High School Baseball vs Travelball

quote:

This past spring I went to the parents meeting for all prospective baseball player parents.

I never had one during my tenure. It seems that it is common practice anymore at least by some. Reason?

They way I understood it, it gave incoming freshman parents an idea what was going to be expected. For parents of all classes it was a chance for the coach to go over what he expected for the upcoming year and what he planned for the summer.

CoachMay - That post on the previous page by you is simply one of the best I have ever read anywhere...any site...anywhere.

There is so much in there, its worth reading several times.

Nice job!

Link back to Coach May's post

I have never been a fan of hs players playing on their hs team in the summer. I have never been a fan of hs players playing for their hs coach during the summer on his summer team.

Why?

It becomes and extension of the hs season and a repeat experience for the hs players. The same kid that played 2b all the time and started all the time is the 2b all the time and starts all the time. The coach is using the summer baseball experience to prepare for the upcoming hs season. The back ups are still the back ups. The coaching and teaching is the same. They are not learning something new from someone new. They are not being exposed to other ideas, other terminology, a new set of eyes that can spot something the other eyes have not or are not willing to see. Players do not get the opportunity to play other positions and learn a different perspective on things. The kid that has just went through an off season program with a group of coaches and then an entire season with a group of coaches is now spending the entire summer with the same coaches and players. Maybe he would benefit more from another set of eyes, another group of coaches and another group of guys to play with?

For me I want my players to get some instruction, coaching from another coach or coaches. I want them to pick up something that I have not been giving them. Maybe that coach and spot something that will help them. Maybe they will get the chance to play some outfield, infield, pitch, catch. Maybe they will get a new perspective on things?

I would hope that being away from us for the summer would make them hungry to get back to us. If your getting the same experience over and over is that better than getting some different experience from someone else with someone else?

I don't think it makes a hs program stronger for the same guys to play the same roles in the same environment. I do think it makes a stronger team for your players to branch out and seek opportunities that best suit them in the off season as far as playing. Some players need to go play for a top showcase team. Some players need to do more skill development. Some players need to play a brand of baseball that is not to the level of others so they can be on the field actually playing and not sitting behind someone else. Some players need to stop playing and learn how to fish. Some players need to long toss, hit the weight room and play local rec league ball.

The bottom line is no matter how fair you are or how fair your trying to be you have already formed your opinions on players based on what you have seen over the last several months. In order to give kids a fair shake and a fresh opportunity I feel its best to turn them loose to play in another venue once the hs season ends. Sometimes kids come back and your entire opinion is different one practice into the new season. I think its the right thing for the kids.

We always run an off season strength and conditioning program. A long toss program as well for all our players and any player that wants to be a part of the program the next spring. And we encourage anyone that is going to be a freshman the next year to participate. They can easily work this around whatever playing opportunity they have during the summer and fall. We work to place our players on showcase teams we feel is the best situation for them. If they played 2b this year but we need them to move to SS the next then we find them a situation where they will play SS. If we need them to get more innings on the mound in anticipation of them throwing more innings for us the next year we work to find them a team where they will get innings.

Some are in a position where that summer needs to be about exposure to college coaches. We find the right fit for them that summer for their talent level that will expose them to the programs we feel is right for them. Then its up to the player to either take the opportunity or not. And its up to them to take advantate of the opportunity or not.

As far as parents meetings I always had one right after we made cuts. It was a time to hand out material as far as "treatment in case of injury" forms, "sportsmanship" forms, "team rules" forms, etc. It was an opportunity for me to tell the parents face to face what is expected of their son and what they can expect from us. It was also an opportunity for them to meet who their son was going to be spending so much time with and around. A time for the parents to meet each other. A parents and players conduct form was signed by both the parent and players. This way there would be no doubt in anyone's mind what the ground rules were.

Sorry for the long post. This is just my opinion. There are certainly many ways to go about this.

Coach - So on this last post, I will try and describe what our HS coach did that I thought was very effective.

He did/does run a summer team (mostly coached by the assistants). If you didn't want to play on it, you didn't have too. Most players used it as 1 of 2 teams they played on...they had their travel (or Legion or Colt/Palomino or other team) and they also had his team. Most made it to about 60-70% of the HS coach's games and probably made it to nearly 100% of their 'other' games.

That was never a problem, his only request was to "communicate" about where you will be this week and we'll all be fine.

He runs his summer team almost entirely as developmental. 30-40 players (most of the returning players at all levels) on the roster, 15-20 at any given game. My son was primarily a pitcher on his HS team, but rarely pitched on the summer team...1 or 2 innings all summer, usually as a stop gap. The rest of the time, he played 3B or 1B or DH...something he was trying to 'break into the lineup' for the HS season. He (and others) could almost say, "I wanna work on 'x-position'" and thats what they would get to play. For my son, taking this approach, he was able to break into the lineup as a regular hitter (1B and DH) this past year and contributed there too...if he woulda had to prove it only by practice games, I'm not sure he could have 'proved' he could do it?

Winning was always a little more fun...but never emphasized. Development was never sacrificed in order to win some weekend trophy.

The coach also used it as a 'bonding' time. Not bonding with the coach per se, but with each other. They'd do fun stuff on weekend road trips to Sacramento or the Central Valley. They'd do barbeques and pizza trips and share rooms in the hotel when on the road.

But there was never any pressure to not go do the travel thing. My son used up his weekly innings (on the mound) with a high powered travel team...and he worked on things (hitting) that he wanted to improve on with the HS summer team.

In any case, I agree it can be messy if not run the right way...which would include sticking with the same old lineups and pressuring a kid to show up to every game rather than his other summer team. None of this happened with our HS summer team. So my point was that if done the right way, it can work. I thought our HS coach did it the 'right' way and I think our son benefited greatly from it.

Wow. Oustanding.

I agree with Coach May. My son plays on 3 teams each year: HS, summer and fall. He gets something different from each team, each coach. He repeatedly has to prove himself, which is a good thing.

He really enjoys the friends he has made from different schools. He attends a small high school and being able to play with (and compete against) other players from bigger schools has been a big plus.

quote:

Originally posted by justbaseball:
CoachMay - That post on the previous page by you is simply one of the best I have ever read anywhere...any site...anywhere.

There is so much in there, its worth reading several times.

Nice job!

Link back to Coach May's post

...Outstanding!

Good posts by Coach May and justbaseball.

Our experience was not quite the same as the OP.

My son started his baseball career in LL where he was "discovered" by a gentleman who was forming a travel team (AAU/USSSA). The stated purpose of the travel team was to prepare the players for high school level ball. He did not measure by wins and losses though there were times the team should have had better results than what it did. The goal was realized during my son's sophomore year when we (the parents) looked out onto the field and of the 9 players on the field, 7 were from the travel ball team.

For the past two years my son has played nearly year round - varsity level from February to May, Legion ball from May to July and then fall ball from Sept to late Oct/early November with off season conditioning from Nov to ealy Feb. Legion ball is (in our area anyway) far more competitive than travel ball. Many times they have faced teams with 1st year college students. For the most part the Legion teams are the pick of the litter from high school and local colleges. The fall league is more of an instruction league coached by other coaches and overseen by the HS coach. It gives a player a taste of the level of competition of HS baseball.

So I don't look at as Travel ball vs HS ball but that one enhances the other by preparing them for HS ball.

I agree with justbaseball. I believe the coach was using this summer more as a bonding time for the players. He allowed the players to experience new positions. My son played all positions except catcher; he hadn't played anything but outfield and pitcher for the past 4 seasons. It was great to see him playing infield again; and he loved it. The most frustrating thing was not having enough players show up for games. The wins and losses were not the important thing; I've always told my son:
1. Play the game the right way.
2. When you walk off the field ask yourself did you do everything you could do to give your team a chance to win? If the answer is yes hold your head high regardless of winning or losing.

If you do these 2 things the scoreboard will take care of itself.

One more comment on high school ball. We live in a small town. When my son stops in the market in his uniform, someone may ask him how the team is doing this year. Cool stuff.

When we go to a high school game, we know the players and their parents. There's not much change year after year, other than the older kids graduating and the newer kids coming up.

Don't get me wrong, he enjoys his summer and fall ball teams as well, each being different. But there's still something special about high school baseball.

High school baseball is about pulling together with the friends you go to school with, the guys you're NOT friends with that you go to school with. It's about bringing together guys from different travel teams together. It's about playing against guys you play with on travel ball as you face them during the season.
I love it when my son gets to share a laugh at the plate, as either the hitter or the catcher with the opposing player. And when it gets really competitive, knowing their strengths and weaknesses is a plus.
My son's hs team has always been the underdogs. A few really great players and the rest hungry to get better. It was a pleasure to watch them in high school come together, help each other along and finally as they were seniors do pretty well.
We had a good coaching staff that ran a tight ship but let the older ones assume leadership roles and because they had played so long together, the underclassmen respected them and the leaders didn't abuse the situation. It was a really fun team.
Didn't always win. And when we lost that semifinal playoff, they couldn't believe it was over.
On the other hand I have a friend whose son played on a high school team that was coached poorly and it was a bad experience. As her son gets older, the best part of it is that he learned what NOT to do asa high school coach. At the time it is no fun, but hopefully as he gets older he'll be able to appreciate that too.
One thing our travel ball coach said - IF you get the chance to play on a team that bonds together, consider yourself lucky. Winning is beside the point. That kind of chemistry and team happens maybe once and rarely twice.
For many young people, (boys and girls alike), that team is their high school team. And after that they go on to college or trade school or work and play recreationally.
But for whatever reason they never forget thier high school team!

i think the players say it best---I visit their facebook pages and I see more pics of hs teams than travel teams--one of the best pics of my son is him in his hs uni in the centerfold of his hs yearbook---for me the teams serve different purposes

You are exactly right. Unless your HS is very good, your boy is not exposed to the high caliber of play that a good AAU club provides. I owe my son's full ride to a D-1 school to his AAU team, the Richmond Braves. THE best program in the country!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dw8man:
I would love for the terrible miss conception that only top level talent play on travel ball teams....in other words, if you play travel ball, you must be a top/great player![QUOTE]

There is that. A watered down product at times, your team must be selected with care and research. Go to a tourny and watch the best, if your son is a stud, there should be no prob getting a spot.

and the definition of stud is?

.

Stud.

.

I don't know about everyone else, but i may not know what travle team i play for every year or the guys i will be playing with, but i know all my highschool teammates and what school i'm going to be proud to represent for all four years and then after i graduate.

the farthest this should go is a teammate giving a hs teammate a hard time after their travle team beat theirs and a travle teammate giving the other a hard time whein thair hs beats his teammates hs

TRhit -

http://www.expatads.com/adpics...15712a74c0db6ec6.jpg

sorry - still haven't figured out how gotwood does those cool pictures....