3and2Fastball posted:Weighing Pros & Cons of various options for 15U Baseball in 2018. Kid is (so far) a MI/Corner OF who will be a rising Soph in the summer of 2018.
Do we invest in getting him on a great travel team that plays top competition?
If 15U isn't that important from a scouting point of view would it be smarter to save $$$ for 16U/17U and instead focus more on getting bigger/stronger/faster while playing more regional/local competition including Legion Ball and some travel?
Perfect Game has a great Fall Ball league in Iowa that we would consider getting him into which would get him plenty of reps vs bigger/older talented kids. So I'm confident I can get him valuable game reps without investing in a travel team that plays WWBA, Jupiter, Lake Point etc.... we're in the upper midwest and have limited $$$
Looking back, I feel I spent more than I really needed to for traveling around the US to play in such competitive events. Locally, my son had plenty of high end competition to play against and there was really no need for the expense to travel across the US, except . . . it was a lot of fun to do so. But there was just no added value in terms of getting more noticed (and I'm talking about 15U). Later in HS (like the Sophomore and Junior years) it can be very beneficial to go to a few events that has high attendance by scouts and recruiters.
Raising the bar for playing at a higher level is an approach I used and was very helpful in determining if my son could really be a top performer at the next level, then the next and then next and so on. It doesn't really do much good trying to pay at a higher level if one can't do so resulting in not getting much play time or attention for development. So, raise that bar and see if your son can play with those at a higher level and still be just as competitive.
There's no need to go overboard and play a great many top competition events. One here and there will do to get enough attention, particularly if he's a stand out player. A lot of changes happen from this stage in a player's life . . .so, I do wish the best for your son and hope he achieves his dreams as my son has.