Players lose their spots in the lineup, on the mound, all of the time, to other teammates as well as those "ringers" the coach picks up. Someone is always sitting on the bench. If a parent is mad because their player sat while those pick ups played, obviously the player wasn't getting the job done. Some of you fail to realize that this is HOW it works, better get your player used to it. And its about lots of hard work, not how much mom or dad paid so you could play. JMO
I agree with buyer beware. More expensive isn't always better.
I think what many seem to not understand that the only time the word deserve comes into play, the higher you go up the ladder, is when you out play someone else, and it happens everyday on every HS, college, or milb field as well as travel ball teams. How many folks come here often to complain that the coach really was bad and that their son didnt get the playing time he deserved? Again, it happens all of the time.
Why do parents spend so much money on out of state tournaments per year before they even reach HS? Is it a keep up with the joneses thing? Just curious. As far as seeing better competition, I know of plenty who have seen better competition but still ended up not where they thought they might or should be.
Sorry, a good chuckle, parents are worried about a 2 dollar bottle of water but 5-10K a year on travel is a good thing?