A rock and a hard place

You have the right to do whatever you feel is best for you.
I personally beleive that players on teams need breaks from each other.

Why should you have to play somewhere in the off season you dont want to? Go play where you want to play and enjoy your summer. Sometimes people need a break from people. And sometimes people need a fresh start as well. Good luck

TG - You need to do what is good for your development as a player. Sometimes that means mental development as well. Making another team will enrich you both mentally and physically. No worries - you have worked way to hard this fall and spring not to take it to another level. Follow your heart kid. Great season, BTW, you and TGDaD did good! GED10DaD

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Originally posted by GunEmDown10:
TG - Follow your heart kid.

Isnt that from sandlot??? haha

"The Babe" - Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong
Sounds like good advice to me!! GED10DaD

I second what all the others say - sometimes a break is exactly what the Dr. ordered! Plus you'll be surprised at some new things that you've missed along the way.

With that being said, it's a good ideal to go and talk to your headcoach about this opportunity and ask his "blessing". Sometimes the HC is expecting players from his high school team to automatically play for him. He can't make you play, but unfortunately the fallout in the future isn't worth the headaches.

Good luck.

You never said if you're a returning starter or fighting for a position. I think that is very key here. While it's good to get away sometimes, but if you don't have a position locked down, I would strongly advise you to stick it out so the head coach can see you play in game situations. It's much different then seeing you in practice everyday.

I disagree and let me tell you why. I have coached at the hs level for many years. I encourage my guys to seek out other opportunities and other coaching. Now your coach may not feel this way but thats ok. The summer team is going to be an extension of the spring season. Your still the same player in the coaches eyes this summer you were in his eyes this spring. By going somewhere else your getting a fresh start with no preconcieved ideas of what you can do and what you can not do. Your going to get some new coaching , some fresh evaluation of your swing , throwing , fielding etc. This will only help you. Your going to be able to just go out and play and not have to worry about the HS coach and what he thinks or doesnt think.

If you work hard at getting better and you make it a positive experience then you will come back a better player than you were when you left. When you show back up next spring a better player , a confident player , a refreshed player - let the HS coach see that. If jobs are won next spring by what guys do this summer on your coaches summer team then your in the wrong place to start with.

Personally I am not a big fan of guys coming out of the spring and playing for the same coach all summer with the same guys. Same coaching , same ideas , same critique , same old thing. Get out and try something new. Have some fun. Work hard to get better. And then show back up and take what you deserve. jmho

Rock-N-Fire, I think you are on to something here. Getting away is nice but just like a job you may need permission to go.

My son's high school runs an American Legion program in the summer that is very important to the head coach and coaching staff. They use the summer to formulate how the next year will shape up. Now the prior year starters ask the coaching staff prior to the summer what is "must attend" baseball. The coaches are very clear when the boys are cleared to play with other teams and when they must come home and play. My son got plenty of "time away" but it was all cleared prior to June and the leash was firm and he had plenty of home time too.

The non-prior year starter is a tougher decision. Deveolpment is important but if you are not on hs varsity playing by your junior you are really between a rock and a hard place. It is risky as the coaches are using the summer to formulate exactly what they are doing with the next years players. (You are fighting for a spot here, right?)

Now I do know of a player in our program who did not make the freshman team as a freshman. Made the frosh/soph team as a soph. Made JV as a junior and mostly played. As a rising senior he went outside the program for summer development and came back a varsity starter. Just raised his level of play. I mean the kid is good. And the summer away really did it.

This kid also, prior to June, cleared what he was doing with the coach in terms of summer plans and when he was expected to come back and participate with the hs team and followed through. He held firm in what he needed to do but gave back to the hs team what he could give. (It did not hurt that he was on a very high profile national travel team that our hs coach respected.)

I suggest you try that.

(Now anyone wondering where the time to rest was, we did not forget it. We had great advice from some pros who helped us schedule plenty of down time too. Dont forget the down time.)

Wow. And we wonder why some states are doing what they are doing. The off season is the players time to do what is best for him not what is best for the coach and his hs team. Players should not have to ask permission to play baseball. What happens to the kid that has sat all year on the hs team and now is required to sit all summer on the hs summer team? Or have a limited role on the hs summer team? Or the same role on the hs summer team?

These coaches have this type of power because people let them have this type of power. Get better and get in a posistion that is best for you as a player. Or do what the coach feels is best for his program in the summer. Its up to you.

Fighting for a posistion in the spring based on what you do in the summer on the hs summer team? Shocking to me. I guess every area does it different.

I know of a case where a kid virtually sat out his sophmore season because he didn't play with his HS summer team.

My son went far away one summer - across several states to play, hs coach had no problem with that. Was glad son had opportunity. But he does object to the kids playing in a nearby town where the coaches and players are kids that our hs plays in conference.

Coach May, in our coach's defense he plays every player equitably in the summer. Our coach is a good developmental coach who allows outside play but he is very good about fairness and development outside of CIF competition. He bats 15 in summer ball. If you show up you get equal opportunity to play. No player sits more than another.

I'm a high school coach now and this is my 15th year at the same school and this is how it works in my program.
We have a varsity and a junior varsity. No freshman teams or sophomore teams or nothing like that.
We also have a legion program in my school district during the summer and none of the varsity coaches are allowed to coach these teams. It's usually the JV coach that takes over this responsibility and us varsity coaches sit together in the stands or pressbox at that particular field. These legion programs are made to get every kid that is on the team equal starts and equal playing time. Very rarely do returning starters play on the legion team. Their usually off playing club ball and doing showcases. In my program, legion ball is for the up and comers. It is, you can say, a try-out for varsity all summer. Now if a "up and comer" wants to play club ball that's his choice. I will say this, if one of them chooses to go play club ball where I can't see him playing in game situations, come spring time, I'm gonna lean towards the guy that played that particular position in front of me. I would already know what that kid that played legion ball for me would do during the spring season such as game situations. Remember, all the kids that haven't started on varsity are fighting for a starting job throughout the summer. If I don't see you playing in a game, in game situations, it's gonna be hard for me to evaluate you in game situations during spring practice. That's just how it is. I'm not going to stop you from playing club ball, if he wants to do it, by all means, do it, but when a spring game comes around, and I've already seen that kid that played legion ball for me hit in that situation, and then I have the kid that went off playing club ball all summer, I'm gonna go with the kid that I've seen with my own eyes. For all I know, the kid that left to go play club ball could have sat the bench all summer on the club team. I don't know.

My two cents. My son is an incoming Freshman. We have been told that all incoming freshman are expected to play in the summer league. Dad coaches. Some of the ugliest ball I have seen. I went to watch a double header last year to get an idea of what it is. Most LL 12U AS teams could compete. At least on the LL AS teams all of the kids can catch and throw the ball. I am not looking forward to it.

Many coaches in our area set up summer ball to play Monday thru Thursday and it's just for four weeks. That way kids get to play both.

One of our coaches also reminded parents and players that summer is about family and encourages time off.

In Texas, it is a violation for the HS coaches to coach the HS summer programs. There is input and recommendations, etc. prior to the summer schedule, but coaching is a violation.

Usually the summer coach is a Dad or an ex-player who has the time to volunteer as a coach. I'm only speaking for my son's situation, some Dads and ex-players make great coaches, some don't. GED10 goes to another city to play, spends the entire summer living and playing baseball with the team. It is pointless to play locally, there is no comparison for the level of coaching and competition in the local summer programs, versus an established select team.

The local HS coaches are split on their support for a player to leave for a select summer team, but I've never seen or heard about a local player being benched as a result. I'm sure there are coaches who do, I hope that they are few and far between.
GED10DaD

When I was a head coach in KY my first year I tried to do a summer team but only because there wasn't one locally. It was a huge change for those kids and my attitude that I still have today didn't make it work.

My attitude is I'm not going to run a summer team because of several reasons. One being that we need a break from each other. When we start preseason to the end of the playoffs we go at it hard and at some point you need to get away from each other. Don't get me wrong I think the world of my players and would fight tooth and nail for them and I believe they would do the same for me but sometimes a break is a good thing.

Second I got my mom and sister and other family memebers who live several hours away. Only time I get to see them is during the summer because I have so much time off. I'm not going to miss time with my family to play summer ball. Maybe that makes me a bad coach and if it does then so be it but I want to spend that time with my family because it won't be there all the time.

Third if there was a team one of my guys played for then by all means they need to. Way I see it the kid has two choices - play for a good team and get better to help the HS team OR play on a terrible team and end up on the bench. It's their choice and if they make a bad choice then it's just an opportunity for someone else to step up. I don't care who you are or where you played in the summer - if you perform well in our preseason practice you will get a chance to play. Then it's the players responsibility to make sure they stay in the lineup.

I teach in the preseason and I go at it hard. My guys go at it hard. It took 2 or 3 seasons to really get that mindset into the program once I took over but me and my coaches got it there. It was a great feeling knowing I could basically sit back and watch practice and pregame operate without me telling them anything. Obviously I didn't because I'm a hands on guy but there were several times I had to miss practice because of teaching meetings - I had no doubt that practice was still great.

I don't care who you are - Little League coach, HS coach, travel coach, AAU coach, Super Supreme All Star World Super Bowl Series coach - if you do your job in practice then they will do their job in games. You don't have to smother them all the time.

After hearing the various coaching comments----sure wish you coached at our school.

We start our off season conditioning workouts the first monday after the July 4th weekend. We go five days a week from this date to the Thankgiving break. We take a week and go until the Christmas break where we take another week off. We go again up to the start of the HS season. This work outs consist of core , strength and conditioning , long toss ,speed and agility and baseball specific skill work. It is not mandantory it is just what we offer for those players that want to work during the week to get better. This allows the players to play legion , showcase or anyother baseball they want to play. Most play on the weekends and work out during the week in the afternoons.

It gives us a chance to work one on one with the guys and specifically on things that individuals really need to focus on. It has been a big reason we have been so successful as a program and why our guys have gotten so much better during their careers in hs. If we ran a summer team we would be putting our focus on games and prep for games and we would not be able to focus our attention on where we feel it needs to be in the off season as a program. I have the chance to work one on one for an hour some days with one kid sometimes two in the cage. Or one on one in the field etc. During the dead period we only condition but we work on baseball specific conditioning.

This also allows our players to go and play for another coach and experience other coaching and ideas. It gives them a break from the high school team and allows them to explore other opportunities. It gives them a chance to get better at the things that will make them a better player and at the same time play for someone else. And it gives the coaches an opportunity to work with the players without the pressure of trying to get ready for games.

I am not saying this is the only way to do it and those that run summer teams are wrong. I can only say that our guys get faster , stronger , build more velo , more arm strength , more power , more athletic and builds mental toughness. When I first started coaching I got sick and tired of shaking the other teams hands and we were smaller , weaker and not tough. I decided I was going to put something in place that would give our players an edge over the competition both as a team and as an idividual.

Hey to each his own. All I know is it has worked and worked in a big way. Its hard to get excited about the hs season coming if the high school season never ends. To me the off season is about getting better and working at getting better. And working to get better sometimes means you dont take a bat , glove or ball out of the bat bag. Again to each his own. But during the season its about winning games and focusing on prepareing the team for success. In the off season to me its about focusing on what that individual needs to get better which in turn will make us better in the spring. JMHO

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say that our guys get faster , stronger , build more velo , more arm strength , more power , more athletic and builds mental toughness.

Just a moms opinion, but once told to my son,"if you are not working on your physical body during the offseason , you are playing to much baseball". the workouts in the summer are crucial.
Another comment based on the legion ball, sad that it has turned into a developmental program. My son played for two years, the coach was a HS coach, not my sons. he picked the best players from the 5 HS he could pick from. He didnt use it a s a developmental team. And we were pretty competitive with many players going on to college.
I guess thast why legion ball has deteriorated. it used to be a privelage to play legion ball not a HS team developing their players. Not to offend the coach that posted that, but legion ball is supposed to be competitve ball.

I'm with you, bkecks.

Coach May, coach2709, our coach just quit. Wanna move to Florida?

Seriously, TG, as a mom, I say it's summertime! Play were you'll get better and have fun.

Coach May---Sounds perfect--exactly what I want for my boy. His summer coaches do a lot of one on one and offer core and speed training what a difference this type of training can make. The kids in your program (and parents) are very fortunate to have a coach like you and your staff that put there hearts into their kids I can tell you that my wife and I are thankful for the wonderful coaches are son has been blessed with. Bravo

Coach May, too bad my son did not get to play with such a reasonable coach. Son tried one year of summer ball with HS coach, it did not improve his game. After that one season we went back to travel team, son got more opportunities and did not have to deal with a "power tripper" coach with son on team. This year coach rips into team and goes off on guys playing select ball. I really wished we had transferred son 3 years ago. I knew right off the bat this coach was going to be bad for son. He actually agrees with me now.