| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| aj94 |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 16:15:51
mostly and is just as good if not better than any of the 13u travel ball players (and I don't mean those 15 years olds posing as 13 either). I took my son to a tryout last year for a top 12u team, he was the fastest, one of the biggest, and hit the ball farther than any other kid on the team, including the guy that was conducting the tryouts son; I guess since my son was better than his he chose not to pick him up.
Can I get some feedback on this please. |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| toprank |
Posted - 02/04/2009 : 10:19:08
No matter what travel team you play on if your son is good, then coaches and other teams will see this when they play your sons' team this season. Parents talk and coaches take notes when a player stands out. If you show up at a tryout coaches will know who that player is or remember him from the previous season. I wouldn't name names here, but I can remember every great player my son's team played against last season. |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 14:33:49
aj94,
The hard part about the answer is not knowing what the perception was from the other side. Did the coach see what you saw? Did they see things they liked, but were already committed to other players that play certain positions? Were there non-baseball concerns, etc.
One tryout should not discourage you from trying to get your son on a travel team, especially if he is as good as you say. The hardest part about getting started in travel ball is figuring out which teams and coaches really provide a good playing environment for your son.
As for travel ball being overrated, you have to put that in context. The top half of travel ball is better than 99% of all leagues. Where the overrated part comes in is with the bottom half. At that level, you are not really playing any better competition; you just have opportunities to put the team together like you want it, and play tournament format games rather than one a night, twice or three times a week. In league play, you could have 2 top pitchers and dominate the league while in travel ball, that won’t get you out of pool play.
Keep after it, but I would also suggest having someone independent take a look at your son to assess his abilities and tell you what he needs to work on. It is easy for parents to see the good stuff and dismiss the stuff that needs work. All kids need work, it’s whether they choose to do something about it or not that separates the successful ones from the rest.
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| aj94 |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 13:39:05
Thanks for the feed back those were some very good points....743 he did end up on a team but still open to any better options. |
| tater77bug |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:55:24
I'm with biged...rec ball where I'm from is ALL skills and in most cases...NO skills...MS baseball is glorified rec ball...I wish it was not true but MS ball is NOT easy to watch...as for the question at hand. Do not give up on travel ball...I have coached many fringe players in travel that got lots of coaching and turned out to be very good, HS, colleg, and pro players. If your son can play...there is a quality team looking for him for sure. And be careful what you wish for...if your son had a great tryout as you say then it is highly likely the coach was not very good and was looking for kids to surround his son. Always remember that the coaches son is going to make the team...good luck. |
| 743 |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:08:12
aj94, where did your son end up for this spring season? Have you guys found a team? Just wondering. |
| whits23 |
Posted - 02/02/2009 : 18:32:09
since nc folks are on this board and i am moving from NC i will ad my 02
I am almost 100 percent pro travel ball, but i will say there are a couple of rec programs that are as good. One of the rec league 9u teams jumped in a tourney last year and beat several major teams and only lost to the angels. There is also a good to above average 13u major team in nc that is all rec players from the same league. Now that is about 10 percent of the rec leagues in nc and this league draws from a huge radius. The rest are bad and getting worse as good players play travel to find other good players. Middle school is hit and miss but it is not as good as the coaching is usually not as good and they dont keep players together but a year at a time. There are also 2 types of middle school ball, club teams and school teams.The school teams are usually better.
I think a lot is ego as the rec teams want to win the rec state championship and be called all stars instead of playing top talent year round. Some do it for family reasons as well. By age 13 any decent player rec or not will almost have to be in travel ball to get better |
| biged |
Posted - 02/02/2009 : 12:15:00
Actually, tryouts start Feb. 2. We live in NC. and play travel in Atlanta. No such thing as feeder teams in my neck of the woods. I am basing my opinion on my son's travel coach experience. He coaches both travel and feeder. |
| SportsDad |
Posted - 02/01/2009 : 23:42:53
What middle school team is he playing on Biged? Didn't know any of them had started their season yet. Is it an 8th grade team, or younger. Still surprised that 8th grade feeder "middle school ball" hasn't improved as much as I thought it would have considering the "advantages" it could have. Not all middle school ball is of questionable skill, but from what I've heard last, it still has a long way to go. |
| Hook Em Horns |
Posted - 02/01/2009 : 09:01:16
Nice point Dec-Dad. I had forgotten about the gaps in instruction time which ultimately equated to boredom for the better players while the coaches catered to the less advantaged or experienced players. I guess I would also rather my son be a small fish in a big pond, than a big fish in a small pond. Knowing he isnt the best, or one of the best players on the team motivates him to work harder. |
| biged |
Posted - 02/01/2009 : 08:34:03
For those of us who have been around for while can equate Rec. ball to middle school baseball. Now that my kid is playing both middle school ball and travel, it has the look and feel of rec ball. A few good pitchers, hitters, position players, but most teams have a lot of holes. Right fielder can't catch a cold. Bottom three batters hitting .098. A lot of project kids who may or may not turn out to be good ball players down the line. |
| treg3 |
Posted - 01/31/2009 : 22:55:53
Not all areas in the country are dominated by travelball like the southeast especially georgia. I've seen allstar and pony teams that where very good and the pitching was very deep. Travelball was more of a option. If you play recball in Georgia you are either not very good or your poor. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 01/31/2009 : 14:44:43
I am on the board for our local rec ball league. My son will be playing travel ball. Why? rec ball is open ALL skill levels. That means each team has good players and weaker players. The coaches need to work with all of the skill levels. This leaves the top players spending alot of time relearning skills they mastered the year, or years before. |
| biged |
Posted - 01/31/2009 : 08:21:39
Oh, if only it were true that rec was more competitive than travel. They money I could have saved................. The time I could have saved............... |
| SportsDad |
Posted - 01/31/2009 : 00:51:09
Travel ball because of it's increase popularily in the last 3-5 years has become somewhat over-rated..The increase of teams has unfortunately spawned what is affectionatly refer to as "rec ball on wheels" That being said, I've seen many kids that can compete on a good travel ball team level that play rec ball...never seen a rec ball that could compete with a good travel ball team in a good tournament setting. Playing travel ball will allow your son to play against kids of his skill level..You just don't see the talant level troughout the line-up or in all positions in the overwhelming majority of rec ball teams..Never seen a rec ball team that could trot out 4-5 good pitchers over a weekend...and if I was coaching against your sons team...he better have someone hitting behind him that would force me to pitch to him... |
| lifeguard |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 23:18:35
AJ, we all would have a comment about this but it would simply be speculation. I agree with HookEm, that the team could have been looking for a particular position or it was daddy ball. I would have to ask the coach for specific feedback on why he wasn't chosen or what he needs to improve on. And if my son was as good as you say and had a "bad" tryout in the coaches eyes, I would also ask the coach to take a second look. And even at this late date, there are still teams looking for players and it sounds like your son would make an immediate impact wherever he plays. IMHO travel ball isn't overated but just the contrary, where there may be too many travel clubs. |
| Talicaguy |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 23:10:02
Don't give up...my son finally got on a team after about 6 tryouts this past year. |
| homerunking |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 19:48:22
All I have to say is there is more than one team looking for kids...And if my son was as good as you say yours is I would be looking for a team soon.... |
| Hook Em Horns |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 18:34:21
Maybe you should've taken him to another tryout and not have this ONE opp dictate your impression of
"Travel Ball". Some of these coaches have specific needs and recruit to that need. Who knows, maybe this team was coached by one of the dreaded "Daddy Baller" coaches. Maybe the coach was not clear with you in what he was looking for? Some coaches will look at everyone and see if there are any kids who have ceratin traits they can work with and that can help the team. If your son is what you say he is, and I can only believe what you wrote, don't give up and find a team that is a great fit for him where he can grow in the game of baseball and have fun playing the game. |
