Great post. Some kids get great coaching and instruction at the rec league level. Some do not. Some play travel baseball and get no coaching , some do. I have seen travel teams at the younger ages where someone goes out hand picks the best players at that age and just goes out and plays tourneys with basically no practice or instruction. They win because they are simply more talented than the other teams. I have also seen rec teams that have very good coaches who put their emphasis on player development and instruction. The talent is minimal but the reward in the long term is tremendous for the players.
The most important thing a young player can do is not play travel ball or rec ball etc etc. The most important thing they can do is get in a situation where they are taught sound basic fundementals of the game and learn as they are having fun playing the game. There are two things that can be taught that if taught wrong at a young age can set a player back bigtime. Throwing mechanics and hitting mechanics. There have been a ton of travel ball studs that were simply studs because they were bigger and stronger than everyone else for their age. There are and have been a ton of kids not big enough or strong enough at a young age to be stand out players. But as time goes along they develop into the better players.
Can travel baseball help develop a player? Yes under the right situations. Good coaching , good instruction , top competition etc etc. Can rec baseball do the same thing? Yes under the right situations. Good coaching , good instruction , even if the competition is not as strong.
Baseball is not a sprint its a marathon. Its not where you start out it is where you finish that counts. Travel baseball at the youth level is only as good as the people coaching and instructing the players. The same can be said for rec baseball. My big issue with youth baseball today is everyone is out to develop their son into the next big league phenom. For goodness sake just teach them the fundementals of the game and allow them to enjoy the game and let the rest take care of itself.