i had the oppurtunity to visit the dominican republic the summer between my freshman year and sophomore year. we practiced at an academy in the morning and then played games in the afternoon. in the morning the kids were all there by 7 every single morning and would begin practicing. they would have breakfast at 9 at the field. they would workout more until lunch which they also had at the field. there were about 10 kids who lived at the academy who would be up by 6 every morning to do extra work. they had a "weight room" which was really just some dumbells a barbell and plates along with a wooden bench outside.

If the statement is meant to say kids in the DR don't need to play travel ball to reach the higher levels of baseball, it is completely uninformed. What they do is much worse.

I have a friend that used to run an academy in the DR.  Kids lived at the academy.  They didn't go home to mommy and daddy every night.  They played baseball or trained in some way for almost every waking moment.

They played travel ball.  It involved the whole team being packed into a van, driven sometimes for hours on crappy roads to other academies.  Then they got to play a game or two.  Not in front of their parents though.  They played for scouts from the pro leagues in the US, and the rest of the world. 

The kids that the scouts were interested in got contracts,  the academies got a cut. The other kids?  Well, you don't get to hear their stories do you?

My son played with some kids from the DR this summer. Those kids worked hard. They never took a play off. They can't afford to.  They don't get the comfort of knowing that no matter how poorly they play, they still get to go home to their fluffy bed in the suburbs.  Still get to watch Netflix on a big flat screen while waiting for mom to finish making a nice hot meal.

Given a choice between travel ball in this country, and academy ball in the DR - I don't think anyone here should complain.

 Thank you for setting the record straight.

I am not sure if the post was supposed to be a slam or not. It was not funny, IMO.

Ballplayer: Pelotero (2011) 
"Pelotero" (original title)

Two top baseball prospects in the Dominican Republic face fierce competition and corruption as they chase their big league dreams.

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This is a documentary on Dominican baseball. I don't know if it's still available on Netflix. the top signee from the movie was Sano.