Outside of Little League Baseball. It will look different for each family and each child. A job is not a game. I got an education, got married, we started having children, and now I get to coach my kids. The answer to this question depends on the reasons for joining the program. I traveled an hour each way for three days a week for practice. In volleyball and soccer, maybe cheer, but most other sports they don't. FieroCoug. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. For additional information please contact Glenna Sandel at 615-403-6938 . Editor's note: This is the first story in a four-part series examining the pros and cons of youths playing extensive travel baseball versus Little League, or a combination of the two. Archived post. I think it does need to be approached carefully and prayerfully, especially with the demands on the family and commitments that call us away from the church. Here at Select Baseball Teams, we have worked hard to comprise one of the most comprehensive lists of Alabama travel baseball teams looking for players. I think "specialization" is killing certain sports in local markets, it depends. However, I am concerned about the amount of time spent in preparation, travel, and practice that can rob a family of what is truly important from a Scriptural perspective. He was athletic and had the potential to play college baseball, so we finally enrolled him in travel ball after his freshman year in high school. #momof3boys. If youre in Louisville, come check us out at www.KenwoodBaptistChurch.com. Travel baseball is very competitive, especially compared to recreational leagues. Required fields are marked *. I needed a break, and I wanted to be a counselor at a Christian camp that summer (Kanakuk). The Broadneck, Brooklyn Park, Glen Burnie, Harundale, Havenwood, Lake Shore, and Marley Little Leagues are all no longer associated with Little League. Teams advancing to the regional level in the U.S. receive an additional $200. They work the young players harder, but the result is better player development. . Jan 25, 9:16am. foster a love for the game. And if I had any skill to make some of that money working in baseball, I wouldnt have a day job. Because COVID, This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. As one who has three sons, two of whom played travel ball for part of their youth, and one who didnt, I can affirm everything you say here. Kids need to see that Jesus and his church are more important to their parents even than baseball. Thanks for posting this. Uber competitive athletics is going to end for 99.9 percent of kids/young adults. You may be betting on the kid getting a scholarship. They learn more socially because they have different teammates for each sport and different roles. In the end, it should all come to what the kid wants. Part of the argument for travel ball is the appeal of better competition. Jim, (Answered! Is there saving Little League? Now, the league has grown a bit but has 190 kids playing travel ball, with multiple teams at 12u, 14u, 16u, and 18u. Little League now includes a senior division for players age 13 to 15 and a big-league division for age 16 to 18. Not one. No more! The percentages are outrageous. 2 were here. And though the book purports to be comprehensive . So Im writing in the hope that youll see that rec ball is a better route. I think this is an important topic that needs to be discussed. I was recently Contemplating to start travel ball from my son recently and for some reason Ive been holding back . There have been times when our kids insisted that the entire family wear Orioles stuff. Educate them. There are two sides to every situation. Josh McDowells The Last Christian Generation I simply have to go find the people that need Jesus. Wr had to travel 3 ours to find a competitive travel team. +233 24 519 7792 / +23333 2096418; claptrap voice changer Facebook-f data center technician i microsoft salary Twitter gamefowl farms in usa facebook Youtube motorcycle rental newcastle Linkedin We love them by showing them that God is infinitely more valuable than all else. That is why I was sympathetic to the angry dads argument and, in the end, took his son for the team. It has been somewhat successful in some respects in that some of its alumni like Carl Crawford, C.C. Well-said. In raising our children in a world where developing a one-sport athlete is pushed to the extreme, we both were counter-culture, and we have happy, well-adjusted kids now, all of whom continue to pursue fitness as a lifestyle. Once I got to be 13, we left Havenwood Little League to create our own team and I played with that team through age 15, when I stopped playing. My son tried out. In addition to a spring season, PSLL offers a summer league, summer camps, fall ball, and a winter skills clinic. All 9YO players. Despite the beautiful fields the travel ball team played on, the grass wasnt greener. Ryan E. I think this is a good post and is great advice. While my son made a ton of new friends and had fun, I felt he needed more. We have made this decision for the past three years and been ridiculed for it and told we are not being fair to our son. Icicidirect. With this comes the COOPERSTOWN TICKET. Dont get me wrong: I love competition. Anthony Lynn, who remembers his Little League days so vividly, told me that he thinks travel ball is cynical. I could be wrong. Gallatin Little League Baseball: T-ball, Coach Pitch & Baseball You can print a registration form (PDF). You played in some tournament, and then district. But they have more similarities than you think there are. Is travel baseball killing Little League in America? As a pastor, I require my daughter to be in church every Sunday, which means that she misses all Sunday games that interfere with worship. Continue with Recommended Cookies. After looking at the tournament schedule, I realized Id miss days at work and the expenses would pile up. No formula exists, but here are a few ideas to think about: Variety: Encourage your children to play a different sport each season until their upper teens. NASCAR started as bootleggers in the 1940s and 1950s trying to see who had the fastest car. My older brother played sports from t-ball to college, probably would have went pro if he hadnt hurt his shoulder (yes, he was THAT good, Im not just saying it, he had an unhittab,e curve ball), but the decision was made when he first started that God and His church would always come first, and he would not play if there was a conflict between his first priority and the game. Manage Settings The costs of travel baseball often put a serious strain on the family budget. However, they are much more severe. We dont win Non-Christians by loving them more than we love God and his glory. I would urge you to consider how trustworthy Jesus is, how he can reconcile you to God, how he has paid for your sin, and how his Spirit can enable you to love others and enjoy life with them in a gathering of people joined together at a local church. Ive also heard more than one parent tell me that after a few years of travel ball, in some cases only one year of it, their son decided he didnt want to play baseball anymore. There may be instances in which its the right thing, and when a kid gets to be 15 to 16 years old, its understandable that commitment levels and demands are going to rise and choices are going to have to be made. Fill your childrens team with morals and role models. I am confident that there are better ways to steward those thousands of dollars. It seems to me that time comes in the mid to late teens, but thats going to be a judgment call . The privatization of American youth sports over the past 40 years is one of those revolutions of late-stage capitalism that should shock us more than it does. Personally, if I could have done things differently I would have kept my child in the rec leagues but I guess Im not sure if she would have learned to pursue excellence in the manner she did had she done so. I would also ask to establish contact with you for a best practices sharing of information and spreading of the works you are enjoying. This is decided by the player's ability from the previous year of play and/or how they look in tryouts. League will play at Municipal Park or Thompson Park. In general, most of the Little League tournaments are organized in the local area and involves teams from the same city or community. I had to pay a sign-up fee of $750. So we are playing upward thru our church. When I walked on and made the Razorbacks, the sport I loved to play became a year-round job. Well, at registration, I learned my leagues Board of Directors decided to use a pitching machine for 7-year-olds, and that MAYBE toward the end of the season, there MIGHT be some kid pitch. It is this simple fact: Baseball is no longer a game that is for everybody. OP's son sounds like a hard worker, just have to work in the right place 35 Reply [deleted] 5 yr. ago And to get your kid into a school with AP courses. 12527 posts. There doesnt have to be a life lesson constantly pointed out. I am offering these thoughts for parents who are considering whether to put their kids on a competitive team, or a travel-ball team, or a tournament team, or whatever it may be called in your sport and locale. (He never would have been able to do this had he continued playing in college as all of the players were expected to play in a summer league each year.) So much time was freed up by not having to go to practice. Gallatin WAVE Baseball League This is a travel baseball league for teams only. And there are eight Urban Youth Academies providing year-round instruction in the game. Also, parents may not have a realistic view of how talented their son or daughter is in sports, often over or underestimating their abilities. What Is Travel Baseball? ). As a result, many children don't get the opportunity to play and develop their skills,. Providing evidence of insurance to field owners and tournament organizers can consume a team manager's life and drain the budget without the right insurance program. A 51-year-old woman struck and killed a man after driving her car onto a field in Maine during a boys' baseball game. My husband also was a quarterback at a Big 10 university, and my dad was a football coach, but we both chose to direct our son away from football and into other sports because of the enormous risk of injury, especially head injury. Its a Jesuit-based publication with a political slant that does not agree with mine. It doesn't take much and Rec Leagues would be greatly improved. As parents, however, we can sometimes unknowingly pressure our kids to continuing pursuing things at a higher level because we want it for them, not because they want it, and we proverbially try to put a square peg into a round hole. Messages conveyed: We parents need to pray daily about what messages we are sending our children by the sports or other activities we have them in. Many of the families on our team actually make it a family affair. Usually, teams play travel ball at least twice a month, on weekends. Several thoughts on that: Their chances are greater for continuing their sporting lives, whether at college or recreationally as adults, if they arent burnt out on competition by the time they turn 18or 13, as Ive seen occur far too often. Small towns breed professional athletes, and the reason seems to be that kids in small towns arent over-coached, over-organized, and over-specialized by the travel ball opportunities found in larger cities. They need to run and jump and exercise other muscles than the ones required by baseball. Not posting some long winded bs. They also have T-ball divisions. No. It was time for him to play real baseball! Yes, Major League Baseball has its RBI Program to return baseball to urban fields. . I do not feel we will ever look back on our decision to say no to travel ball. Listen to article. Praying we keep the Lord first in all thingsand your insights help!!! I had worked with him quite a lot prior to that. Thanks, To Him Be the Gory (in travel ball and everywhere else in His Creation). Third, most days my family enjoys family travel ball, together. The statistics reported concerning the abandonment of the Christian Faith by christian young people before their sophomore year in college is overwhelming. These are good thoughts. But it is, quite literally, passed down from generation to generation. The only kind of baseball scholarship D1 programs offer is a partial one. How do you help your childs best come out, leaving the potential open for higher levels of competition, while avoiding the possible detriments of rigorous levels of the sport? I was glad he played Tee Ball, and I looked forward to the following year when I assumed there would be some kid pitching. All Rights Reserved. to return baseball to urban fields. Help your kids find the joy of learning in areas other than sports. "Everyone's selling 'the dream gonna happen,' and people are making a. Our league is like the one you described. Im coming at this topic from a multi-dimensional approach. I learned I would have to stay in a hotel for out-of-town tournaments. Totally agree with your article. You explain it t the tee for me and cant thank you enough . Most professional golfers look the same. coming down the pike. Website: . But this, which I encourage you to read in its entirety, is a very damning piece about the state of baseball in America. We are leaning strongly to go back to his Rec ball league that we enjoyed in the spring. Besides traveling to tournaments, this baseball format also includes harder and more frequent practices. Participating in travel baseball will likely eat most of your free time. He did see some development as a player, but nothing major. And there are eight Urban Youth Academies. Kids are smarter than what we want to give them credit for. I stayed with the Little League program because I was told that for my sons 7-year-old season, there would be kid pitching. That means that even if your kid is the best thing since Babe Ruth, if he goes off to play major college baseball, the baseball team isnt paying all the expenses. No doubt there are exceptions, but I havent personally witnessed one. Travel baseball goes by many names; select, club, premier, elite, and so on. It was excellent, by the way. BE INVOLVED , VOLUNTEER, ATTEND MEETING AFTER MEETING, FUND RAISE, HOLD ALL ACCOUNTABLE FOR TIME, HONOR, COMMITMENT AND GET ALL THE KIDS TO ENJOY THIS LEAGUE YOU ARE A PART OF. Players invest a lot of money and energy into it. March 5th (Sunday) National League Tryout - 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. A travel team can be started by anyone. This is the one your wife wants you to care about. Little League Internationals rules, regulations, and policies have been formulated over more than seven decades to ensure a safe, fun, and healthy environment for children. Its not a coincidence that two of the most iconic golfers of the last thirty years, John Daly and Tiger Woods, were nothing like their peers in their own ways. The irony is that if you dont value your commitment to church (and Christ) enough to pass on sports to commit to church, you arent likely to step out and preach the gospel at the sports events either. I recognize that although it isnt common for kids to be offered college scholarships for sports, it obviously isnt impossible. Focusing on winning games is short-sighted and ignorant. Thanks for sharing them. Nonetheless it's something that I hope that I can enjoy with her (and any future kids, too) for the rest of our lives, much as I still enjoy talking and watching baseball with my parents to this day. It can be a huge change in commitment, skill level, and dedication depending on the type of team and price you go into. Motivations: Just because you liked something as a kid, or were good at it, it doesnt mean your child will or should be. I know that may sound weird working with a kid at such a young age, but his older brother played baseball, so he was always around. You can argue all you want and say you go to church when you travel, but the first time you skip church because it interferes with game time, you have taught your child that a game is more important than worshipping God. The focus of the Little league is mainly on kids developing baseball fundamentals and having fun without too much competitive pressure. Once we knew about travel ball there was no going back. Is it more important than being at church on Sunday morning? Families who thought the Sunday game was no big deal slowly dropped out of church because sports came first. Bottom line: give your kids a childhood theyll want to replicate with their own children not one theyll react against. Really great article Dr. Hamilton! . That was it! I talked to a dad who was committed to having his family in church even when they were on the roadand he said they traveled as a family as often as they couldfor tournaments. (No wonder God calls us to pray without ceasing!). Not criticizing anyone not on same path, but if they want it, you wont stop them. I think the key is finding the right team and families. The only time we had awful politics was before our team separated and we joined the head coach. If the ultimate goal is for the kid to get to the pros, then joining a travel baseball program is definitely a better choice. Were enjoying the homeschool league to which we belong right now, but also realize that our daughters team is not a highly competitive team, but the JV/Varsity teams are a bit more competitive. Every year, various baseball organizations, including USSA, AAU, or Perfect Game, organize hundreds of these tournaments across the whole country. Too many times parents want what they want, not whats best for their kids. They would have to drive to another suburb for ball games. I hear this quite a bit. Now think about NASCAR. But we have had a great experience with travel ball and have been able to balance our commitments to both Christ, his church, and our family. If dads still took their kids to baseball games, played catch with their boys, played wiffleball and played baseball video games most boys would be competitive at baseball. We all need to be careful that identifying with just one sport and spending most of our time with it can deter a child from gaining skills, interests and appreciation for other activities and knowledge. I played college baseball and never once played Travel Ball in the summer until I was 17. Often this will vary from league to league and from coach to coach. and our Please. I know because I was her coach for years. They dropped out of church and I think it really showed their kids that priorities of baseball come before any commitment to church attendance or service. Again, like you said, church should not be sacrificed by families of 8, 10, and 12-year olds, and oftentimes not even by families of high-schoolers. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. What will travel ball mean for your marriage? You are spot on with all your assertions, and I wish Id been able to absorb something like this when my oldest two were starting out. Even though my son showed to every practice and gave 100% effort, it didnt matter. At 12, our son tells us he thinks we have made the right decision. What will travel ball mean for your other kids? Enjoyment: Help your children enjoy a sport for the simple joy of the sport. Your email address will not be published. I agree with some that was said. Do the social aspects improve their values and stimulate great discussions at home, or lead them away from family?). The Little League League Finder tool quickly and easily identifies whether a residence or school address is located within the boundaries of an active Little League program. Sabathia and the Upton Brothers have become big league players. Peter Stuyvesant Little League offers coed baseball for ages 4-16; girls softball for ages 5-17 and a Challenger Division for ages 4-18. The biggest problem I see is the fact that there are too many marginal players who should be. Non-Christians exist because what they worship is false. These reflections grow out of my own experience playing and coaching and watching other families. And it certainly does nothing to address the issue of middle and working-class suburban residents and the expense involved in playing the game at a high level. If his 10-year-old son did not make the team at the $2,500-per-season private baseball club where I coached, the boy would lose friends and the familys routines would be upended, he argued. Mid-way through the season, I asked the coach if there would be an opportunity for some kid pitching. What better way exists. I know you were saying that theres no one answer for everyone. Those two sports may not seem very similar. I dont normally respond to blog posts, but I wanted to respond to this one because I respect you. We dont win Non-Christians by showing them how little we care about worship and the assembly of believers, we win them through honoring God as better than all other appetites. Alas, the father refused to make him work on defense, explaining: I am not a fielding dad.). They had to draft 8th graders to play for the high school JV team so the others could step up and play the Varsity. They play the same. General Little League to Travel Ball and Back Again February 7, 2017 I started my son in the Little League Tee Ball program when he was four. I submit that even with all the excitement of the game, and the money and fame that come with it, the life of a professional athlete is not one to be envied. Additionally, every local Little League program in the United States with a team that travels 150 miles or more per one round trip to a section, state, and region level tournament receives a reimbursement from Little League Baseball of $1 per mile for one round trip to each tournament site, to help offset travel expenses. Again, its an interesting post but when it comes down to it is the field that you or other high achieving people are in really all that much different? Likewise, I appreciate the voices of parents who have been there on both sides. Im not saying that travel ball is a sin, but it seems to be something that Satan can use to tempt people away (especially dads). Give MVP, Player of the game, most improved player of the game.. It also has a successful 18u rec program. There are other times even on Sundays to play just as there are many different times that people worship. In Pony baseball, players are put into divisions by age groups of two years. A knock-down, drag-out battle royale between more than a dozen parents and coaches at a kids' Little League game could result in criminal charges against some of . Let kids be kids, they and their bodies will decide what they can and cant do. RELATED: Basketball Classes and Leagues for NYC Kids PSLL plays its home games adjacent to the Con Edison Factory at the aptly named ConEd Field. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Rec ball. 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Tryout - 11:00 am - 1:00 PM Glenna Sandel at 615-403-6938 joy of learning in areas other than sports competitive. Both sides an hour each way for three days a week for practice got married, we having.