Hey New England - What's up with that?

Perhaps the "baseball people" in your area would rather play than coach.

kmom
i often wondered about that myself.at most we have legion and senior babe.the nsbl operates in the eastern ma.southern rock. county area.but that runs the 18 to 40 age group.in the manchester area legion is huge .in the seacoast we have so many teams the talent gets watered down due to bounderies.it always puzzled me why the nashua area wasn't stronger in legion or sr babe?you have more kids in your area than most.but i think untill someone starts an older travel program it's hit or miss.it's a big undertaking to start one.not cheap,and alot of dedication from everyone.if you don' get the best kids you won't compete.i'm thinking you might see some indoor training facilities realize there is a buck to be made and start something.rumors is maybe a showcase starting in the granite state soon.don't think it's this year but soon. good luck to you .

FPC is running a showcase but its a one day affair in February. The NH Grizzlies field 16U and 18U fall teams, but their summer program stops at 15. The Blackflies and former Vipers (they had to change their name and I don't know the new one) stopped after the 14U season. Butch Hobson has a new program that he's running out of the Hampshire Dome - a facility that's new this year, but again the age stops at 15. The NH Baseball Academy started last year and is based not far from my house Its run by long time Babe Ruth coaches/officials - great guys all - and while they will help high school guys tune up before try-outs, they, too, are primarily geared toward the younger set.

As for legion, Manchester has a strong program, as does Hudson. Hollis-Brookline has a new legion program, and I don't now much about Nashua's legion program, even though I live in Nashua. Guess I'll have to pay more attention this season.

Maybe there's something else to it. I know when my son's team, the Blackflies, stopped playing it was to allow the guys to persue legion and have available time for college visits and camps. Maybe that's just the way it is - maybe players in the 16-18 age group are too hard to schedule. Or perhaps you're right - experienced baseball folks would rather play than coach and administrate.

Our town baseball league introduced an in-town Babe Ruth league for 16-18 year olds. Only restriction is no varsity players allowed. JV can play to get extra experience. This is Westford,MA.

Kmom,
Let me give you my two cents as I read the same paper and have a little insight on the subject. Besides Senior Babe Ruth and American legion there is no alternative for players 16-18 in this area. I coached for the New England Lightning AAU program for 5 years and at one point we had teams for 13-18 year olds. I'll tell you why they no longer have 16-18 year old teams. 1) team would practice for one week with kids they have never played with. Go to the national tournament and get beat up on. Parents would get mad that they spent a lot of $$$ for them to travel to Oklahoma to get embarassed. 2) we would struggle every year to get 12 guys to play. It seemed like we were looking for one more player a few days before we left. 3) Legion coaches want to be the top priority. For a player to tell his coach that he had to leave the week or two before playoffs for an AAU tournament didn't sit well. The kids would rather play locally with their high school teammates rather than a week or two with an AAU team. So from my experience there is just not enough interest.... There are plenty of good coaches around that would take a team to of 16-18 year olds to a national tournament just not enough good ball players to make the trip worth while. I'm opening an Extra Innings training facility in nashua this fall and I would love to run an AAU program for 13-18 year olds if the numbers supported it. I also know that the over 30 leagues are starting to fill roster spots for next year hence the adds in the paper.

Well, I lucked out-- at least for this year. I retained my 16u eligibility. Some of my teammates and friends didn't luck out like I did. A few take the hour plus drive to Connecticut to play for Team Connecticut (TCB). Geesh! But u gotta do what u gotta do...

gg3

coachc
congrats on your new facility in nashua.extra innings has been a class act and i'm sure it will be a hit in that area.i think you hit the nail on the head.i think we are hard to change up here.legion was and is the thing to play at 16-18.tough starting a 16-18 team,alot of money to play at that age with travel etc.big commitment.but it's done in ct.maybe your the guy to do it?there are alot of kids in your area.i'm sure once you get on your feet up there you'll know the interest level. again good luck.

CoachC - we heard there was going to be an Extra Innings facility in Nashua and are looking forward to it. I'm sure you'll see my son and his teammates a great deal.

I hope there'll be enough interest from players and parents who understand the commitment in time, travel, and finances that it takes to put together a top notch program and who'll be willing to make the sacrifice. The experience my son has picked up playing in national tournaments has proven invaluable. There are some lessons you just can't learn in your own backyard.

From our experience, I would have to differ with Coachc on every point! Sorry
It was some years ago but this area had 2 great AAU teams...one out of Lawrence and one right here in Nashua. Always a battle between the two and always competitive. At 17, a few of the boys went to Vermont for the summer to play for the Seamonsters, another very talented team.

quote:

I'll tell you why they no longer have 16-18 year old teams. 1) team would practice for one week with kids they have never played with. Go to the national tournament and get beat up on. Parents would get mad that they spent a lot of $$$ for them to travel to Oklahoma to get embarassed.

Point 1: Our team practiced almost every day. The best players were pulled from many, many towns and we either practiced or played all summer. Our results in national tournaments spoke for themselves. We were never embarrassed once. Quite the contrary.

quote:

2) we would struggle every year to get 12 guys to play. It seemed like we were looking for one more player a few days before we left.

Our players were selected because the player and family had committed to doing it right. Most did not have jobs and certainly no one played on another team. A couple times we added an extra tournament player, but that was more for insurance. I can't remember anyone ever missing a trip.

quote:

3) Legion coaches want to be the top priority. For a player to tell his coach that he had to leave the week or two before playoffs for an AAU tournament didn't sit well. The kids would rather play locally with their high school teammates rather than a week or two with an AAU team. So from my experience there is just not enough interest....

Well, that's the problem. If you are playing a top level AAU team then you don't play legion. My son most definitely wanted to play with these other kids on the AAU team because of the collective talent, the coaching they were receiving and the opportunities to travel and compete nationally. The AAU team you refer to, playing once in awhile, is not how we did it.

Chill, I'm glad we agree to disagree that's what forums are for. Again my points are just my experience with the NE Lightning which i consider to be one of the premier AAU programs in the country. Question? So when your son played there were two teams in the area? Who did you play against?? Did they practiced all week to play the same team every weekend? That would be a tuff sell for me as a coach when recruiting 16-18 years old from MASS, NH and ME to play on my AAU team when they can play every day with there Legion team. Was there a state tournament or could anyone represent your state at Nationals? For us there were no other 17-18 year old teams for us to play or a MASS tournament. So our athletes had to play on other teams during the summer to get innings and at bats. The idea that there were two great teams in the area goes back to my point of numbers. If there was an interest for these types of teams there would be one in every town just like the 14 year old AAU teams in NH. The problem is there is no interest for a top level AAU team for this age group in this area or we would not be talking about it. I have had many of my high school players go to the 18U AAU tournament every summer and their stories are very similar to my experiences. Practice and go..... then they get punished from their Legion coaches for missing a week. I am a huge advocate of AAU baseball at any level. AAU baseball has given me the oportunity to coach hundreds of very talented young men from across NE who have gone on to play at top DIV 1 schools, play in the college world series, sign MLB contracts and some have played pro baseball in europe and I have coached two of my brothers and a brother in-law who all played for the lightning. We get 2-3 ex-Vipers every year at HB and I owe a lot of our success to coach Caswell. These kids have had excellent coaching, have played in big time tournament all over the country all before they enter high school. I'm glad that you and your son had a positive experience...it makes the long car rides that more enjoyable

Coach-

Yes, there were two premier teams and lots of lesser teams. We practiced most days, scrimmaged top legion teams during the week
(we were 16's and most good Legion teams were primarily 18), scheduled games against some of the other NE AAU teams and then traveled to tournies. We played the Lightening and knew many of the players (Catchermom03 son played for them) and it was during the same time frame as the Lightening coach who took his life.

Our state tournament did exist...lol...but there were only 3 teams to compete.

quote:

The idea that there were two great teams in the area goes back to my point of numbers. If there was an interest for these types of teams there would be one in every town one in every town just like the 14 year old AAU teams in NH. The problem is there is no interest for a top level AAU team for this age group in this area or we would not be talking about it.

That is a BIG problem for AAU. Watered down teams. I think there is much interest from the top players and their families, but having a team in most towns defeats the purpose of playing AAU. It's not premier anymore. Top players in our area KNOW they have to travel to have the opportunity like my son had.

Our Legion Coach came around the High School team every spring to see what two of our boys were going to do? Play Legion for him? or stay with the AAU team. It was a no-brainer for as long as we could do it.

I have seen both the "Local(Legion/Babe Ruth)" and the "Travel(AAU)" teams. It comes down to the players who are looking for the extra exposue and the players who are looking to face quality competition day in and day out. Let's face it, I played legion, if I did not see a teams # 1 or #2, I was not being challanged, when these guys play for teams like Team CT, NY Clippers, etc . .they are facing quality competition day in and day out. There is nothing wrong with playing Legion, Babe Ruth, AAU, or Travel Teams. It is juts a matter of want, need, exposure, and being serious.

I love

Great point

Well said, ILTG. I couldn't agree with you more.

I couldn't agree more either, and neither could the person that started this thread. The person that started this thread was my mom, and I am now playing for Team CT. ILTG i couldn't agree more, I broke my wrist last year and just played Babe Ruth, I would never knock an organization, but there was just not enough competition to help me continue to grow as a player. If the player is actually dedicated they will be absolutely willing to travel that extra to play for the quality team. I have been traveling over 2 hours every saturday and sunday to practice, and knowing what I am going to get out of it it doesn't bother me one bit.