who coached at the various college levels and so on.

I'm a select coach for a large high level select organization but I also serve on our local youth baseball & softball league board for many years. About 90% of players play both league and select but we have made it a mission to provide a good league product, keep the majority of the kids together, schedule our league games around Select schedules, schedule compedative league games with other good league teams, do a good job as a board of approving good coaches, make it a mission to develop all kids in the league, have a great relationship with the High School baseball staff who hold baseball camps to the youth and we also have other camps with high level outside instruction for both players and coaches, and have good working relationships with the select organizations in our area.

Now we do lose some kids that only play Select but that's always going to be the case like anywhere. Also as a board we do our best to make sure theirs no daddy ball. I coach my son and he probably has it harder than any kid on the team. I don't do Daddy ball and as a coach it's always been about the Team, developing kids in life and baseball.
SenorAG
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That is great to hear. Unfortunately in our region we have done such a poor job protecting rec leagues that the level of competitiveness is just not there. This lack of competition pushes kids away from our rec leagues. I believe the main reason for this has to do with our pony and little league organization doing away with drafts and allowing the creation of super teams. To give you an example of the lack of competition we took our group of 6-U last season still t-ball and moved them up to 8-u coach pitch gold or (competitive) division and went undefeated and won most games by shutout. Not to take any credit from our children they are great little ball players and work hard and are well coached but this should just not happen.
Buford T. Justice
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Amen.
I've watched two cycles of parents go through this entire scenario, and none of their kids have even gotten close to a roster spot.

Bottom line, we all received our maximum amount of takent on the day that we were born. Sure, you can refine that talent by playing more games, but you're not going to change your level of talent by playing more games.
TAM85
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With my oldest we played LL beginning in first grade, but delayed select ball until 10U. We also made him play football, basketball and baseball through 7th grade. In HS he played 6A basketball and baseball all the way through. Basketball from August to February was a great break from baseball, especially for a pitcher.
It seemed to work fine for him, and he never burned out in either sport.

I believe if your player starts playing select ball in elementary school, even if your kid plays D-1 in college, you could have saved more money by not playing select then he will earn in scholarship in college once he gets his piece of the 11.75 or so scholarships a D-1 can offer. So don't let the money be part of your justification.

He should play the game because he loves it. And if so, it is your job to see he does not get burned out or suffer a repetitive use injury.
DrippinAg
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S
To the original posters question...At 6, 7 or whatever age that young. Ask the kid who he wants to play with? If he wants to stick with those kids and you like those coaches....do it. If he really doesn't care then stick with the league and gauge your son's level of want to in baseball as he progresses. The kid really has to have the want to to play and practice as much as most select teams do.

This has been an ongoing thread topic for years. I've had all 4 of my boys go through it at different levels. What it really boils down to is this...you have to be truly objective and answer this question honesty and around 8 years old...what level is your kid really at? Is he In the top 10% of all the players in the league? If so and you really want to put in the time, then push him to a select team. Don't go pick a 2k a summer organization with 30 teams. Most of those are a joke at the younger ages but prob where you want to be at the HS levels of summer ball. Ask around and find a competitive team that is at whatever level your kid is truly at. If he is a legit Majors level kid then find a team and coaches you like and contact them for a workout. If he is in the middle somewhere let him just enjoy playing with his friends and stick to the local league ball. There is nothing lost playing there and if he progresses reassess in a year or so. There are a crapload of 'select' teams out there full of kids that should be in rec leagues and you would prob get about the same coaching and save your time and money.

Somebody said it earlier but I've always felt you should let your kids play multiple sports for as long as you possibly can. We do football, basketball and baseball and my kids love them all and they have all played summer baseball.



Just my unwanted .2 cents.
Sandman98
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DrippinAg said:

To the original posters question...At 6, 7 or whatever age that young. Ask the kid who he wants to play with? If he wants to stick with those kids and you like those coaches....do it. If he really doesn't care then stick with the league and gauge your son's level of want to in baseball as he progresses. The kid really has to have the want to to play and practice as much as most select teams do.

This has been an ongoing thread topic for years. I've had all 4 of my boys go through it at different levels. What it really boils down to is this...you have to be truly objective and answer this question honesty and around 8 years old...what level is your kid really at? Is he In the top 10% of all the players in the league? If so and you really want to put in the time, then push him to a select team. Don't go pick a 2k a summer organization with 30 teams. Most of those are a joke at the younger ages but prob where you want to be at the HS levels of summer ball. Ask around and find a competitive team that is at whatever level your kid is truly at. If he is a legit Majors level kid then find a team and coaches you like and contact them for a workout. If he is in the middle somewhere let him just enjoy playing with his friends and stick to the local league ball. There is nothing lost playing there and if he progresses reassess in a year or so. There are a crapload of 'select' teams out there full of kids that should be in rec leagues and you would prob get about the same coaching and save your time and money.

Somebody said it earlier but I've always felt you should let your kids play multiple sports for as long as you possibly can. We do football, basketball and baseball and my kids love them all and they have all played summer baseball.



Just my unwanted .2 cents.


Great post. Love the bold sections.
Aggieangler93
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Sorry...i missed the part about the kid being so young. We didnt move to select ball until about 10u. At that point almost all talent had washed out of our rec. leagues locally.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
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