Are showcases and select teams hurting baseball? It seems as if all the best players --- and --- the parent's baseball money are leaving small town USA and headed to the showcases and big towns. If a kid throws hard or swings a big bat he no longer plays his summers here. Pro-active and supportive parents no longer work on our fields. They redirect their time and MONEY to the showcases and the select teams. Small towns are left with no financial support and no strong players. Fan support wanes. Baseball gloves in Wal-Mart here are cheap imports made of plastic. Skateboard sales increase. Video games become the important pastime of our youth. A lot of time, effort, and money is being directed to youth sports but it going somewhere else. If all this flurry of activity improved the college game and the professional game I would not mention this but in reality the same players will play at the college level and the professional level if all the showcases and the select teams vanished. Hey I was one --- guilty as charged.
Fungo
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