dad goes nuts at HS Showcase

Some fathers are fustrated and remember their baseball days when they were young. They are hoping there kids will do it for them.Chances are he is probable talking that way to his kid and thats who you have to feel for.You only get one chance with you kid to do it the right way when it comes to baseball,unfortunately he is blowing it and what do you think it does for the relationship?

Many parents "spend" a lot of money on lessons, travel teams, showcases etc. Many consider it an "investment" in their son, but understand more than anything, it is an investment in helping their child become the best possible player, with the best potential future.

Unfortunately some go into this "investment" with the assumption of a payback - ie. a college scholarship or signing bonus in the draft.

Some believe the more money you spend the more talented your son will become. Unfortunately not every kid who takes batting lessons from an ex-pro player is going to end up being a pro caliber batter.

When a parent who expected a pay off for the money "invested" realizes the payback is not going materialize they can become very frustrated, and we see the results of this frustration. It really is too bad.

The amount of money you "invest" really needs to be viewed like buying high risk stocks. Can you afford to lose it all? ie. can you handle it if no scholarship or signing bonus comes from it.

I pray this young man can overcome the obstacles placed before him, as they are many.

There are alot of Dads that are trying to live out their fantasies through their son. Let the boy be the one to decide if he wants to continue on playing baseball and keep in FUN.

Stuff like that happens all the time.

All you can do is - feel bad for the kid.

And remember - it should be about furthering your son's love of the game.

It shoudn't be about scholarships, trophies and scouts IMO.

Sounds like he thinks in terms of his son the ball player and is missing out on his son the kid. In the end, that kid will grow up and the lessons of life will not be lost on them.

If anyone feels that the money that they put into their childs baseball career is an investment into the future they are crazy. With only 11.7 scholarships available the family would be better off placing that money in a mutual fund starting at age 8 and they would have more than enough money for their childs education. Baseball is a fun game that young boys play and nothing more. If the child can get a free education or make money off of baseball they are a very lucky individual and should have fun with the game while it last.

When we pay for our children to have piano lessons we do so in order for them to learn how to play the piano. We don't expect in return for the money we invested that our kids will get a music scholarship for college (and yes they do have music scholarships)

Why do so many parents feel that private baseball lessons should have a promise of a scholarship?

Just sometihing to ponder on.

A cynical but perhaps somewhat truthful answer...because we dads (and a few baseball-savvy moms) live our dreams to a certain extent through our sons. Its how we manage/contain/channel our dreams that really matters.

Not many dads dream about their sons playing the piano in Carnegie Hall.

cbg...you are so off base that your post barely requires a response...however, if you truly believe what you say, why do you even post on a baseball site? If you think it's just a game, maybe you have been buried in an avalance and the millions of young kids must all be wrong.

It's the journey and the dream that lifts kids to men...call Smith-Barney.

Just--I agree with you up to a point. Except, I think there are more people than you realize who dream about seeing their kids up on Carnegie Hall. If anything, the parents in the youth music scene are even more frenetic, cutthroat and emotional than in baseball, because competitions are judged rather than umpired. You just don't see the elite musicians because they spend as many hours a day in section practice, rehearsal, lessons, and theory/composition study as the elite athletes do in their training--the worlds tend not to cross because they are both so time-consuming. In music, kids are thought of as starting "too late" because they began playing at age 8 or 9 instead of 4 or 5; they are judged to have little chance at becoming an elite musician because they didn't start young enough. It's insane.

Beeper, taxi driver to athletes and musicians

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If anything, the parents in the youth music scene are even more frenetic, cutthroat and emotional than in baseball, because competitions are judged rather than umpired.

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Around here we call them BAND PEOPLE. They are scary, mean, and nasty.

There is nothing wrong with striving towards a college scholarship as long as the kid has the talent to do so.

It is easy for some of us to pay for our son's college. What about people who don't have much money. They are just looking to get their son into a college or juco any where so they can have a better life. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Unless the Dad is delusional. Nothing wrong with having expectations either. To be vocal and nuts as described at the top of this thread is out of control. So are some of the wide brush statements in some of the other posts. jmo