Tar,Thats a great discussion all by itself. The great 12 year old coach Tom Matsie believes that although practice is very important, its what happens in games that brings out the answers a coach is looking for. If your kid can get 250 or more At Bats from age 11 - 12 then the games become the practice! This guy has won about 83% of the games he has coached w/ about 1 practice a month on avg. He does work them hard indoors from Jan - April. I believe our problem is the %$#@ weather we are forced to play in during March and April.That along with the lack of outdoor practices puts us behind early. But on the other hand our guys look pretty good around June-July.So there is another reason we get fewer big time ships. The high school season is not an equal playing field. The Midlands teams,The Ohio Warhawks,Indiana Yankee program and Norwood can compete with anyone once we can play everyday above 60 degrees!