3and2Fastball posted:I've come around on this topic in a couple of months.
Increasingly in Wisconsin we are seeing high school players not playing for their high school and instead playing in a Travel Spring League. 2 months ago I would have said it was a mistake. Now, I understand it.
The reality is, here in Wisconsin, because of weather related issues, the "season" gets condensed into 3-4 weeks. Most of April gets rained out or snowed out, or you are playing in 40 degree weather.
Then in May, because of all the makeup games, you are playing 5-7 games a week. Injury concerns are very real, especially concerns about arms and kids going from pitching 90+ pitches to then playing a defensive position that same day in a double header, or the next day. This concern is increased because of several weeks of mostly practicing in a high school gym without proper arm care. March games are nonexistent. Outdoor practices in March or April are exceedingly rare. Because of all the games in May, outdoor practices in that month are rare too.
Meanwhile, in the Travel Spring League. There are indoor facilities that can accommodate games inside. Players from March through April can get in 26 games on weekends while having the weekdays open to train.
It is a tough decision, but a decision I respect. It doesn't even factor in whether a program or the competition is quality or not, whether a high school coach is inept or not. Players from this state are trying to compete with kids from Baseball hotbeds in order to get a chance to play at the next level, and the injury risks are high trying to play so much in 40 degree weather on wet fields and condensing so many games into a short amount of time.
Times are changing quickly in youth Baseball, and in this state this is one of those things that is changing. A player who is very serious about Baseball has to make tough choices in Wisconsin.
Same weather situation here in Chicagoland. It is impossible some weeks to get games in and if they do it is miserable weather to try to play good baseball. We have thought a lot about having my 2020 play spring travel in Wisconsin. The game schedule where you are guaranteed to play in good conditions and the fact that the schedule allows for homework and getting to get strength and speed workouts during the week are big draws for me. The thing that has kept us from making the jump from HS to spring travel is my son is a V starter and plays every inning of every V game while playing with friends. This plus the 5 min drive to the school versus the 1 hour drive each way to get to facilities where we can play in Wisconsin have kept us home. It seems like more and more kids from around here are migrating toward spring travel and choosing not to play HS though. We still have it as a very viable option in our minds for the next two years. I am interested to hear from players who did make the jump and how they liked it?