Dang is that Raphael or Donnatello? lol
You're playing it up. You live in a suburb of a major city.quote:Originally posted by AntzDad:
Not quite Mayberry, Coach May, but we have Rocky the barber and Toby the shoe guy.
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You and this guy 20dad...
Adam James:
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- "i am usually alone in my thinking..."
You and this guy 20dad...
Adam James:
- Born February 5, 1988, in Plano, Texas.
Son of Marilyn and Craig James.
Father is a football analyst with ESPN and ABC.
Adam has two older sisters, Jessica and Caylin, and a younger brother, Andy.
Adam enjoys hunting, fishing and being around friends.
Unlike 20dad, Adam does not like being alone for hours on end collecting his thoughts.
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It's up to the kid. You can't make him love baseball. You can make him turn off the XBox. But you can't make him put on the glove. He has to want it. Whenever my kids hit lazy mode (and it happens once in a while) I ask them if they're reaching their goals laying on the sofa and keep on walking.quote:Originally posted by InTheGap12:
Devils advocate here... if your son would rather play xbox than practice baseball - what do you do? Let him be lazy and play xbox 10 hours a day or insist he get up off his a** and work on his game?
Coach Milburn,
I also see fewer kids trying out for HS baseball, but I don't think it really reflects a decline in the quality of the game.
What I think it does show is that the future players are sorting themselves out at an earlier age, instead of continuing to try out and get cut year after year.
First, I think that the talented players are getting so much, and so much better instruction these days that in many ways, they run the average players and maybe even the multi-sport athlete of yesteryear off the field, especially when they turn 13 and move up to the larger field.
And then there's the high school situation itself. In our area we allow 8th graders to try out for HS JV. LOTS of 8th graders show up, just about every kid who's played any kind of travel ball. But of course, only a few make it -- never seen more than 5. The next year, they're in 9th grade. Some have hung it up by then, others try out and get cut a second time. At this point, those who get cut a second straight time start to realize it's the end of the dream. Sure, they could try again as 10th graders, but a kid who plays one year of JV in 10th grade is probably not going to be a varsity starter. Probably at best a bench player. And that's IF he ever makes the varsity cut. You can lament that if you want, but many kids just come to the decision that maybe it's time they invested their time elsewhere. I see lots of kids now specializing in s****r, volleyball or lacrosse, sports my school didn't even offer back in my day. And so many times, those teams are made up of kids who once lived for baseball, but who came to realize that baseball was not going to love them back.
By the time the boys are juniors, pretty much the only ones we see even coming to tryouts are returning players from varsity and the last of the JV guys trying to move up. By senior year, it's nothing but returning players, unless you have a "new kid in town."
In short I think the phenomenon is one of the strong players driving the weaker players away and much earlier. In no way does this lead to weaker talent level on the field or to a lessening standard of play. To the contrary, to my observation, HS ball is tougher now than it has ever been. And the talent is more spread around so that you don't see one team with one highly skilled coach dominating the area year after year after year.
I also see fewer kids trying out for HS baseball, but I don't think it really reflects a decline in the quality of the game.
What I think it does show is that the future players are sorting themselves out at an earlier age, instead of continuing to try out and get cut year after year.
First, I think that the talented players are getting so much, and so much better instruction these days that in many ways, they run the average players and maybe even the multi-sport athlete of yesteryear off the field, especially when they turn 13 and move up to the larger field.
And then there's the high school situation itself. In our area we allow 8th graders to try out for HS JV. LOTS of 8th graders show up, just about every kid who's played any kind of travel ball. But of course, only a few make it -- never seen more than 5. The next year, they're in 9th grade. Some have hung it up by then, others try out and get cut a second time. At this point, those who get cut a second straight time start to realize it's the end of the dream. Sure, they could try again as 10th graders, but a kid who plays one year of JV in 10th grade is probably not going to be a varsity starter. Probably at best a bench player. And that's IF he ever makes the varsity cut. You can lament that if you want, but many kids just come to the decision that maybe it's time they invested their time elsewhere. I see lots of kids now specializing in s****r, volleyball or lacrosse, sports my school didn't even offer back in my day. And so many times, those teams are made up of kids who once lived for baseball, but who came to realize that baseball was not going to love them back.
By the time the boys are juniors, pretty much the only ones we see even coming to tryouts are returning players from varsity and the last of the JV guys trying to move up. By senior year, it's nothing but returning players, unless you have a "new kid in town."
In short I think the phenomenon is one of the strong players driving the weaker players away and much earlier. In no way does this lead to weaker talent level on the field or to a lessening standard of play. To the contrary, to my observation, HS ball is tougher now than it has ever been. And the talent is more spread around so that you don't see one team with one highly skilled coach dominating the area year after year after year.
Our HS baseball program has lost some kids to lacrosse and some to track. Our town rec league has lost a larger percentage to lacrosse also. The sport didn't even exist a few years ago in rec or HS. I know of three kids who were baseball lifers until junior year. They realized they wouldn't be starting senior year and went into track. Bottom line seems to be as simple as more options.
I don't buy the divorce effect. If a father isn't interested enough to stay involved with his child after a divorce he probably wouldn't have been too involved if he were still married and living with the kid. My brother (divorced, son lives with his mother) has a son playing 3 sports in HS and is as involved in his son's games and practices as I am with mine (married). Also the divorce rate has been at 50% or higher for many years now. This is not a new phenomenon.
I think the real barometer of declining interest in baseball would be the freshman teams. Many of these kids have been playing rec all stars and travel and feel they are as good as anyone else. Many parents have elevated opinions of their child's abilities from playing on one of the many average travel teams that have evolved in the past 5 years. By the time they are sophs and especially juniors the weeding out process is in full swing.
I don't buy the divorce effect. If a father isn't interested enough to stay involved with his child after a divorce he probably wouldn't have been too involved if he were still married and living with the kid. My brother (divorced, son lives with his mother) has a son playing 3 sports in HS and is as involved in his son's games and practices as I am with mine (married). Also the divorce rate has been at 50% or higher for many years now. This is not a new phenomenon.
I think the real barometer of declining interest in baseball would be the freshman teams. Many of these kids have been playing rec all stars and travel and feel they are as good as anyone else. Many parents have elevated opinions of their child's abilities from playing on one of the many average travel teams that have evolved in the past 5 years. By the time they are sophs and especially juniors the weeding out process is in full swing.
I'm not buying the premise here. Yes, it may be declining at a specific school in one area or another, but to make a sweeping generalization about an overall decline doesn't ring true. In our part of the world, baseball programs at the rec and travel levels continue to flourish. And I've yet to see one high school drop the sport, even among the inner-city schools where the sport isn't as strong and the resources aren't as great.
Baseball is booming on many levels, although there are always going to be spots where that's not the case, especially places where the weather isn't as conducive to playing much of the year. The sheer explosion of travel and showcase baseball is a signal that the sport has great appeal to many kids, even those still wearing Ninja turtle gloves.
Coach May, that story was priceless, and all too true from what I saw from a few high school tryouts. As for the bats, I also used to be one of those parents who told my son to stuff his bat in his bat bag when he got back to the dugout (hopefully, later rather than sooner, if you know what I mean). It drove me crazy that other kids wouldn't use their own equipment or the team equipment.
Baseball is booming on many levels, although there are always going to be spots where that's not the case, especially places where the weather isn't as conducive to playing much of the year. The sheer explosion of travel and showcase baseball is a signal that the sport has great appeal to many kids, even those still wearing Ninja turtle gloves.
Coach May, that story was priceless, and all too true from what I saw from a few high school tryouts. As for the bats, I also used to be one of those parents who told my son to stuff his bat in his bat bag when he got back to the dugout (hopefully, later rather than sooner, if you know what I mean). It drove me crazy that other kids wouldn't use their own equipment or the team equipment.
I don't think that anyone here would disagree that when we were growing up, baseball did not take nearly the time (and money) commitment that it does today. I think that this has as much to do with it as anything. Most of us played 2-3 sports. Hell, today kids are pressured into committing to one.
A lot of kids baseball experience starts becoming a big-time commitment by the time they are 10 or 11. So after 6-7 years of the ever increasing commitment and pressure, you then have to, by today's standards, really commit to baseball full-time at the same time as girls, cars, social life, etc., also become important. Suddenly there are other things in life besides baseball 24/7/365. Throw school itself, the teen years, changing from boy to man, and it's quite the ride.
I think the pressures on kids today are greater than ever, and that includes baseball. The debate about the change in baseball over the last decade or so will rage on. But there's no doubt in my mind that the change is why the numbers continue to dwindle, and like it or not, it is also why some of those lost are actually very good players, who weren't quite ready yet to make the seemingly baseball-over-all-else commitment insinuated in so many places today. And once they are gone you don't get them back.
I am afraid that the numbers will continue to dwindle and that this will, in fact, affect MLB to the point that somewhere down the road the vast majority of MLB players will be foreign. It's already occurring for many reasons, and this will help contribute to the continued rise of foreign players.
And what about the future fan base?
A lot of kids baseball experience starts becoming a big-time commitment by the time they are 10 or 11. So after 6-7 years of the ever increasing commitment and pressure, you then have to, by today's standards, really commit to baseball full-time at the same time as girls, cars, social life, etc., also become important. Suddenly there are other things in life besides baseball 24/7/365. Throw school itself, the teen years, changing from boy to man, and it's quite the ride.
I think the pressures on kids today are greater than ever, and that includes baseball. The debate about the change in baseball over the last decade or so will rage on. But there's no doubt in my mind that the change is why the numbers continue to dwindle, and like it or not, it is also why some of those lost are actually very good players, who weren't quite ready yet to make the seemingly baseball-over-all-else commitment insinuated in so many places today. And once they are gone you don't get them back.
I am afraid that the numbers will continue to dwindle and that this will, in fact, affect MLB to the point that somewhere down the road the vast majority of MLB players will be foreign. It's already occurring for many reasons, and this will help contribute to the continued rise of foreign players.
And what about the future fan base?
it's dwindling? in cooperstown they have 100 teams a week at one place, there are 2 more out there as well. showcases are full. the big tournements are doing ok, where do these kids come from?
Yes, there's Cooperstown. Been there, done that twice. Cooperstown will always be Cooperstown. But that's not really what we are talking about. The numbers are out there, and participation continues to decline. And for those of us old enough to have been involved in it longer than we care to admit, we don't need the numbers to tell us. We can see it.
And it is particularly noticable in the teen age groups, especially high school.
And it is particularly noticable in the teen age groups, especially high school.
As a D3 Head College coach replied back to me via my e-mail account ... he is quoted as follows ...
quote:What ever happened to playing because it was FUN?
Coaches... If it's fun, they will love it....if they love it, they'll play it... It may really be that simple.
Maybe baseball is declining because this generation's parents spend so much of their time with their face buried in a computer, groaning about how our kids just don't make good use of their like we did when we were kids.
wraggArm
Very interesting point. Made me stop and think. That us what I love about this site.
Very interesting point. Made me stop and think. That us what I love about this site.
quote:Originally posted by wraggArm:
Maybe baseball is declining because this generation's parents spend so much of their time with their face buried in a computer, groaning about how our kids just don't make good use of their [time] like we did when we were kids.
How 'bout that! I like it!
quote:when baseball becomes your job, fun usually takes a back seat.
As a player, I never got this point. I play baseball 5 or 6 days a week in the summer, and train 3 days minimum during the winter. Although I realize this isn't as much at the baseball powerhouses or even other college programs work, I'm looking forward to it next year during my freshman year in college.
To me, baseball is never be a job regardless of how much time you put into it. It should never be a job despite all the efforts put forth. It has never been this way to me, and I think (I hope) others would agree.
Baseball is booming outside the US, thanks to the success and growth of MLB. Maybe baseball in the US from HS down needs to take a good look at itself.
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Have said this before and been shouted down...
While we would like to think that it is obvious that baseball is simply a better game, that great baseball will always draw fans...IMO One of the major reasons that baseball has been top of the heap for the past 100 years is that baseball has been a rite of passage for our nations youth. Baseball has not only gotten first choice of athletes, but more than that it has been a rite of passage for generations. Through broad based community youth ball programs roughly 80% of a communities youth gets a solid shot at baseball/softball and the vast majority either continue to play or at the very least even if they float away carry some sort of fondness for it forward to the next generation. While it may be argued that many walk away unhappy due to a lack of success, IMO It is pretty clear looking at many of the poorly co-ordinated parents that many had limited succes and yet community ball is still high on the list of experiences they want their kids to have. In fact, high enough that they work tirelessly supporting ballparks and snackbars creating something uniquely american and singular in the youth sports world.
IMO, The implications for the breakdown of community ball spread far beyond your local little league field, far beyond the "quality of future players at a HS or a college level...if baseball passes from being a rite of passage for every family and every american child, to simply "one of many options", the chain that has sustained the priority position of baseball as america's game is in jeopardy, irregarless of the quality of play/players at a professional level. Every sport has it's magical players, part of what seperates baseball is that it is simply part of our familiy history. Less community players means less broadbased participation and as a result less future fans, and a smaller MLB fan base. Frankly I am floored that MLB has not made this connection and an effort to enhance and support community leagues just for this purpose alone. THis is real grass roots stuff. In many inner city communities this has already come to pass, and baseball is now "out of the loop". IMO same thing has begun to happen in the suburbs as community ball moves more and more to regional and national play.
44
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quote:Originally posted by getagoodpitchtohit:
And what about the future fan base?
Have said this before and been shouted down...
While we would like to think that it is obvious that baseball is simply a better game, that great baseball will always draw fans...IMO One of the major reasons that baseball has been top of the heap for the past 100 years is that baseball has been a rite of passage for our nations youth. Baseball has not only gotten first choice of athletes, but more than that it has been a rite of passage for generations. Through broad based community youth ball programs roughly 80% of a communities youth gets a solid shot at baseball/softball and the vast majority either continue to play or at the very least even if they float away carry some sort of fondness for it forward to the next generation. While it may be argued that many walk away unhappy due to a lack of success, IMO It is pretty clear looking at many of the poorly co-ordinated parents that many had limited succes and yet community ball is still high on the list of experiences they want their kids to have. In fact, high enough that they work tirelessly supporting ballparks and snackbars creating something uniquely american and singular in the youth sports world.
IMO, The implications for the breakdown of community ball spread far beyond your local little league field, far beyond the "quality of future players at a HS or a college level...if baseball passes from being a rite of passage for every family and every american child, to simply "one of many options", the chain that has sustained the priority position of baseball as america's game is in jeopardy, irregarless of the quality of play/players at a professional level. Every sport has it's magical players, part of what seperates baseball is that it is simply part of our familiy history. Less community players means less broadbased participation and as a result less future fans, and a smaller MLB fan base. Frankly I am floored that MLB has not made this connection and an effort to enhance and support community leagues just for this purpose alone. THis is real grass roots stuff. In many inner city communities this has already come to pass, and baseball is now "out of the loop". IMO same thing has begun to happen in the suburbs as community ball moves more and more to regional and national play.
44.
We talk about "sandlot baseball" like we used to know it---sadly though it cannot happen for varied reasons--no empty lots to play in, no available school fields for kid as you need permission, insurance and a fee in most cases
I doubt the kids of today would even know how to chose up sides much less what a "do over" is
I doubt the kids of today would even know how to chose up sides much less what a "do over" is
lol, TRhit, we called it a take-over.
I live outside of Philadelphia. The Phillies drew 3.6 million fans this year. Many games were sold out.
When the defending World Champions went to Florida to play the Marlins or Rays, the stadiums were empty. ??? To me, Florida is king of all baseball. The first time I flew in there, I was amazed at what I saw before landing- baseball fields everywhere, as far as I could see. Why do the two Florida MLB teams have such attendance problems?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
I live outside of Philadelphia. The Phillies drew 3.6 million fans this year. Many games were sold out.
When the defending World Champions went to Florida to play the Marlins or Rays, the stadiums were empty. ??? To me, Florida is king of all baseball. The first time I flew in there, I was amazed at what I saw before landing- baseball fields everywhere, as far as I could see. Why do the two Florida MLB teams have such attendance problems?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
Make it fun! I always love that statement when I hear it. If we made it fun way more kids would want to play. Is it fun to spend a hour in the cage going from drill to drill working on your swing? For some it is. For others it is not. Is it fun to work your core until you feel like your going to throw up? Is is fun to block baseballs off your body , forearms , biceps and then catch three bull pens? Is it fun to do what it takes to make you a better player? To the players that love the game and want to work to be the best they can be , yes that is fun. Not at the time they are doing it. But when they finish and the see the results of their hard work. Is it fun for the ones that just want to have fun? No.
Is it fun to get up and go to work everyday? Is it fun to have to sacrifice to earn some rewards? You see everyone wants a paycheck. But everyone is not willing to put in the work to actually earn that paycheck. Is it fun to get that paycheck? Is is fun to earn that paycheck? I think of baseball just like a bank account. When your working to get better , everytime you invest in your game you are putting money in your baseball bank account. The goal is to one day make a baseball withdrawal. Others want to make a withdrawal without every makeing a deposit in their account. It just doesnt work that way. Alot of kids are having fun playing the game until they get to the point where it takes some work to continue to play the game. Now its not any fun anymore.
Make it fun! Hey guess what. It is fun to those that love the game and want to actually invest in something. Its not going to be fun if you are looking for a pay day without ever going to work. When a player wants to get better and understands they have to work to get better they are having fun by working at the game.
As a hs coach your job is to teach them the game to the best of your ability. Your job is to prepare them for the next level. Your job is to push them , challenge them, help them become the best player they can possibly be. This in turn will help your team be the best it can be. I am not going to coddle kids in an attempt to make it fun for those not willing to work. I am going to do everything in my power to give those that want it and are willing to work for it the best opportunity to be the best they can be. For them that is fun.
If baseball is on the decline then it is on the decline because there are less kids out there actually willing to work for something. The college coaches I know want players that not only have talent but also have a strong work ethic in the game. Guys that enjoy working to get better. Having fun means different things to different people. Some kids are having fun at the same time other kids are miserable doing the exact same thing. Some kids can play left field and be absolutely bored to death the entire game unless a ball is actually hit to them. While another kid is having a blast regardless if he gets a single ball hit to him. He is reading every pitch , running scenarios through his mind on every pitch on every situation. Backing up bases , moving on every pitch. Totally into the game. One is having fun the other wants to have fun.
Is it fun to get up and go to work everyday? Is it fun to have to sacrifice to earn some rewards? You see everyone wants a paycheck. But everyone is not willing to put in the work to actually earn that paycheck. Is it fun to get that paycheck? Is is fun to earn that paycheck? I think of baseball just like a bank account. When your working to get better , everytime you invest in your game you are putting money in your baseball bank account. The goal is to one day make a baseball withdrawal. Others want to make a withdrawal without every makeing a deposit in their account. It just doesnt work that way. Alot of kids are having fun playing the game until they get to the point where it takes some work to continue to play the game. Now its not any fun anymore.
Make it fun! Hey guess what. It is fun to those that love the game and want to actually invest in something. Its not going to be fun if you are looking for a pay day without ever going to work. When a player wants to get better and understands they have to work to get better they are having fun by working at the game.
As a hs coach your job is to teach them the game to the best of your ability. Your job is to prepare them for the next level. Your job is to push them , challenge them, help them become the best player they can possibly be. This in turn will help your team be the best it can be. I am not going to coddle kids in an attempt to make it fun for those not willing to work. I am going to do everything in my power to give those that want it and are willing to work for it the best opportunity to be the best they can be. For them that is fun.
If baseball is on the decline then it is on the decline because there are less kids out there actually willing to work for something. The college coaches I know want players that not only have talent but also have a strong work ethic in the game. Guys that enjoy working to get better. Having fun means different things to different people. Some kids are having fun at the same time other kids are miserable doing the exact same thing. Some kids can play left field and be absolutely bored to death the entire game unless a ball is actually hit to them. While another kid is having a blast regardless if he gets a single ball hit to him. He is reading every pitch , running scenarios through his mind on every pitch on every situation. Backing up bases , moving on every pitch. Totally into the game. One is having fun the other wants to have fun.
Thanks Coach. I am printing that entry out and leaving it on the kitchen table for my sons to read.
If you understand the game and respect the game, then it will be for the LOVE of the game as you will have FUN playing the game and evening watching the game from the stands. I had the great experience of playing in this league from 2005 thru 2007 up til the young age of 39yrs and 10 months.
The RCBL of the Rockingham County based around Harrisburg, VA ... a league that has been in existence since 1924.
This is a historic summer baseball circuit that has provided quality amateur baseball throughout Rockingham County for over 85 years. It is the second oldest continuous running baseball league in the country - trailing only major league baseball itself. The Rockingham County Baseball League, or RCBL, was founded in 1924, and has included teams from across Rockingham County, Virginia and up and down the Shenandoah Valley.
The league currently boasts eight teams. These are Clover Hill, Bridgewater, Broadway, Elkton, Montezuma, New Market, Shenandoah and Stuarts Draft.
On the web at ... www.rcblonline.com
The RCBL of the Rockingham County based around Harrisburg, VA ... a league that has been in existence since 1924.
This is a historic summer baseball circuit that has provided quality amateur baseball throughout Rockingham County for over 85 years. It is the second oldest continuous running baseball league in the country - trailing only major league baseball itself. The Rockingham County Baseball League, or RCBL, was founded in 1924, and has included teams from across Rockingham County, Virginia and up and down the Shenandoah Valley.
The league currently boasts eight teams. These are Clover Hill, Bridgewater, Broadway, Elkton, Montezuma, New Market, Shenandoah and Stuarts Draft.
On the web at ... www.rcblonline.com
quote:To me, baseball is never be a job regardless of how much time you put into it. It should never be a job despite all the efforts put forth. It has never been this way to me, and I think (I hope) others would agree.
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mid atlantic
my point is there may come a day that batting 300 keeps your scholly, or you need to throw 3 scoreless or you get released. it can become much more than just fun. the better player's get it done, sounds like you have the fortitude to do it.
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Is it fun to get up and go to work everyday? Is it fun to have to sacrifice to earn some rewards? You see everyone wants a paycheck. But everyone is not willing to put in the work to actually earn that paycheck. Is it fun to get that paycheck? Is is fun to earn that paycheck? I think of baseball just like a bank account. When your working to get better , everytime you invest in your game you are putting money in your baseball bank account. The goal is to one day make a baseball withdrawal. Others want to make a withdrawal without every makeing a deposit in their account. It just doesnt work that way. Alot of kids are having fun playing the game until they get to the point where it takes some work to continue to play the game. Now its not any fun anymore.
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coach up until my back started talking to me i loved going to work.( goes to show you how smart i am.
) i do concrete foundations for a living and i always love to see the fruits of our labor. i have fun doing it too.
baseball in our area has never been bigger.
but i take from the thread, participation isn't what we are talking about. is it the quality of the participation? i do believe the quality goes up and down the the stock market.
but i take from the thread, participation isn't what we are talking about. is it the quality of the participation? i do believe the quality goes up and down the the stock market.
Coach May -- WOW! Thanks for a terrific, and accurate, assessment. I have printed it for my son, and will be sharing it with some of our serious minded baseball friends.
I live very close to Coach Milburn's neighborhood. No doubt baseball has seen a decline in our area for many of the reasons posted here. Times and people have changed. Maybe it is all the other choices available; maybe it is a decline in desire; maybe we have gotten away from a time when kids could just be kids. Don't know ... and I'm not too sure that I care.
One thing is certain, if a kid loves the game, and embraces the concept that he needs to work to become his very best (whether that be playing baseball, or the bassoon); there are plenty of opportunities out there.
"Fun" is a relative word. It is true, most people only want the "fun" of the final outcome -- playing the game. Very few are willing to embrace the "fun" of doing the hard work to be able to play at their maximum potential.
I am a student of success, and in my work I deal extensively with helping individuals and organizations improve performance. I learned a long time ago that only 3% of people will willingly invest of their own time and effort to become the best they can be in any given endeavor, while the other 97% just do not care enough to put forth the effort.
You can fight this fact all you want, and will experience results similar to attempting to hold back the tide; or you can strive to surround yourself with the 3%'ers in whatever endeavor you enter, and allow the others to go their own way.
As a parent, I believe a big part of my job is to make sure my son understands that sustained success in all things is found only through pursuing the endeavor with pride, passion, and a commitment to excellence; and then to help him find those things he can throw himself into whole heartedly -- where he can be a 3%-er.
So far, those things have been baseball and business. Truth be told, he has come a lot further in both areas than his native abilities would suggest he could reach; and he is working harder every day to reach his dream of being a D1 player, studying in a top business program, starting in the fall of 2011.
What am I driving at? The Game is better than ever. There are more opportunities than ever for a kid to embrace the game and become the best player he can become. The knowledge and training available to young players has never been better. The playing opportunities have never been greater.
But the individual kid has to want it, and has to be backed by parents and coaches who will support them as they chase the dream.
For the kids who have the love for the game, and the desire to give of themselves to become a 3%-er in baseball ... there is plenty of opportunity out there. For others, there is still the bassoon.
I live very close to Coach Milburn's neighborhood. No doubt baseball has seen a decline in our area for many of the reasons posted here. Times and people have changed. Maybe it is all the other choices available; maybe it is a decline in desire; maybe we have gotten away from a time when kids could just be kids. Don't know ... and I'm not too sure that I care.
One thing is certain, if a kid loves the game, and embraces the concept that he needs to work to become his very best (whether that be playing baseball, or the bassoon); there are plenty of opportunities out there.
"Fun" is a relative word. It is true, most people only want the "fun" of the final outcome -- playing the game. Very few are willing to embrace the "fun" of doing the hard work to be able to play at their maximum potential.
I am a student of success, and in my work I deal extensively with helping individuals and organizations improve performance. I learned a long time ago that only 3% of people will willingly invest of their own time and effort to become the best they can be in any given endeavor, while the other 97% just do not care enough to put forth the effort.
You can fight this fact all you want, and will experience results similar to attempting to hold back the tide; or you can strive to surround yourself with the 3%'ers in whatever endeavor you enter, and allow the others to go their own way.
As a parent, I believe a big part of my job is to make sure my son understands that sustained success in all things is found only through pursuing the endeavor with pride, passion, and a commitment to excellence; and then to help him find those things he can throw himself into whole heartedly -- where he can be a 3%-er.
So far, those things have been baseball and business. Truth be told, he has come a lot further in both areas than his native abilities would suggest he could reach; and he is working harder every day to reach his dream of being a D1 player, studying in a top business program, starting in the fall of 2011.
What am I driving at? The Game is better than ever. There are more opportunities than ever for a kid to embrace the game and become the best player he can become. The knowledge and training available to young players has never been better. The playing opportunities have never been greater.
But the individual kid has to want it, and has to be backed by parents and coaches who will support them as they chase the dream.
For the kids who have the love for the game, and the desire to give of themselves to become a 3%-er in baseball ... there is plenty of opportunity out there. For others, there is still the bassoon.
I've been saying all along what happens with the next generation of kids when a lot of their dads didn't play baseball or bailed early for other options? Will these dads sign their kids up for baseball or send them diectly to lacrosse and spring s****r? When I was young if a kid didn't make LL he was still a baseball fan. His choices were limited. Now the kids are spread over a lot of sports and don't have a passion to watch baseball.quote:The implications for the breakdown of community ball spread far beyond your local little league field, far beyond the "quality of future players at a HS or a college level...if baseball passes from being a rite of passage for every family and every american child, to simply "one of many options", the chain that has sustained the priority position of baseball as america's game is in jeopardy, irregarless of the quality of play/players at a professional level.
quote:Originally posted by RJM:I've been saying all along what happens with the next generation of kids when a lot of their dads didn't play baseball or bailed early for other options? Will these dads sign their kids up for baseball or send them diectly to lacrosse and spring s0ccer? When I was young if a kid didn't make LL he was still a baseball fan. His choices were limited. Now the kids are spread over a lot of sports and don't have a passion to watch baseball.quote:The implications for the breakdown of community ball spread far beyond your local little league field, far beyond the "quality of future players at a HS or a college level...if baseball passes from being a rite of passage for every family and every american child, to simply "one of many options", the chain that has sustained the priority position of baseball as america's game is in jeopardy, irregarless of the quality of play/players at a professional level.
Look in the stands. Parents, grandparents. Anyone else? I asked why none of the student body ever came to a baseball game.
"They're all doing something else."
One day, I pulled in the gigantic lot and every space was full. Cars on the grass. An adjacent field was filled with kids- hundreds of them. Yelling, screaming, laughing, cheering, really whooping it up. It looked like Woodstock.
Turns out it was Ultimate Frisbee.
"They're all doing something else."
One day, I pulled in the gigantic lot and every space was full. Cars on the grass. An adjacent field was filled with kids- hundreds of them. Yelling, screaming, laughing, cheering, really whooping it up. It looked like Woodstock.
Turns out it was Ultimate Frisbee.
I think the way kids watch baseball has changed over the years. Kids and teenagers today grew up with SportsCenter, they do not want to sit and watch a whole game they are only interested in the highlights and how their fantasy players numbers are looking. Not many have the patience to sit and watch an entire game on TV, which is sad but it is a reality of the world in which we currently live.
If there's one common quote that really gets under my skin, it's that one: "Make it fun!"
You don't have to MAKE baseball fun. It IS fun! That is why we're playing it in the first place!
I hear that quote most around youth baseball. It comes often from parents who complain that their sons are bored at practices, or that coaching is too stressed out. Well, those are valid complaints. But so often people want you to turn practices into a series of entertainment events. Kind of like when you go to an MLB game and spend your time wandering the concourses looking for the sideshow distractions.
If the kids are bored, keep practices fast paced and challenging. If the coaching is abusive, replace it. If the coaching is pushing for performance and not getting it, then evaluate whether the problem is with too much vein-bulging yelling, or maybe with too many people thinking the objective of a baseball practice or game is to replace a video game or a TV show as an entertainment venue.
Too often the "make it fun" crowd is in that last category.
What teen players especially need to learn is that there is a brand of fun more deeply satisfying than the instant gratification kind -- the kind that comes when you practice hard and practice well, and then end up getting more hits, pitching better, fielding better, or playing together as a team for a team win. This is where baseball can really help kids mature and appreciate the kinds of fun that are more deeply meaningful than any thousand instances of the momentary kind.
I really can't see any grandpa taking a young lad on his knee and saying, "Let me tell you about the time we turned baseball practice into a series of silly things," any more than I could imagine him saying, "Let me tell you about this killer video game we had when I was your age." But MY grandpa loved to tell me about his exploits in the old coal mining towns' semi pro circuit.
You don't have to MAKE baseball fun. It IS fun! That is why we're playing it in the first place!
I hear that quote most around youth baseball. It comes often from parents who complain that their sons are bored at practices, or that coaching is too stressed out. Well, those are valid complaints. But so often people want you to turn practices into a series of entertainment events. Kind of like when you go to an MLB game and spend your time wandering the concourses looking for the sideshow distractions.
If the kids are bored, keep practices fast paced and challenging. If the coaching is abusive, replace it. If the coaching is pushing for performance and not getting it, then evaluate whether the problem is with too much vein-bulging yelling, or maybe with too many people thinking the objective of a baseball practice or game is to replace a video game or a TV show as an entertainment venue.
Too often the "make it fun" crowd is in that last category.
What teen players especially need to learn is that there is a brand of fun more deeply satisfying than the instant gratification kind -- the kind that comes when you practice hard and practice well, and then end up getting more hits, pitching better, fielding better, or playing together as a team for a team win. This is where baseball can really help kids mature and appreciate the kinds of fun that are more deeply meaningful than any thousand instances of the momentary kind.
I really can't see any grandpa taking a young lad on his knee and saying, "Let me tell you about the time we turned baseball practice into a series of silly things," any more than I could imagine him saying, "Let me tell you about this killer video game we had when I was your age." But MY grandpa loved to tell me about his exploits in the old coal mining towns' semi pro circuit.
Terrific insights on the accessement of baseball's suspected decline...love the different point of views that makes this the great american game...there seems to be some concern starting with the leadershio of MLB...as the Selig has established a team of current/past coaches, players, and correspondences to determine ways to make baseball more exciting, in turn would bring more attention to the sport from the fans...JMHO...Blue Skies...
quote:
Originally posted by Good-eye:
Terrific insights on the accessement of baseball's suspected decline...love the different point of views that makes this the great american game...there seems to be some concern starting with the leadershio of MLB...as the Selig has established a team of current/past coaches, players, and correspondences to determine ways to make baseball more exciting, in turn would bring more attention to the sport from the fans...JMHO...Blue Skies...
Good-eye....
Just exactly how was it at Woodstock anyways? LOL
Midlo that is one of the best posts I have ever read on this site. You said it so much better than I did. Way better.
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Would agree with the fun to a point...
There are two kinds of fun. The "Entertain me" kind of fun, and that of "working hard long term to acheive a goal" kind of fun. In the best of circumstances they meet, sometimes they do not. Coach strictly to the "entertain me" kind of fun and you are in just as much trouble as if it is boring. The danger is that you continue to have to come up with new entertainment continually, players at some point have to be shifted to the more long term fun. "Entertain me" is a way in, but NOT a long term solution either in micro or in society as a whole. IMO, that is one of the biggest challenegs we face right now is a world gone mad with "entertain me" and "I am entitiled to be entertained"
Unfortunately we are living in an "entertain me" "Instant gratification" kind of world. Many kids feel that they are entitled to be entertained, every minute of every day, in every activity. Fewer and fewer are willing to work hard and wait to see waht they can accomplish, fewer are willing to invest long term, even in themselves. I see fewer and fewer kids on my teams who arrive with any concept of delayed gratification. For this reason IMO delayed gratification has to be taught, the same way and with the same, and perhaps more emphasis as physical skills. Give me a kid who is willing mentally to work hard at a task and develop it, not matter how long it takes and no matter what the talent level, I can teach him any skill. Give me a kid with some talent and no long term view and I have a short term flash in the pan, or a player who is always potential and never reaches his possibilities.
For this reason much of coaching has changed from the physical to instilling a new set of "athletic values". I believe that was part of the problem with Leach at TTU, he had to get into the players head and change his values, and he was not able to.
It is up to those who understand this dying art to introduce it/teach it to the next generation. It is one of the major reasons that we have our kids in baseball and sports. There is no better teacher.
44
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Would agree with the fun to a point...
There are two kinds of fun. The "Entertain me" kind of fun, and that of "working hard long term to acheive a goal" kind of fun. In the best of circumstances they meet, sometimes they do not. Coach strictly to the "entertain me" kind of fun and you are in just as much trouble as if it is boring. The danger is that you continue to have to come up with new entertainment continually, players at some point have to be shifted to the more long term fun. "Entertain me" is a way in, but NOT a long term solution either in micro or in society as a whole. IMO, that is one of the biggest challenegs we face right now is a world gone mad with "entertain me" and "I am entitiled to be entertained"
Unfortunately we are living in an "entertain me" "Instant gratification" kind of world. Many kids feel that they are entitled to be entertained, every minute of every day, in every activity. Fewer and fewer are willing to work hard and wait to see waht they can accomplish, fewer are willing to invest long term, even in themselves. I see fewer and fewer kids on my teams who arrive with any concept of delayed gratification. For this reason IMO delayed gratification has to be taught, the same way and with the same, and perhaps more emphasis as physical skills. Give me a kid who is willing mentally to work hard at a task and develop it, not matter how long it takes and no matter what the talent level, I can teach him any skill. Give me a kid with some talent and no long term view and I have a short term flash in the pan, or a player who is always potential and never reaches his possibilities.
For this reason much of coaching has changed from the physical to instilling a new set of "athletic values". I believe that was part of the problem with Leach at TTU, he had to get into the players head and change his values, and he was not able to.
It is up to those who understand this dying art to introduce it/teach it to the next generation. It is one of the major reasons that we have our kids in baseball and sports. There is no better teacher.
44.
quote:the quality of baseball is declining very rapidly.
I think the quality of play has improved dramatically, at least in the "world I live in." A more competitive early enviornment, better coaching, great facilities, more games played ... etc, all contribute to better skills at earlier ages.
A sub-plot sprang up in this thread about the number of participants declining. Most all the reasons have been touched on; the competitiveness "outing" kids early, many sport and leisure activities to choose from, a general decline in fitness, TV and video games and so on.
You do see an early emergence, in youth baseball, of two groups; those wanting to just have fun (many times they are there for their parents who are looking for a physical activity for them to get involved in), and then the "I really want to excel and or get better group." I think Travel Ball was the natural by-product of the need for that more competitive outlet for those players.
Another factor plays in to how long a player stays involved or in which sport they choose. I think it's a Risk vs. Reward scenario for many. If I know I can't play in a competitive arena, then they drop-out. Additionally, baseball is a skill sport and thus, requires a disporportional amount of practice time (compared to football and basketball) to excel. For that reason alone, many athletes choose an easier sports path. Not that excelling in football, basketball, s****r, etc, isn't hard, because it is. But baseball is alone, I believe, in the diverse skills needed to succeed AND that doesn't even take in to account the mental fortitude needed to deal with the failures inate in the game.
it is
quote:Another factor plays in to how long a player stays involved or in which sport they choose. I think it's a Risk vs. Reward scenario for many. If I know I can't play in a competitive arena, then they drop-out. Additionally, baseball is a skill sport and thus, requires a disporportional amount of practice time (compared to football and basketball) to excel. For that reason alone, many athletes choose an easier sports path. Not that excelling in football, basketball, s****r, etc, isn't hard, because it is. But baseball is alone, I believe, in the diverse skills needed to succeed AND that doesn't even take in to account the mental fortitude needed to deal with the failures inate in the game.
Excellent point Prime9!
Yes excellent point Prime.
How often do we see fathers with their sons in the parks working on the game of baseball? Most fathers play golf and leave little Johnny home with mother.
I have witnessed a mother here in 22601 throwing BP to her son and I was so impressed ... but the BF or Father was standing on the outside of the cage just looking.
Some cases, both parents are forced to work and nobody home to keep an eye on the children which is not good. Wants vs. needs ... if parents scale back a little on the wants, then the needs of our children can be fulfilled.
Just my own honest opinion.
I have witnessed a mother here in 22601 throwing BP to her son and I was so impressed ... but the BF or Father was standing on the outside of the cage just looking.
Some cases, both parents are forced to work and nobody home to keep an eye on the children which is not good. Wants vs. needs ... if parents scale back a little on the wants, then the needs of our children can be fulfilled.
Just my own honest opinion.
In my area lots of kids still love to play baseball but, football reigns supreme.
The school allowed the "homecoming bonfire" to be held on the varsity field pitchers mound.
The field indecently is named after a MOH winner Bruce Crandell who attended and played for the high school.
I'm at a loss
The school allowed the "homecoming bonfire" to be held on the varsity field pitchers mound.
The field indecently is named after a MOH winner Bruce Crandell who attended and played for the high school.
I'm at a loss