@Justamom1234 posted:Looking for advice. My son is 14 playing 15U (small in stature but going into 10th grade). He is used to be being one of the better players and now feels like he's failing in every aspect of the game. He only pitches mid 70s so he's getting shelled, he can't hit the 80+ mph fastballs he's seeing, and now he's made a few fielding errors as well. He's talking about quitting forever. No friends on this team, no fun on the field, maximum frustration at just sucking. Honestly, it's not just him - the whole team is in the same situation but the parents have zero say over the tournaments they are in (he plays for a large organization) so this will be the entire summer. They've been run ruled every game so far. My husband will make him finish out this season but he's been playing for about 10 years and used to love it. I feel like this is a sucky way to end.What would you say to him?
So, I would ask him what he wants to do? He's not passionate about baseball and it appears he's not interested in optimizing his skills. What he doesn't realize is that his current situation (high school) is the easiest part of his life.
I have 3 sons. All played baseball growing up and through high school but only one (my oldest) was passionate about baseball and still is. My middle son played because he liked it, and he could play on his terms. Once baseball was no longer on his terms, he had a half-dozen other things he'd rather be doing (car club at college, fishing, hiking, making money, building furniture, etc....). My wife and I have always thought that raising our kids was about exposing them to many different things. It was up to the kid to find out what they are passionate about. So, again I would ask him what he really wants to do (that will take the place of baseball) that he is passionate about, and possibly really good at. I found out at 14 years old that I was vastly better at another sport than I was at baseball, although I loved both. I played that other sport in college, and still play it today. Life is too short. Do what you love to do.
JMO.