@CoachB25 posted:I don't know many, if any, who think that success is like the arrow on the left.
People who don't know, and who are just starting out, could easily think that way - and I am not sure anyone could blame them for being naive.
I can remember 9U, even at 12U, parents who would talk about and project their kids: Going to play in High School, get a college scholarship and have the opportunity to go pro, if that's what they want to do...like it was just as easy and automatic as checking off items that you wanted on a take-out Chinese restaurant menu.
Meanwhile, I go back to my son's 9U travel team now and only 3 kids (him and 2 others) are still playing (in college) now. And, looking back at his 12U travel team, only 2 kids (him and another) are playing in college. But, I am positive that more than 75% of those 9U and 12U parents, back at those times, thought is was going to be a straight line and easy path from youth ball to college ball.
Even those who kept at it, for them it hasn't been easy. Two of the 3 from 9U switched colleges (including my son) and the 3rd is a basically a bullpen catcher at a non-competitive D3. And, the other kid from 12U (besides my kid) went to a local D3 pitched in 4 games and had an ERA of 11.
It's pretty safe to say that it hasn't gone as expected for anyone.