More "select" players than HS roster spots?

Don't have anything to offer to your discussion other than I heard the same thing while back in Ohio over the Holidays. Program was administered by local town high school coach. Kid I met in it was 10 years old. Seemed a bit early to me.

IMO - Now days there are so many select teams it seems like everybody is on one. The rec leagues sometimes have trouble having enough teams. More and more dads are going out and forming select teams because you can play more games and you don't have to fool with all the league politics. All in all it probably has been good for baseball in general.

Anyway you add up the numbers for a general locale or high school, it's still the same kids trying out for the high school team.

Just because your "select" does not mean you are any more talented than some kids in rec. All it means today is that you travel to play ball.


Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Chicks - I think you made a very good point. I think a lot of dads are forming independent teams so they can recruit the players they want and don't have to draft through a rec. league.

This will work itself out over time as there become too many independent teams.

"Sending" players to tryout for a HS team??

First, if they are at the level to play for a true select team, they don't need to be sent.. By the time a player hits HS he must want to play the game, it must be in his heart (not his parents, not his friends and not his past coaches but his) or he has no business being on a field.. Since coaches are sending these players what will hapen to their positions on the select team if they are not one of the 15-18 chosen for the HS team?

_______________
"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole."

"JustMom"

Umm, I just meant that the players on those teams are now old enough to be freshmen, and will (I assume) be trying out for the school team. Kind of like bragging that your HS "sent" 3 players on to D1 schools?

D'oh!

As Chicks pointed out, there are still X number of kids moving up to try out for freshman team, the only difference is that a higher percentage of them are from select ball instead of league ball.

Our HS team (5-A) does not make cuts. But if they did and our son did not make the cut, I would encorage him to keep playing on a travel team.

Several posts here have stated that their kids never got looked at in HS ball, the attention they received was the result of showcases.

I firmly believe you need the combination of HS ball, travel teams and showcases-- they all contribute to the end result, hopefully which is a positive result

TRhit

I'm still wondering when/if we'll venture down the travel/select road?

As many of you know, my son's only 9-1/2 and just moving up into LL Majors next season (after having tried Majors this past fall). We're in RI, and I don't even hear much about travel teams in our state. Perhaps they're much more prevalent over in MA, but then we might have to travel a couple/few hours to each game, or worse, to practices. That could sure stretch our schedules out a bit, but if he really wanted to do it, we'd sacrifice. Is that type of travel the norm? You have to understand, in RI, because we can drive out of our state in any direction in about 15 mins, anything longer than 30 mins requires a bag lunch and maybe even sleeping bags!

I know my son really enjoyed playing in "All-Stars" (a Minor league variation) last summer. The increased competition and teammate skill level was a real draw for him. But I guess I figure, for now, w/ him moving up to be a little fish in a big pond next season, maybe he's got all he can handle still in rec ball - at least for another year or so.

I agree that calling it "select" in this day and age seems to be a bit of a misnomer. We had a guy invite my son to tryout for the "select" s*ccer team he was forming last fall, and his son was among the least skilled players on the rec team the prior year. But of course, he'd be a starter on this new team, but hardly "select".

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Caution: I have absolutely NO credentials, so take everything I say w/ a grain o' salt!

“Select” has become a buzz word that is used to describe a team that has at least nine players, two bats, and an innovative coach.
Daddy Ball has infiltrated the ranks of Select baseball and those daddies have created pedestals (teams) for their sons. While I’m not totally against the creation of teams, I think it has completely changed the pre-high school format.
Fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

sandman -
whatever his age - as long as he's playing where he's challenged - he's in the right place


ps- I'm with fungo - some communities found they can charge much higher fees if they re-name their "REC" teams as "select"

good luck



lefties? - - - they just aint right!

Fungo is right about Daddy Ball. I had to laugh. A few years back, the dad's of the 12 old all-stars (translation: the dad's who coached in the 12 year old league) formed a "select" team for age 13. They spent about $5-6K on hiring a small local college asst. coach for them. They got hammered by every select team around. Our Summer Rec League all-stars beat them in a practice game. They had gotten minimally better since age 12. It was more about the dads.

In my area (Louisville, KY) there are between 8-10 "select" teams in our age group. Below our age group are even more. Little League and Babe Ruth (Cal Ripkin) baseball has really taken a hit. The kids on my team play both. I am one of those Dads that formed a team, but for a different reason than has been posted. My son is very serious about baseball and the rec league kids (many of whom are very talented) are not as committed. It is also a factor that playing against better teams will help you improve. But, the single most important reason we went the "select" team route was that in rec ball you had a different team every year and with it many new players that didn't know the fundamentals. While this is great for baseball, it is hard for a kid that wants to play college or beyond. You may ask why? Because every year the team has to start over at the very beginning - teaching how to hold the bat, stand in the box, stay down on the ball, point and throw. The talented kids never get the chance to learn the next level of the game. Our "select" team is made up of the same 12 kids for the last 3 years. We started at an advanced level and have moved nowhere but up. We are able to focus on advanced techniques and strategies. Our kids have been playing by HS rules for three years now and at HS distances for two. I believe that I am not alone in making the switch for this reason.

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

Sandman

You state RI is predominantly a Legion state when it gets to the older levels

Most RI kids who play on select teams play out of state, we have had a few with us.

As regards "select" teams at the 8 thru 12 age I think it hurts the kids because to much emphasis is put on winning and not teaching the fundamentals---the kids get to the HS level not having a full understanding of the game

TRhit

Sandman,
I don't know what it's like in RI but here in MS you've got to be on a select team to meet the best competition. In RI it might depend on how strong the rec leagues are and how your son matches up with the others. If he is one of the top 3 players in a league of 10 teams, you definitely would benefit from select if it is convenient for a 10 year old. If a great deal of travel is involved due to where you live, then you might want to wait until he is 12 or 13.

My oldest had to travel 75 miles to practice at 13 and 55 miles at 14.
My youngest had to travel 75 miles at 12 and 13 and will travel 120 miles at 14 this year.
We loved every minute of it and made all kinds of new friends that we still visit today.

Make no mistake, the benefits were rewarding!

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

P.S. Sandman,

You must be careful when selecting your select team, you need to know the backgrounds of the players and coaches. Be sure they're top notch players that he will be playing with, this is very important!

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Chicks

So true--many are set up by "DADDY" for his son and are not truly "select" teams

TRhit

The version of baseball called select or travel for boys 8-12 scares me. As TRHit stated, they seem to concentrate on winning and not teaching the fundamentals. This reminds me of s----r. My son played travel or select s----r from K-7th grade along with plain old little league. His s----r coach is tauted as one of the best and when my son went up to him at 13 and told him he was quitting because it wasn't fun anymore, the coach was dumbfounded. The coach told him he was forming a national team to tour the country and my son said he didn't care because he wasn't having fun. After Little League he began playing travel baseball because he decided that's what he loved playing and it had stayed fun. No matter how good you are at any sport, if the fun is taken away, they will lose their love for the game. Don't rush travel in the younger years. Learn the game, play all the positions(yes, even the ones that may not be their best position at 8-12) in the younger years and hopefully they will love the game in their older years. I have seen freshman who played travel baseball for 4 years prior that aren't half as good as others who have stayed away from travel.

I have noticed a big increase in the number of select teams in our area, possibly for the reasons stated; parents building teams around their own kids.

With all the dads starting teams, and competing with the "clubs" that have professional coaches, there just aren't enough skilled players to form "true select" teams as one poster said.

I assistant coached/coached my kid for the past 3 years, and he is now on a team coached by a former college/pro player who doesn't have a kid on the team, which is working out great.

I wish one of those coaches would come along, I would gladly turn the reigns over. I do what I do to help the kids on my team - all of them. If a more knowledgable coach became an option, I would step aside; it's about them, not me.

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

Our team is a local all-star team and three of the best players are playing on what I'd call select or at least very strong travel teams instead of playing with us. We call ourselves a tournament team and don't try to pass ourselves off as a select or even a travel team. We play against legitimate select teams on occasion and although the kids can hang with them when they are playing well they get slaughtered when they aren't.

I read this thread a little late...

But the proliferation of Travel teams in my area is ridiculous. Used to be if you could play travel ball you almost was sure to play HS ball. But NO MORE. When my older son was playing 12-13U there was 5 established CLUBs that had teams of all age brackets and then a few LL all-star teams would try and for a travel team. So maybe 10-15 teams in San Diego County.

Now there are 3-4 LEAGUES with anywhere from 10 teams to one with 26 teams... Maybe 60 or more teams... The nubmer of travel teams has has grown at least 5 times... Which really means the talent has diluted that much. But only one HS has been added in the last 10-12 years.

Just within a 5 mile radius there is now at least "8" 13 or 14U teams (that I'm aware of maybe more)to feed into THREE High schools, plus there are 6 LLs and 1 Pony leagues.... with All-star teams (although some kids particiapte in both) PLUS there are the local boys who traveled a bit further to be on the HIGH profile teams.

Typically there are not more that about 5-6 seniors starting on a single Varsity team. So I'd estimate there are at least 80-100 or more kids at each grade level participating on a travel team or all-stars.... in our local area and maybe 15-18 of them will play Varsity baseball.

It reminds me of a nearby team, where the coaches wanted to keep it all LOCAL, just the boys that would stay together from LL and eventually PLAY for one HS. They wanted them to grow together and have a powerhouse in HS. So from LL All-stars they tried to keep the team together. But that policy eventually changed as they couldn't remain competitive in travel ball competition, and they had to recruit "outside" players.

Anyway, now that all the boys are either Juniors or seniors in HS... Out of 12-15 kids(parents) that thought at 12yo they'd be playing Varsity now, there are only two players from that team that are actually on that particular HS team.

So the best laid plans of mice and men....

if they have 3 teams feeding directly to one school then they are not very select!unless it is a huge school(5,000) i can't see 35 freshman being what i call select players. in my area we have 3 -4 teams that feed to a school but they are not equal. the top team is not a feeder and has kids that go to many different schools. the second is the "true" feeder team that works directly the high school coaches. the third is a team made up for kids that couldn't make the top teams or couldn't afford the top teams. the final one is actually a feeder for the private school but they will take 25% of their team from other schools. if a kid plays the independent team he will make the team. if he plays for the school team he will probably make the team, only the very best players from the others have much of a chance to make it. as was said earlier if they are challenged, they are in the right place!

Our "select" program is run by a professional that gets paid for taeching our kids. Dads still coach the team but when the instructor is around (about 85% of the time) he runs the whole show. When he is not available he lets the dad coachs know what he expects for that game.
We have a very successful program at grooming players for H.S. and beyond.Eight players from the first team that played for our orginization have already signed a NLI to these schools
1-Texas 1-TEXAS A&M 2-RICE 2-Vanderbilt 1-St Edwards 1-Air Force.
Kids start as young as 7u with us and are taught fundementals from day 1.
IMO a "good" select program for non high school teams is the only way to go.

www.banditosbaseballclub.com

Go Hard or Go Home

Aren't select or travel teams being coached by "daddy" still Daddy Ball at the end of the day???
In our area, we have a huge growth of travel teams. In a 50 mile radius, there is probably 20+ teams in EACH age group and we are not a big city. High School Baseball has risen in stature also. More kids trying out for it than Football. At my 5A High School, sometimes 35-40 trying out for the Freshman Team and probably 80-90% of them have play some stage of travel ball.
At the end, travel or not, those that have worked on there fundamentals, foot speed, arm speed will make the team, regardless of their travel resume or whose local team uni they are wearing!!

Bandito, and boy does he run the "show".

I coached against him last year, he spent the his time in the 3rd base coaches box on his cell phone, just laughing and talking loud, while the game was going on. That lack of respect for us turned me off of the program.

Best of luck to your son, and when he gets there, Go Mustangs!

"God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise."...Joe Jackson