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Fast Forward.....

Fast forward to your son's Soph. or Jr. year of college. History will tell us that the majority of our kids will no longer be playing baseball at that time. We may think they will be or want them to be, but the numbers tell us that so many of them will set it aside and move on. It will happen for every reason, lack of interest, lack of ability, injury, a situation with a school or coach that he doesn't like, or maybe he really needed to focus on his major to get ready for his career.

Why do I mention this? Because I don't think so many of us would be getting so goofy about things like if a Showcase deserves to be called one thing or the other or sweating who gets invited and who doesn't. We might not care so much about which Travel Organization is better than the other. Our kids will be out of the pipeline and we will be too.

Just find a good place for your kid and don't worry about the jerks who run the other organizations. One person's junk of a coach is another's treasure.
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Fastball Dad,

Do we have a "Golden Thread" for the Illinois forum? If so, then I nominate this post for it.

Your thought is brilliantly stated and is oh-so-true.

Although I could add my family's personal experience to it (my older son is playing in college--and had never been on ANYONE's list, but his opponents all knew who he was..., my younger son, a hs senior, will undergo additional arm surgery at the end of the month, after labrum surgery in September) I won't.....your post sums it up perfectly.

quote:
Just find a good place for your kid and don't worry about the jerks who run the other organizations.


Kudos.
Last edited by play baseball
quote:
History will tell us that the majority of our kids will no longer be playing baseball at that time.---- Just find a good place for your kid and don't worry about the jerks who run the other organizations.



Good points but I couldn’t disagree more! Each parent/player has to assess their individual situation and act accordingly. While some players will waste time and money on showcases there will be others that will waste their talent playing in an inferior environment. Knowing what to do and when to do it is critical and the HSBBW provides a great deal of information that helps us make those decisions. There comes a time when some players need to hang up their cleats while others need to polish theirs. Parents and players need to sort through the opinions (like yours and mine) and make the best decision they can.
My child will be entering the pipeline. However, no one is forcing anyone to do anything. The inference in the other thread is that those putting on these showcases and creating these list how incrediable power. Such is not the case! Or more specifically not with my family. I can market my own child, gain knowledge about which are the best showcases to attend (Perfect Game for sure)and act as a responsible parent. I don't have any control over invites and list. I will control what I can such as practice, lessons, teams she tries out for, and much love and support.

I read on a softball website that we all want our kids to play for the Arizonas and UCLAs of the world. Not true. I'd bet most of us would settle for our kid gaining a valuable education while at the same time getting to continue their sports activities at a higher level where they have success and are happy. JMHO!
quote:
Originally posted by Fungo:
Good points but I couldn’t disagree more! Each parent/player has to assess their individual situation and act accordingly.


I could be wrong (it happens), but I think when FastballDad is saying, "Just find a good place for your kid and don't worry about the jerks who run the other organizations," I think he means, "Each parent/player has to assess their individual situation and act accordingly."

How about this...

Each parent/player has to find a good place for their kid by assessing their individual situation and acting accordingly without worrying about the people who run the other organizations.

I really think he means that, while there seems to be some real bad blood between various factions in Illinois, we, as parents, should try to stay above the fray.

Statistics say that the journey will be too short for most of us and we should enjoy it while we can.

Mmmm...reasonable.

Mike F
FastballDad,

Thanks for your concern. His upcoming surgery is to repair cartilage damage to his wrist after being hit by a pitch last June, two bones were also broken by the pitch. He most likely will miss his entire senior season in high school because of it. Because of the wrist injury, he is not able to completely rehab his shoulder after his labrum surgery in September.

Hopefully he will recover and it will not interfere with his quest to play baseball in college.

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