A lot of good points as usual. And I believe coach may mentioned feeling relief when your son succeeds (as opposed to enjoyment). This is one I plead 100% guilty of even now. Sometimes getting the last out of a big win can release those nerves and get me excited but unfortunately for most of my son's successes I am the least excited guy there. As for high school I don't worry at all about that. And that I view as totally for fun. First off as I have said before high school ball here is not real high level. So the only question when he walks in the door as a freshman will be jv or varsity. But as others have said its the summer ball... where about 50 high schools feed into our travel program. And while many of the areas good players are already in the 4 or 5 good travel programs in our area there are of course some good players out there who just want to play with their friends til age 15. So those 15u tryouts are going to be stressful. Then its competing for playing time. And I know this is when the PO life may start. While he has the intangibles (size, high exit velocity etc.) He is pretty much only a 1B or DH when he doesn't pitch. A lot of competition at those spots with some really really good hitters. While I am prepared for PO eventually it will still be sad when it comes to that (if it does). So obviously there I an that stress, can he keep other good hitters at bay and hang on to a spot in the order? And then of course comes the normal pressure to perform in front of scouts. Not to mention the fact I know if they are interested in him at all they will be sneaking peaks at me and observing me as well! They will want to observe the tree the apple came from. I have gotten badly out of shape in my older years. At about 40 started putting on pounds. I even think of that. I know between now and then I should probably do my son a favor and shed weight. So much different at that age in so many ways...