quote:I never let my son be a mercenary player again unless a team was short players. Then I asked the coach to play him in the missing player's position and bat him last.
RJM - You and I have had our differences but I respect your opinion. I have not heard this type of advice before but I believe it to be excellent.
I believe people need to develop humility with this sport. You may be the fly-in player today, but the also-ran player tomorrow. My son played on a local city travel team that rarely traveled outside the county and even more rarely traveled outside the state. We occasionally came across teams who used fly-in or mercenary players and it seemd to do more harm than good. I guess with pitching it is a little different if the player is brought in to pitch in the later rounds of a tournament but with position players it seems to cause lots and lots of hard feelings - and rightly so imho.
Here is a secret. Great players who love the game will become great players. Their quest may be accelerated somewhat by playing against better competition but a great player can be developed in Rhode Island just as assuredly as in Florida, Texas, or California. I believe part of being a great player is learning how to win and being a great teammate. Although winning should never be the priority at the younger ages, it is at the end of the day why we even participate in sports imho. I think your sons can learn more in the pursuit of winning with their teammates than they can ever learn in victory with mercenary players. I expect some disagreement on that assertion but that is the way I feel about it.