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http://www.ydr.com/ci_23369881...g-american-legion-63
My only issue with American Legion will be the potential crossover in to 2-days for football.
What is your age, positions, etc. Did u feel like u were seen in travel ball and at tourn? Mostly small schools attend OUR legion games here. May be diff there. know a few kids kids who wish they would have played for more competitive team, but if HS coach is involved w Legion then they usu play w them, just like some HS coaches expect their players to stay together in Summer. Do your research and see what Legion is like in your area. Maybe talk to players/families for their personal opinion. If the schools that interest you r coming to watch them it may be good to switch. Think about your strengths and where u would fit in best and get the most playing time. Good luck
It doesn't matter how good your team is. It's the quality of the overall competition that matters to draw colleges coaches. Legion ball is weak where my son grew up. Local colleges didn't appear until states. Anyone who went on to any level of college ball from Legion also did individual showcases. I can only think of one player who went D1 from Legion. 90 is 90 no matter where you throw it. But he had to do a showcase to be seen.
Q: is Legion baseball giving you the exposure you need to get to the next level or
is Club baseball going to get you in front of the right schools for the college level you want.
My son talked to one coach this fall and when he said he was going to play club ball this 2014 summer with 'ABC Team' the coach knew of the team and told us he follows a lot of the players from those teams.
Its a three hour road trip to the field... Is this what it takes.. maybe for my son sure.
is this what will seperate us from the other 18 kids on his HS team...maybe.
My son was on his local legion team this past summer but is looking for more exposure.
There is a lot of good baseball both ways. Legion and club.
Good luck,
Joe
You should select a team that gets the necessary exposure in front of college coaches that you are targeting. It really is that simple. If you seek a national or regional college out of state then you need to find a team that will play at events that draw national or regional schools. If you seek local or state schools find a team that plays in front of local or state schools. In addition, it never hurts to have your coaches familiar with the college coaches. You can find travel and legion teams that can accommodate both of these needs depending on where you live. Good luck!
PS...If you decide to continue with American Legion, ask your coach about playing some showcases and travel tournaments against top travel teams. My son's team did that this Fall and it was extremely successful.
Good luck!
I would as you what your long term baseball goals are and then that should help answer the question. Whichever team provides the best advantage to get you to your goals should be the direction you go.
A good dilemma, and let me give you a different answer then the others. Have fun. If you get along with your school teammates and will have a good time, do that. You will not get this time back and you will always remember spending time with your friends. If you're good enough to play college ball...the scouts will find you and you'll have ample more opportunities to be seen.
If you're good enough to play college ball...the scouts will find you and you'll have ample more opportunities to be seen.
LTC, I'm going to respectfully disagree with this statement. Unless your player is blue chip, most that want to play beyond HS will have to get in front of college coaches. In many area Legion ball alone is not the answer. The key is getting exposure. Gone are they days when coaches show up and those with ability get seen. You have to seek out the scouts and the events were they will appear.
I don't disagree that you should do something to get noticed, but that doesn't have to include giving up your summer as a kid and playing 100 games and spending thousands of dollars to travel every weekend. That's advice given by those whose business it is to make money, not give kids life experience. As many here and elsewhere have said...talk to your Athletic Director and your coach...they most likely have contacts, they deal with recruiting all the time across many sports and atheletes, they can help. Go to a camp, go to a prospect showcase event. If you really want to pay, pay a trainer who is also tied into the college and scout communities, they like nothing more then to tell fellow coaches, scouts, etc. about the great kid they are helping groom. Have fun, enjoy time with your friends first is still my advice.
My son played about 50 travel/showcase games per summer. He had fun. He had August off. Legion played 21 games against mediocre competition. After senior year "the gang" from high school baseball played together one last time in Legion. They said while it was fun to play together it was boring to club every team to death. The only game they lost they showed up on no sleep (and who knows what else) during Senior Week after driving 90 minutes from the Jersey Shore for an 11am Sunday game. They didn't see any competition until regions and states.
LTC, I never said you had to play 100 games a year either... I think we are more or less in agreement now. 
My son played about 50 travel/showcase games per summer. He had fun. He had August off. Legion played 21 games against mediocre competition. After senior year "the gang" from high school baseball played together one last time in Legion. They said while it was fun to play together it was boring to club every team to death. The only game they lost they showed up on no sleep (and who knows what else) during Senior Week after driving 90 minutes from the Jersey Shore for an 11am Sunday game. They didn't see any competition until regions and states.
I've had teams like this before so I hear you. At the same time, I tell these guys, "don't apologize for being the best. Sticking together, being loyal to teammates, coaches, learning how to work together while all those other teams split up and players and parents search for the perfect travel team... let them do that." I also bet, just like my teams, when you made it to regions and state your kids had a blast, the atmosphere was unique, parents felt something more because they personally knew the rest of the team..and, those kids will remember that joint experience the rest of their lives, and have something in common to share with lifelong friends that they developed. In the end, they get to the competition at the state level they wanted, and they got the experience we all strive to give our kids and want them to have growing up. I know that approach isn't for everybody, just what I'm all about.
My son played about 50 travel/showcase games per summer. He had fun. He had August off. Legion played 21 games against mediocre competition. After senior year "the gang" from high school baseball played together one last time in Legion. They said while it was fun to play together it was boring to club every team to death. The only game they lost they showed up on no sleep (and who knows what else) during Senior Week after driving 90 minutes from the Jersey Shore for an 11am Sunday game. They didn't see any competition until regions and states.
I've had teams like this before so I hear you. At the same time, I tell these guys, "don't apologize for being the best. Sticking together, being loyal to teammates, coaches, learning how to work together while all those other teams split up and players and parents search for the perfect travel team... let them do that." I also bet, just like my teams, when you made it to regions and state your kids had a blast, the atmosphere was unique, parents felt something more because they personally knew the rest of the team..and, those kids will remember that joint experience the rest of their lives, and have something in common to share with lifelong friends that they developed. In the end, they get to the competition at the state level they wanted, and they got the experience we all strive to give our kids and want them to have growing up. I know that approach isn't for everybody, just what I'm all about.
If you think Legion regions and states are exciting you must never have been to East Cobb or Jupiter. Playing against the best of the best (future major leaguers) is unique and exciting.
Legion is a lot different than when I played. Our team covered five high schools. It was a travel team. It was challenging to make the team. The Legion teams where my son grew up are now typically bottom of the lineup and bench varsity and jv players.
My son played about 50 travel/showcase games per summer. He had fun. He had August off. Legion played 21 games against mediocre competition. After senior year "the gang" from high school baseball played together one last time in Legion. They said while it was fun to play together it was boring to club every team to death. The only game they lost they showed up on no sleep (and who knows what else) during Senior Week after driving 90 minutes from the Jersey Shore for an 11am Sunday game. They didn't see any competition until regions and states.
I've had teams like this before so I hear you. At the same time, I tell these guys, "don't apologize for being the best. Sticking together, being loyal to teammates, coaches, learning how to work together while all those other teams split up and players and parents search for the perfect travel team... let them do that." I also bet, just like my teams, when you made it to regions and state your kids had a blast, the atmosphere was unique, parents felt something more because they personally knew the rest of the team..and, those kids will remember that joint experience the rest of their lives, and have something in common to share with lifelong friends that they developed. In the end, they get to the competition at the state level they wanted, and they got the experience we all strive to give our kids and want them to have growing up. I know that approach isn't for everybody, just what I'm all about.
If you think Legion regions and states are exciting you must never have been to East Cobb or Jupiter. Playing against the best of the best (future major leaguers) is unique and exciting.
Legion is a lot different than when I played. Our team covered five high schools. It was a travel team. It was challenging to make the team. The Legion teams where my son grew up are now typically bottom of the lineup and bench varsity and jv players.
Nope, west coast. Legion is pretty dead out here. In the older leagues there is a wide variance based on the cycles of coaches. When there's a good Seniors coach all the kids stay in that city and play, when there's a good Babe Ruth coach the kids stay there in play, when neither, they disburse and play travel all over the place. So if there's say 10 teams in Seniors or Babe Ruth in your District you have 1-2 dominant, 3-4 OK, and the rest kids just basically playing for fun. When you get out of district into Sectionals and State you get to play vs. the rest of best teams around and it gets tight every game.
We've been to East Cobb, Jupiter, and many PG and other events with my oldest son many times. I've seen the "best of the best" as RJM puts it. Some of this national talent is incredibly impressive, and a lot of the talent is not. These events are a measuring stick. If your son gets noticed at one of these national events that is saying something.....he could be a national level recruit or truly elite player. What does it say about everyone else who dropped a fortune in East Cobb to stay for a week or two as we did for 4 years straight? That is a question you have to answer for yourself. For us, it meant that the regional academic schools that were interested in my son saw him play against the best players in the country and he did pretty good. They remained interested in my son, and a few more regional schools showed some interest. Could these same schools have seen him play back in Virginia at a regional showcase or Legion game? In fact, yes they saw him play at a regional showcase a month earlier. These national PG events validate the competitive level for these coaches. That validation is the value these events bring but at a price for Mom & Dad.
American Legion is undergoing some changes. They introduced some reforms that will go into effect this year. I think you have to look locally to understand what Legion can do for your son. For example if my son gets excellent coaching, great coaching connections and is only interested in colleges in his home state, why on God's green earth would we consider a national travel team? It is true, that measuring stick will be different, but he can be seen by multiple in-state coaches and attend their recruiting camps without getting on a plane. In addition, our Legion coach scheduled multiple showcases this Fall against top national & regional competition. We more than held our own against that measuring stick, and I think we surprised more than a few teams (not to mention we beat them). Do you know who suggested American Legion do this? Yes, PG Staff. A couple years ago PG Staff suggested the Legion teams get out there to play these showcases and events. He was 100% spot on. Legion has to step it up as a whole if they want to remain relevant. I definetly see our local Legion Post stepping it up, I also see Legion as a valid recruiting resource for us. JMO.
Again, I don't see this as a Travel Club vs Legion thing. There is no universal right or wrong answer IMHO. It depends on what the player wants based on his skills, resources, and the programs in his area.
I think you have to look locally to understand what Legion can do for your son. For example if my son gets excellent coaching, great coaching connections and is only interested in colleges in his home state, why on God's green earth would we consider a national travel team? It is true, that measuring stick will be different, but he can be seen by multiple in-state coaches and attend their recruiting camps without getting on a plane....
...Again, I don't see this as a Travel Club vs Legion thing. There is no universal right or wrong answer IMHO. It depends on what the player wants based on his skills, resources, and the programs in his area.
My son stated very early on that he was only interested in going to schools in the NE. Although there was opportunities for him to go to Ft. Meyers, East Cobb, and Jupiter, he did not. This also influenced him on the summer showcase team he joined. He picked a more regional team that did not travel outside the Northeast, but was very competive and well known in our area., The travel team also had connections to the Area Code tryouts and a real good regional showcase in NJ called SelectFest.
This proved to be perfect for what my son was looking for, in a college situation and saved me lots of travel money. As fenwaysouth so eloquently stated, its about individual choices, and what best works for you.
rshif13,
You have a PM Dialogs. Dialogs button is the top right corner of the web page.
Ahhh the good old Mighty 10th... I played for Ballwin's JV team and Coached Manchester's JV team for one season. You will get some looks playing AL ball... but mostly from the schools around St. Louis... Maryville, SLU, Truman, MoState, SEMO, etc.
Just enjoy the experience with whatever program you decide to do. I'm 32 years old now and still look back fondly on trips to Jeff City and the wars against Manchester when I played.
