Does he have to play high level travel ball to play HS ball?

It depends on the school.

Why does it cost $5k more to jump from AA to major?

It's not the 'resume', it's experience hitting 75-80 mph pitching during a short tryout period.

We have friends who's boys play on these Major/Elite teams. The fees alone are around $3500. Lots of travel and several truly "away" trips each season. Easily a $5K annual investment, probably more.

There are AAA teams that are less expensive but we are being told he needs to play on a "Major" team to be considered for HS baseball. The team he plays for now often plays AAA teams and I see no difference between AA and AAA baseball.

We honestly can't figure out if it really matters where he played baseball before getting to HS. If a kid the talent to play HS ball wouldn't that show? And if he doesn't have the talent that would show too, right? Will he really not even be considered if he doesn't play at a "higher level" now?

We live in East Cobb, GA. Plenty of competition and plenty of families who DO have the $$$.

Thanks for your input/experience.

There are some Cobb county members here. I'm sure they'll chime in.

East Cobb may be unique to any place in the country.

It does not matter. As long as he is well coached and has talent he will be just fine. Especially if he can hit pitch or catch.

When my son played 12u and 13u, they played AA and AAA tournaments. He stuck with that same team thru 14u. They were a decent 14u team but not elite. He is now an incoming freshman playing in the HS summer league. Started at fresh team then JV and is now starting 3rd base on varsity and lead off today in the lineup. The key is that he was well coached when he was younger and has a good baseball IQ and has some ability.

When a kid shows up for a tryout all that matters is the talent he displays on the field. Building a reputation playing high level travel may provide an edge assuming the coach pays any attention to where kids play summer ball before high school. Playing high level travel may provide your son competition that better prepares him for high school ball.

The mistake people make is thinking players make high school because they play travel. The truth is the better kids tend to play travel for the competition rather than travel makes them the player they are.

When it's all said and done it's about getting the right instruction along the journey and talent.

Personal experience: My son played USSSA Majors full time starting with 13U. I believe it helped prepare him to be the first opening day starting soph in six years. But he was the best position player on the team junior year. The summer after his freshman year he played 16U. But the high school coach followed players through their middle school games, not summer ball. My son played fall ball soph year for the high school team rather than travel. It made tryouts in the spring a formality.

Your instincts are correct. What your friends are doing may be great for their kids, but as long as your son works hard and develops his skills, he'll be fine when he gets to high school. We live in a baseball area also with a lot of travel team activity at all levels. My son's middle school travel ball situation was very similar to what you describe for your son. We stayed put because he liked the coach and playing with his friends.

He had a good first year in HS on JV then varsity for an excellent, highly-ranked HS program. He was invited to play on an very legit "elite" team this summer and is doing just fine. It was a good time for him to step up, but it did not matter that he waited. I'm sure some things vary from area to area, but it is hard for me to believe that there is any place where a player can't make a JV team unless he already has high-level travel experience. Don't sweat it and make sure your son is always challenging himself to improve and doesn't make the mistake of getting satisfied with being better than his teammates.

quote:

Originally posted by dialedin:
...We honestly can't figure out if it really matters where he played baseball before getting to HS. If a kid the talent to play HS ball wouldn't that show? And if he doesn't have the talent that would show too, right? Will he really not even be considered if he doesn't play at a "higher level" now?

Regarding "if he has the talent or doesn't have the talent"...
Beyond talent and good instruction, there is great benefit to getting good game experience at a highly competitive level, particularly at this "transition" age. However, if resourceful, one can usually find these competitive play opportunities without mortgaging the house. I don't think we ever paid more than $600 to $800 for any one travel season, including travel and lodging $$ Some of the most competitive teams/leagues charged next to nothing and didn't travel beyond driving distance (albeit some LONG drives).

I would fall on the side of those who say what your son does in travel will matter little when he shows up for HS tryouts. Any decent coach will not care what your son used to do or where he used to play. They will care about what he can do now. That's not to say that playing at a higher level will not make him better prepared - it may or it may not.

My son (14U) has the talent to play majors ball if he wanted. However, he's played for - and will continue to play for a AA team. Why? It has a paid head coach who was a HS head coach for more than a decade, has coached on the college level, and cares far less about winning games than developing players. While some of the players on the team may not be "high" level talent-wise, the coaching is better than what any of the local majors teams offer. Most of those locally are made up of stud players that are "recruited" more than "coached".

Personally, I wanted my son to play for a coach - not a recruiter.

That's not to say all majors teams are like that, you just have to find one that has good coaching. Pick a team based on that rather than its label.

My $.02 for what it is worth. Who determines who is AA/AAA/Major? Around my area, it is the coaches. Some like to be cool and make their truley AA team a Major. Others take their AAA team and call it AA -- presumably to "dominate" in tournaments. So I would be less concerned about the purpoted level of play.

Your kid is still young. In a few years everything will change -- physically, emotionally, etc. He may turn out to be a great ballplayer. Or he may want to chase girls instead.

At his age, I would be more concerned with the coaching, training and repetiions he can get. Are they teaching him to hit properly? Is he able to get sufficient work in the off season?

I have yet to hear of a coach ask the incomming freshmen what travel team they played on, what their record was, and how many trophies they have.

Good luck.

My son is in the same age range as dialedin’s. So my thoughts to follow are gleaned from real-time experience and gathered advice, not from hindsight or having already been through the entire cycle.

I think there is one working principal all pre-high schoolers should be guided by: The High School coach will strive to put the best team on the field. The optimum configuration of players will play, regardless of pedigree.

I think it’s also important to differentiate two paths for a High School baseball player. These paths are not mutually exclusive, but until a player is actually on the High School team, it’s very easy to incorrectly categorize a player as one or the other: Stud v. Role Player.

Studs are the kings of the team. The kids with options after his senior year. (NOTE: more than one stud can populate a HS team). Role Players make up the core of the team. By Seniors, they make genuine contributions to the Varsity, but their ongoing stride in improvement keep them just above ‘the bar’, not launching them into the recruiting stratosphere.

I’ll say again, in the 13U / 14U ages it may or may not be apparent which player your child is. We all have many, many stories of parents (some players) who incorrectly perceive their players skillset at Stud when Role-Player is the better description, or Role-Player is even generous.

A prudent parent wants to identify the track taken by Role-Players: What are the minimum qualifications required to clear the hurdle and make the team? What we all innately know, but sometimes forget, is that ultimately the Stud / Role-Player designation is not something we, parents/players, bestow. It is in the eye of the beholder, in this case, the High School coach. Shepherding a Stud through this process won’t take much work. Doors will open themselves; answers sometimes appear before questions are asked. Navigating the process with a Role-Player means hitting all the marks, nailing the try-out and trying to foster all the perceived intangibles.

So before taking the test, the High School try-out, it is perfectly appropriate to look around; identifying what common experiences do the kids that succeed share. And hence: The chicken and egg syndrome. Did Role Players achieve success (making their HS team) because they played Ultra-Elite-Super-Secret-Global-Travel baseball? Or does Ultra-Elite-Super-Secret-Global-Travel baseball succeed because boys that like to play baseball find each other and their parents enjoy giving their boys an avenue to focus their impulses?

I don’t know the definitive answer. It’s possible the answer is different for different people (and ain’t that the rub!). In the grandest stokes: Players will play. And a player can’t not be formed exclusively out of desire (their’s, your’s or someone else’s). But there is no single track. Keep your eyes open, keep your player practicing, and keep youth game success in perspective. Read your child and trust what you know about them. Nobody knows your kid like you. Find situations where it’s possible, with their best effort, your child will succeed. Identify places you can help equip your child fir success. And - I feel like I’ve read this somewhere - enjoy the ride.

RJM spelled it out pretty well, as did many others. It all comes down to performance at the tryout, how well you hit 10 live BP pitches and take infield/outfield when it matters. Many HS Coaches follow the Middle school teams.

**Something to think about** - AA/AAA/MAJ is all in how the coach registers the team. If team XYZ registers as a AA team and completely dominates the 2012 tournament circuit, they will be automatically registered as a AAA in 2013. If XYZ looses all/most of their players for the 2013 tournament year, they are still considered a AAA team. The players they pick up may not be AAA quality. You have to "request" and justify to USSSA, Nations, AAU, etc., to be "downgraded". If a team has a high turnover rate, something is not right.

Short version - don’t go for the AA/AAA/MAJ stamp, go for the quality of the coaching and the quality of the team. Find a team that sticks together for more than a year and you will find that those boys will eventually be a AAA/MAJ team. The rest will fall into place.

I would be really curious to know who is telling you he needs to play for a MAJ/ELITE team to make the HS team. Ill bet it isn’t the AA coach.

Will I make a HS team?
I put this quick score sheet together for fun:

Played on All-Stars +1
Was best player on All-Star team +3
Hits for power or average +3
Is taller/bigger than peers +1
Is taller/bigger and very athletic +3
Plays the sport aggressively +1
Pitches or catches well +3
Pitches or catches very well +5
Is competitive in other sports +1
Knows the game or is coachable +1
Self motivated to practice and work-out +1
Teammates/coaches generally like him +1

I'd say all you need is a 5 to be considered for HS around here.
In SoCal many schools run a FroshSoph team. They are made up of Rec players and some travel players. Some bigger, better players make JV regardless of their background. It's all demonstrated ability.

What if simply save your money this year, and put him a good EC or other major/elite team at 14U?

Thanks for all the responses. I guess there is no clear cut "right path" to follow.

I think we'll just stay the course for now.

It's a joy to watch him play baseball and he absolutely loves it. I have no idea if he's a "stud" player. Other people say he is; even umps and opposing team coaches. But who knows and like someone else said a lot can change in the next few years. We can only hope he will have as much passion for baseball when he's 15-16 as he does now.

Thanks again. Much appreciated.

Hey dialedin, welcome to the board. I am from the same area as you, so I have an idea about the baseball scene. My son is older, so I'm not specifically familiar with your son's age group.

First off, I will say that there are SO many teams in the EC area, I don't think you would have too much of a problem finding a team that plays better competition that costs less than what you are talking about. You don't necessarily have to be on an elite/major team to play better competition. You can be a AA/AAA team and enter tournaments with elite/major teams in it. Most of the USSSA and 3Crown tournaments I have seen are open tournaments that anyone can enter, just make it a goal to play a certain number of these to play the good competition.

The other thing I will say is that it doesn't matter what team you play on before HS, if you have talent, you will make the team. HS coaches don't give a **** where you played before. They care about whether you can help the team. That being said, one of the biggest obstacles players have to overcome when playing at a higher level or on the HS varsity team is the mental part of the game. If your son dominates playing against AA/AAA competition, how will he mentally handle when he fails? Because there will come a time when he fails playing against a higher level of competition. If he's a pitcher, he WILL get rocked. If he's position, he will go through a slump against the better pitchers. If he's talented, he will get through the physical failures. That's a given. However, will he be mentally tough enough to come back from it. If he goes out one day and gets hammered on the mound, giving up 9 runs in 3 innings, how will he come back the next time he gets the call? Will he still be agressive and confident, or will he be scared and tentative. I think that is the biggest advantage to playing tough competition. It prepares you mentally for the times you do not dominate and succeed 100% of the time.

So bottom line, do you need to play on an elite/major team? Nope. Are there benifits to playing against strong competition? Absolutely. A team should always challenge itself to play teams better than them. The wins and losses don't matter, it's about physical and mental development. And in the Atlanta/EC area, you can find plenty of hefty competition to play, regardless of the class team you are on. And you don't need to do a lot of traveling to find it. It's all right in your back yard.

Good luck to you and your son.

quote:

Originally posted by bballman:

The other thing I will say is that it doesn't matter what team you play on before HS, if you have talent, you will make the team. HS coaches don't give a **** where you played before. They care about whether you can help the team. That being said, one of the biggest obstacles players have to overcome when playing at a higher level or on the HS varsity team is the mental part of the game. If your son dominates playing against AA/AAA competition, how will he mentally handle when he fails? Because there will come a time when he fails playing against a higher level of competition. If he's a pitcher, he WILL get rocked. If he's position, he will go through a slump against the better pitchers. If he's talented, he will get through the physical failures. That's a given. However, will he be mentally tough enough to come back from it. If he goes out one day and gets hammered on the mound, giving up 9 runs in 3 innings, how will he come back the next time he gets the call? Will he still be agressive and confident, or will he be scared and tentative. I think that is the biggest advantage to playing tough competition. It prepares you mentally for the times you do not dominate and succeed 100% of the time.

I think this is a very solid point. I witnessed this first hand on my son's team this year.

First year that several of the kids on my son's club team had played at the AAA/Major level. One family (I use family deliberately) had a big issue with what bballman refers to.

Player and parents were used to him hitting four hole and him playing pretty much wherever he wanted. With the step up in the quality of peers he was one of the weaker players on the team. He improved for the first couple of months but was still behind others.

At two month mark he started to shut down mentally. To be fair to the player based on comments made by parents he was clearly being told he was not getting a fair shake, etc. His play declined to the extent that he finally asked to be moved to our second team in order to play.

As long as you prepare yourself and correspondingly him for this aspect I think all should be fine. Let me also say your son's talent may be such that this isn't an issue. Really won't be able to judge that until you get to HS and his team.

quote:

Originally posted by dialedin:
We have friends who's boys play on these Major/Elite teams. The fees alone are around $3500. Lots of travel and several truly "away" trips each season. Easily a $5K annual investment, probably more.

There are AAA teams that are less expensive but we are being told he needs to play on a "Major" team to be considered for HS baseball. The team he plays for now often plays AAA teams and I see no difference between AA and AAA baseball.

We honestly can't figure out if it really matters where he played baseball before getting to HS. If a kid the talent to play HS ball wouldn't that show? And if he doesn't have the talent that would show too, right? Will he really not even be considered if he doesn't play at a "higher level" now?

We live in East Cobb, GA. Plenty of competition and plenty of families who DO have the $$$.

Thanks for your input/experience.

It does not matter. What matters is talent and hard work and the ability to make that talent obvious under pressure.

So, if travel ball teaches a kid to play under pressure (and at a faster game speed) then it can make a difference. If the kid has the basic talent, it might not (and probably won't) matter.

I would not worry about it. From what you say here, I would predict chances are very high that it will all work out for you and your son in a very positive way.

My son played on one of the top travel teams from Texas for his 13u and 14u seasons. Prior to that it was AA and AAA ball. He started varsity as a freshman. Playing on an elite travel squad prepared him mentally for varsity play. The elite teams are performance driven. Players have to learn at an early age to focus mentally and produce results under constant pressure. Varsity is about the best 9 players taking the field and giving all they have to win. Varsity players are not coddled, loved on and told they are wonderful little Johnnies. Players are expected to produce now regardless of the situation or sit down. Nobody except Mom and Dad care if your feelings get hurt. The elite youth squad helped prepare my son for this attitude and approach. It wasn't as demanding as Varsity but it sure was a lot closer than the warm and fuzzy teams we often played against. HS Varsity didn't intimidate my son. He was prepared for the mental challenge and that combined with natural skill and hard work helped him succeed.

My point is that playing at the highest level possible allows players to develope and hone their mental skills as well. The mental side of a player becomes increasingly more important as a player moves up each level and it is necessary to develope and train this part of your game.