Club A team or B team: does it matter?

About 10 posts down  

http://community.hsbaseballweb...-travel-team-is-best

At his age, go where it's fun, he starts, gets good sound coaching of both the game and team play (get personal coaches for individual skills), and which fits into your budget. 

If he is going to develop into a college player he first needs to be a dominant HS player. One step at a time (my son only played on weak travel teams, his HS struggled to field a team of nine guys who played little league and he was found).

Enjoy this site; and above all, enjoy every step of the upcoming journey. In a year or two, you have no control of it anymore (wont make you less concerned or exhilarated, you just have to hand the wheel to the kid who can't flush the toilet or turn out the lights).

You will see a pretty strong sentiment here in these forums that until about Sophomore year, travel ball should all be about opportunity to play and get better.  Sitting on the bench of an elite travel ball team does no good.  Better to be on a lesser team actually playing against tough competition.

But then depending on how strong your son is by his Sophomore year, getting onto the team that gets him the most exposure to college coaches becomes more important.  If he is D1 talent playing on a strong travel ball team, he is going to be playing in the various PG and other national events where there are plenty of coaches around.  So if your organization only takes the "A" team but not the "B" team to these events, that is an important consideration.  But if both teams go and he would sit on the bench on "A" but play on the "B" team, it would be better to be on the B team.

And of course there are some kids who are not focused on D1 and would rather go and play at a smaller college.  Then it is more about getting him to showcases like Headfirst for the academic schools where he can meet the coaches.  I had one 2017 mom tell me this year she saved the $3K she would have spent on the travel ball team this Summer and sent her son to HF and Stanford camps, where he had a dozen coaches following up with him.  So it helps to match interests to expectations.  Good luck.

Lol.  The Backstop dads agree.  

First and foremost not a single player was ever found sitting on the bench.  All factors being equal I think it is advantageous to be on the A team and this is one person's opinion but in DFW there would be 4-5 clubs where you would be better off being on someone else's A team versus being on the B team of any of them.  

But again you have a few years from where you should have to be too concerned about it.  Good luck.

PROBEAGLE, Welcome!!!

At this stage for your son, the answer is it doesn't matter if he's on the A or B team.  Especially if those teams are going to pretty much the same events.  And if he's really obviously good right now, some A team is going to come looking anyway, even if it isn't his present organization.  But you are right to think ahead and help your son set goals so that he can reach HIS potential, whatever that might be, because the answer to your question changes when it is time for exposure to colleges/MLB.  Organizations I'm familiar with definitely seek out events to match the skill level (present or projectable skill level) of the players on the team.  Top tier teams go to big national events, and the B team is steered to the smaller local events.  

Between 12yo and 15/16yo, the kids are all over the place in their physical development - it is just not productive to worry over being on the A team or the B team.  A 13yo "A" team might include a bunch of kids who have already entered puberty and look like they drove themselves to the tournament.  What we looked for in a team between 12yo and 15/16yo:  

1) Coach stresses development (not just winning).  

2) Coach is a good role model - teaching them work ethic and self-discipline in addition to baseball skills.

3) Player gets to play, not sit the bench on the A team behind the guys who are already shaving.  

4) Team plays events that are competitive for the team's skill level.  Shouldn't be a lot of run-rule games, either as a winner or loser!       

You can't know right now if your 2022 is going to be Top 10, Top 1000, or Follow (to borrow PG's terms) when he's 16.  But if his long term goal is to be the best ball player he can be, you can help him figure out what he can do on a day-to-day basis now to move towards that goal.    

Hope this helps!    

Thanks for all the comments. Each of you make great points and I feel we are on the right track. I believe a solid year or so will help determine his direction with his team etc..

So to address a few comments, Without sounding like "That Dad", (My apologies) He could certainly be on the A team (We just happen to come along before tryouts and fit nicely with team). He is one that has matured early, has size, is aggressive defensively and hits with power.  His challenge is maintaining command on the mound, which may be common. 

Like most at this age, for now here, everyone pitches. Certainly there will be those who mainly pitch pool vs bracket games, but how much should a 13 yo throw during the week when playing or like now, in between seasons? Our pitching coach and team coach prefer not to pitch so much now unless at a weekly 25 min lesson and have a very conservative pitch count during tourneys. Fall season is highly regarded as rest (middle school football starts to gain popularity here��) with only a handful of practices and 1 tourney. However, Spring will be pretty busy (mostly local, but will travel to 1-2 national events) and I want to be sure he gains longevity, but never want risk injury. 

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

PROBEAGLE posted:

Thanks for all the comments. Each of you make great points and I feel we are on the right track. I believe a solid year or so will help determine his direction with his team etc..

So to address a few comments, Without sounding like "That Dad", (My apologies) He could certainly be on the A team (We just happen to come along before tryouts and fit nicely with team). He is one that has matured early, has size, is aggressive defensively and hits with power.  His challenge is maintaining command on the mound, which may be common. 

Like most at this age, for now here, everyone pitches. Certainly there will be those who mainly pitch pool vs bracket games, but how much should a 13 yo throw during the week when playing or like now, in between seasons? Our pitching coach and team coach prefer not to pitch so much now unless at a weekly 25 min lesson and have a very conservative pitch count during tourneys. Fall season is highly regarded as rest (middle school football starts to gain popularity here��) with only a handful of practices and 1 tourney. However, Spring will be pretty busy (mostly local, but will travel to 1-2 national events) and I want to be sure he gains longevity, but never want risk injury. 

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

Limit throwning in between seasons to perhaps once a week or once every other week and use it only for mechanical adjustments. And keep it below full throttle.

I will add to fun, coaching, development, playing similar competition ---this is my #1: Make sure your team has the same baseball IQ as your son.   It's every bit as frustrating to be on a team that is playing station to station if your son has an advanced baseball IQ as it is to be on a team that doesn't seem to have the same amount of raw talent.  It's probably worse for his development.     

We struggle with this one.  We have a very competitive 2022 who made the B team last year (2015) at a local program due to a bad tryout.  Though the team was not very good, he played every inning of every game except 1 inning due to injury.  Played SS, P, or CF all season.  Tons of great experience but he wanted to move up as he was tired of getting 10-runned all the time.

In 2016 he made the A team and found that though he was in the lineup every game either at a position or as an EH, he only played in the field 1/2 the time. A team of 12 kids with 4 players always on the field and the remaining 8 subbing in and out.  He is playing on that same team again this year and has made it his goal to be that 5th player that is always on the field but has indicated that he would be willing to go back to B team to get more playing time.

Shane

Play where he can really play, will have fun and can develop

My 2021 had a bunch of choices for next summer.   We let him make the choice within reason.   He chose the team that really wanted him, that told him "we see you as our starting 2B who will play SS when the starting SS pitches or needs a rest and we see you hitting 2nd in our batting order.   You'll play against Majors competition and we will work hard to develop you in practice."

He chose that over a B team where he'd start at SS but who plays AAA competition and only practices once a week

A great regional Majors team where he'd start in LF and be a backup middle-infielder, and

A great regional Majors team who said he could compete for a starting spot but their Head Coach's son is a 2B

Welcome to the site.  I see that you are in DFW as well and was curious if you are at a TAPPS school or SPC school.  My son is a junior at a 6A TAPPS school locally.  DFW has a lot of talent at the HS level and much of it is in the private schools as well.  You still have plenty of time, but as most people have said, find the best team where your son can play.  The reps are the most important thing really at any age.  As one poster put it, no one was discovered on the bench.  There are many great organizations in the area.  I think until you get to high school, the coaching is more important than the organization per say.  Several of the large organizations have multiple teams and the coaching varies widely in my experience.  I would say a good coach who is teaching fundamentals and how to play the game at this age is key.  Playing and having fun while learning the game should be a goal at this point.  Good luck!

FriarFred posted:

Welcome to the site.  I see that you are in DFW as well and was curious if you are at a TAPPS school or SPC school.  My son is a junior at a 6A TAPPS school locally.  DFW has a lot of talent at the HS level and much of it is in the private schools as well.  You still have plenty of time, but as most people have said, find the best team where your son can play.  The reps are the most important thing really at any age.  As one poster put it, no one was discovered on the bench.  There are many great organizations in the area.  I think until you get to high school, the coaching is more important than the organization per say.  Several of the large organizations have multiple teams and the coaching varies widely in my experience.  I would say a good coach who is teaching fundamentals and how to play the game at this age is key.  Playing and having fun while learning the game should be a goal at this point.  Good luck!

Hello FriarFred,

Yes, he attends a TAPPS school. Frankly, I don't know how much exposure the TAPPS schools get. So any info on that is appreciated. As far as his club team goes, coaching and developing on and off the field is the priority, not trophy hunting like others. I believe we made the right decision and look forward to the Spring. The purpose of this thread is to better educate ourselves early on and not be the deer in the headlights when he is a Junior. Thanks for everyone's help.

Thanks for all the comments. Each of you make great points and I feel we are on the right track. I believe a solid year or so will help determine his direction with his team etc..

So to address a few comments, Without sounding like "That Dad", (My apologies) He could certainly be on the A team (We just happen to come along before tryouts and fit nicely with team). He is one that has matured early, has size, is aggressive defensively and hits with power.  His challenge is maintaining command on the mound, which may be common. 

Like most at this age, for now here, everyone pitches. Certainly there will be those who mainly pitch pool vs bracket games, but how much should a 13 yo throw during the week when playing or like now, in between seasons? Our pitching coach and team coach prefer not to pitch so much now unless at a weekly 25 min lesson and have a very conservative pitch count during tourneys. Fall season is highly regarded as rest (middle school football starts to gain popularity here��) with only a handful of practices and 1 tourney. However, Spring will be pretty busy (mostly local, but will travel to 1-2 national events) and I want to be sure he gains longevity, but never want risk injury. 

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

Right now if your son is on the field against the best teams if he's good enough he will eventually be recruited by one. Right now he just needs to be on the best team he can get on the field and be coached well. Where the process goes is part of the learning experience of where a player fits in when it's time to target colleges.