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mrpball
1 Posts |
 Posted - 05/23/2016 : 13:23:36
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| If there is another feed with this discussion let me know. What are your thoughts of these kids playing both rec ball and travel ball during the same season. I've seen where it's permitted by travel ball teams and rec ball teams. It seems like there is a continuous issue with lack of commitment to the rec ball team practices in order for them to play travel ball which ends up hurting the rec ball team. Also see issues where there is most often better coaching at travel ball level and the kids that choose to play both tend to bring back bad habits from poor coaching in rec ball and just drives their travel ball coaches crazy. I really want to hear the coaches chime in on this one! |
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ofs13
48 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2016 : 14:29:50
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If a player is playing both, I can't see how a travel ball player, if he is a true travel ball caliber player, could hurt a rec ball team by not being at practice. Rec players miss their own practices too. Actually, with him not at practice, the rec players should get more practice reps, which they need. It's more likely that the travel games would trump the rec games, and thus place the rec team at a disadvantage when he is gone.
If a player is playing both, one would expect that the player would play up in rec ball, or what's the point?
If a player is playing both, and pitching in travel ball, DO NOT allow him to pitch for the rec team. If the kid is a halfway decent pitcher, the rec coach will lean on him, and the travel coach will still expect to be able to get his innings out of him during tournaments, so the only person getting hurt is the player. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2016 : 15:07:29
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Not a coach but did live through it. My son played TB at 9u, in the fall he played rec as well, but did not play rec Spring. We did this for 10u as well. He chose TB practice over rec practice and the coaches were fine with that. Fall is such a light schedule in TB the coaches were able to schedule around any kid who had a football or rec ball game, so no issue there either.
The BIG issue was the coaching. Do you know what happens when a 10 year old gets a hit every at bat and then realizes he knows more about baseball than the volunteer dad who just does this to spend time with his kid??? You get a big swelled head that knows EVERYTHING and it just about ended my son's baseball playing days because I wasn't going to put up with that.
I also wasn't going to put up with my kid being rotated from pitcher, to catcher, to short stop....rinse/repeat when the rules said he could pitch again. Whether it is TB or rec don't ever be "the best" on the team ,it just leads to being over used and lends to ego problems, and 10 year olds with ego problems is REALLY not pretty. |
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sebaseball
101 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2016 : 15:31:07
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Here in rural South GA, I think it's a more difficult issue than in the metro areas. Down here, there is still a very strong sense of pride in playing for your home town since there is only one HS for the whole county and these are the guys you're going to be going to school with and playing HS with. Sometimes, not playing can be seen as you thinking you're better than everyone else which can cause problems. Stupid and childish, but occurs none the less. Having coached through this, my perspective is that there is more bad than good in playing both. The issues you brought up are what I found to occur and I found that my guys who played both got worse in travel as the season wore on because they had to throttle it back so much in rec ball. When you have 10, 11, and 12 year old rec team kids who can hardly catch a thrown ball or rec league strike zones that are from the chest to ankles and batter's box to batter's box, you go backwards as a player. Even those that practice with their travel team, they end up missing many pratices due to rec games where these issues come into play. Additionally, it's even more taxing on the kids who pitch in travel, because they are typically the best pitchers in the rec league and are expected to be that team's ace. Managing those innings so that the player's best interest and long term health is a juggling act and always ends up pitting the travel team's needs against that of the rec team's. Since mom & dad are shelling out the bucks for travel, that's who usually wins out. This can create more interpersonal issues to deal with.
I've always given my players and parents the leeway make the decision for themselves if they wanted to play both. But after seeing how it plays out, I now strongly encourage everyone to consider only playing travel. Most drop the rec league, but we also have a good program where we have quality, high rep practices 2xweek for two hours with plenty of swings and pitching development. We also play around 10 tournaments per spring so they're getting in 35-45 ball games. They then get about half of that in the fall. |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2016 : 18:00:10
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| Why? Does the travel team not provide enough playing time? I can see it in the fall where the travel team may only play a couple of one days due to football but in the spring? I'd find a travel team with a more aggressive schedule if that's what he wants. What age? Be cognizant of pitch counts if this is kid pitch level and you are doing both. |
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Nor-BD
66 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2016 : 20:04:19
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| My experience has been that rec all star teams "migrate" towards travel starting at 10U with each Summer's All Star kids turning into "travel" players. There are exceptions but most AA teams I have seen are basically traveling rec teams with nicer uniforms (and proud parents who talk about their kid playing "travel ball". Some AAA teams fall into that category too. There is not really rec ball vs travel ball anymore because up to a certain level they are about the same. I do tip my hat to some programs and coaches at the "upper AAA" and Majors levels, now that is travel ball. |
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bfriendly
376 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2016 : 00:26:30
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quote:
Originally posted by mrpball
If there is another feed with this discussion let me know. What are your thoughts of these kids playing both rec ball and travel ball during the same season. I've seen where it's permitted by travel ball teams and rec ball teams. It seems like there is a continuous issue with lack of commitment to the rec ball team practices in order for them to play travel ball which ends up hurting the rec ball team. Also see issues where there is most often better coaching at travel ball level and the kids that choose to play both tend to bring back bad habits from poor coaching in rec ball and just drives their travel ball coaches crazy. I really want to hear the coaches chime in on this one!
The title kind of threw me off with the vs. Your OP mentions playing both............Bad idea IMHO. Playing travel and practicing at home outside of team activities should be plenty for a young man to do. I like playing the games and want more game time for experience, but when you cant be there for either team it just isn't fair.....again jmho |
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Tribe
82 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2016 : 23:05:03
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| Let your kids play where they want to play. Nothing else matters. |
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bfriendly
376 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2016 : 17:00:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Gobacktoparkball
At least 1/3 of the kids need to be in park ball anyway!!!! That's all I got to say!!! Gobacktoparkball
Welcome to the forum |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2016 : 19:28:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Nor-BD
My experience has been that rec all star teams "migrate" towards travel starting at 10U with each Summer's All Star kids turning into "travel" players. There are exceptions but most AA teams I have seen are basically traveling rec teams with nicer uniforms (and proud parents who talk about their kid playing "travel ball". Some AAA teams fall into that category too. There is not really rec ball vs travel ball anymore because up to a certain level they are about the same. I do tip my hat to some programs and coaches at the "upper AAA" and Majors levels, now that is travel ball.
Strongly Recommended!! This all goes back to having 1 Level per age group. The game is a true grind. Very few can perform with little practice. I see rec as a feeder for travel when some develop more than others. |
Edited by - Punishers on 05/25/2016 21:21:05 |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2016 : 07:04:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Punishers
quote:
Originally posted by Nor-BD
My experience has been that rec all star teams "migrate" towards travel starting at 10U with each Summer's All Star kids turning into "travel" players. There are exceptions but most AA teams I have seen are basically traveling rec teams with nicer uniforms (and proud parents who talk about their kid playing "travel ball". Some AAA teams fall into that category too. There is not really rec ball vs travel ball anymore because up to a certain level they are about the same. I do tip my hat to some programs and coaches at the "upper AAA" and Majors levels, now that is travel ball.
Strongly Recommended!! This all goes back to having 1 Level per age group. The game is a true grind. Very few can perform with little practice. I see rec as a feeder for travel when some develop more than others.
The problem occurs when it is the 9 year old in rec that is developing more than others. |
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Rec ball vs Travel ball
