SenorAG what sort of discounts for Marucci? I have a 9 y/o looking for a Cat7. Used is totally fine (father of 7 getting into 1st year of select). 94chem has me scared.

JayAggie said:

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SenorAG what sort of discounts for Marucci? I have a 9 y/o looking for a Cat7. Used is totally fine (father of 7 getting into 1st year of select). 94chem has me scared.

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I don't know what to tell you. Hope you can make it work. But if I took off with 1 kid on weekends and left my wife with 5, it would get ugly fast.

Yeah a friend of mine was getting rid of his bat so we took that. I told the coach this is what he's playing with and if you want something nicer he will have to buy it himself. Fortunately all the tournaments are in Houston and I would never run off with only one kid, we try to do the tournaments as a family as much as possible and if not, I always have a couple.

Well that didn't take long for me to hate competitive baseball. Coach kicked my son off the field for a mistake at a position he's never played or practiced at, made a big scene. I mean in his face yelled at him because he made a very common mistake. As my son is trying to keep it together coach walks over and yells get on the field or get out. We left.

Oh and my kid is 9. Not even bother notifying the coach we're done. Was able to get back on local league.

That is a stupid coach. Find the right ones.

bookmyer said:

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Tex100 said:

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If you go select, would play for coaches who played college or pro. Avoid daddy ball.

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I have mixed feelings about this. Whatever happened to wanting to coach your own kids as long as it is done fairly. A lot of these select teams are set up to make money. I know they advertise former pro / college players. My take is if they were any good when they played they wouldn't need to make money off a bunch of kids. Best coach I had as a kid was an optometrist that just wanted to coach us. No kid on the team, no reimbursement. Just did it because he wanted to. This huge surge in select baseball hasn't changed the end game one bit. 750 players on the MLB roster and I bet one third are from out of the country. Too much pressure on these kids at a young age and way too many baseball games. Really need to be careful how much these kids throw the ball.

Having said all that, select ball is a lot of fun. My son plays. IMO just really need to also keep it fun for the kids. I personally don't think playing select ball to get a college scholarship should be the goal for most of these kids. A lot of the select clubs want to say they got this player or that player a scholarship. I really don't think playing at some lower level school would be worth it for the academic sacrifice there would be. What's the value of that degree versus going to a major college. The chances of making a substantial living from baseball are astronomically small.

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A lot of select teams that are coached by a dad are basically a vehicle to spotlight their son. I've seen the 12 coaches working with young kids and loved what they were doing.

The "12" coaches, that's the B/CS area group right? I've seen them at tournaments before and seem like a good group.

Their HQ is in College Station but they have expanded to Katy and the Woodlands, the last I saw.

The ones I saw practicing were at their Katy location a couple of years ago.

That's not 100% true at programs like a 12 or Bandito's. I'm a Bandito's Coach multiple age teams including HS age and while my son is in the program, he actually has it harder than all the other kids.

Just an FYI: "Daddy Ball" also happens in high school if one of the coaches has a son in the program. My son just got displaced as the starting third baseman by the son of an asst coach that is new to the school. They're both equally talented players, however who do you think is going to get the nod?

Just told my kid "that's life", and the only way to handle this is to work harder and show up every day with something to prove. Good life lesson for him.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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That's not 100% true at programs like a 12 or Bandito's. I'm a Bandito's Coach multiple age teams including HS age and while my son is in the program, he actually has it harder than all the other kids.

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I'm talking about the independent select team created by and coached by the dad of a player on the team. We enjoyed being on some of those teams (some great memories), but my son learned more about baseball and position assignment was more evenly applied overall, imo, on teams that were professional organizations run by former pro and collegiate players.

That is my experience. I will also say that it isn't easy coaching youth sports and trying to be fair in assigning positions.I know from personal experience.

Wabs said:

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Just an FYI: "Daddy Ball" also happens in high school if one of the coaches has a son in the program. My son just got displaced as the starting third baseman by the son of an asst coach that is new to the school. They're both equally talented players, however who do you think is going to get the nod?

Just told my kid "that's life", and the only way to handle this is to work harder and show up every day with something to prove. Good life lesson for him.

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I agree.

I've heard pretty bad things about the Banditos. Any of it true?

For example:

- one of the owners got arrested while soliciting a ****er while on a tournament trip? Is he still involved?
- kids practice during the week and then depending on how they do in practice determines what team they play for that weekend. depending on kids tournament performance he may be moved around?

I'm not trolling, but am curious about the above, I've also heard how organized and well run it is. Seems like the biggest and most established club in the area. My kids are now back at just metro level this season but will be looking again next year.

JayAggie said:

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I've heard pretty bad things about the Banditos. Any of it true?

For example:

- one of the owners got arrested while soliciting a ****er while on a tournament trip? Is he still involved?
- kids practice during the week and then depending on how they do in practice determines what team they play for that weekend. depending on kids tournament performance he may be moved around?

I'm not trolling, but am curious about the above, I've also heard how organized and well run it is. Seems like the biggest and most established club in the area. My kids are now back at just metro level this season but will be looking again next year.

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Most of that, good and bad, is true.

What area are you asking about? They have had a much longer presence in the Houston area than in the Austin area for example.

houston

It's a good organization, its well run, all about developing the players, family culture, prepare the players for HS ball, get the players opportunities to play at the next level, and compete for championships. A lot of Bandito's that go on to play at great college programs. Been a lot of Aggies come out of the program.

Every program has things happen good or bad, but it's one of the best programs in the country and have a lot of resources in place for the players. The teams are determined based on a tryout/workout. We have multiple teams just like all the other big programs. Players always have the opportunity to move up based on development and how they perform. Also being a big program and having branches, your still one club and everyone works together as a whole.

Austin Branch has been back running now for three years and they have a great Director there in place leading the program.