Quality of team in travel ball

There is no reason to leave a situation like the one you are in. You already have everything a parent should want.

Trying to understand why an Org would put those types of coaches on a team of that AA level anyways? Unless its their first stint as a coach period.

There are a lot of competition for Travel Ball teams here in my area. Since the team my son plays on are paid coaches, being on this team is not cheap. Many (I would say most) of the travel teams around here are run by dads to keep the cost down. The only reason I am asking is, is it better to get high quality coaching or is it better to face better pitching/competition? Just want to make sure my son does not fall behind. Thanks again

Do you really know if the coaching is excellent? An ex-D1 player is probably knowledgeable about baseball generally, but isn't necessarily a good youth baseball coach or necessarily one who understands hitting or pitching technique.

In general, good coaching is more important than the level of the team, but truthfully AA ball in California (assuming you mean the USSSA rating system) is mostly made up of kids who won't play in high school. At least that was the case a few years ago. If your son has significantly more talent (I mean athletic ability, not developed skill) than his teammates, then even very good coaches may have trouble teaching him effectively in a group context.

From what I've seen, excellent coaches want to coach boys who they think have the potential to do well. So it may make sense to look at higher level teams. By the way, three of the best coaches I have encountered were dads who had not played past high school. I wouldn't reject a team on that basis alone, although there are plenty of dads doing a pretty poor job of coaching.

3FingeredGlove, thanks for your reply, the coaching staff if very good, I attend most practices and they are teaching the right things IMO. My son does excel on this team, can easily play up to the major level, but he really likes his coaches. Not so much concerned about the teaching in a group context, but am concern about the level of competition. I think there is some truth to playing down or up to your competition, but I know good coaching is hard to find. BTW the teams goal is to prepare these kids for high school play. Thanks again

Really good coaches who can teach the fine points of the defensive game are few & far between. Being from such a populous state, your 13U son may well have phenomenally coached opportunities on a strong AAA or majors team, that would take some serious investigation. If your son was local & a very talented 13 or 14U, I'd say the odds of finding quality coaching would be less than 1 in 20. Way too many local AAA "coaches" manage to luck into talent, yet do not have the skill set to teach & develop that talent.

Cant agree more with journey2s comments about AAA and major coaches lucking into good players. Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like good coaching should be the priority at this age, and I tend to agree. Its just nice to hear others reconfirm what I was thinking. I was getting pressure from a couple of the other dads that we should maybe move on to a AAA or major team, but I was not comfortable with leaving just to get on a more competitive team. My reason/goal for putting my son on a travel team was to get some top notch coaching to get him ready for high school, and I was at the point where I thought it might be better to have someone else coach my son besides myself. Thanks again for all the great feedback.

I would start caring about competitiveness around 15.

My experience with USSSA through 14U is many of the top teams tend to recruit the physical early bloomers over developing talent with quality instruction. By 15U the players and the parents start to figure out these coaches don't know how to teach the game. They start getting outcoached. I would look for a better level of competition than AA. But I would look very closely at the quality of the coaching.

Great question. My two cents...if your son is getting great coaching, it isn't breaking the bank, and he is having fun, I say stick with your current situation. As twotex and RJM point out, I would start to think about higher levels of baseball and greater exposure at 15.

Thank you RJM and fenwaysouth, probably gonna stay with his current team since the coaching IMO is outstanding. He also takes private hitting and fielding lessons so hopefully that would be enough for now. The better teams we have been playing are usually beaten us because of overall better talent not because of being over coached. My understanding is that in 14U and up there is only one division so the competition should be better. By the time he is 15 he will be a freshman in high school. Thanks again

You need to make sure he makes his HS team, so 15 yo may be too late.

If he's a pitcher, he needs good instruction (and velocity), and the competition isn't that important.

If he's a hitter, he needs to play on a very good team playing against good pitching to be prepared for HS.

Not many AA players make it past 9th in our area, but we are on the East Coast.

His hitting coach (who is an assistant varsity coach at a nearby HS)says he will have no problem making the HS team. Its a matter of which level. He is the ace on his travel team and bats either 1st or third, but its a AA team. That's my dilemma. Like others have posted, stronger comp or quality coaching. I am still leaning towards quality coaching for now. He is only in the 7th grade, so he has 2 years before high school. Might consider moving him up the year before he enters HS. Thanks

Standball,
I went throught same scenario with my kid. He moved from an AA squad to a Major level team a year ago.

For him, the level of instruction wasn't that different from AA to Majors but the level of competition in practice and in games was noticable from day one. I don't think there is any question his development was expedited by simply being surrounded by good ball players that were comitted to getting better. Its rubs off on a kid that wants to be a ball player or rubs them out if they are not.

What is more important, coaching or level of competition? I lean towards level of competition but some may not. In your case, it sounds like you have the ability to afford private instruction which some do not. My advice would be to find the highest level of competition your son can be competitive at and if the coaches on that team are not the sharpest tools in the shed, supplement with private instruction. I'll tell you in a few years if that is the 100% correct approach but it seems to be working well for now.

Metropop,

Thanks for your post. I think I am going to keep him where he is at for this year. He is having fun and really likes his team and coaches. When he moves on to 14U next year, my understanding is that there is no longer the rating (majors, AAA, AA etc...) they are all the same, so they will begin to play the better teams. Good luck to you and your son.

Good choice.

I honestly think that many of us are more concerned about the 'level' they play at a lot more than our kids are.

This is supposed to be a game. If he loves where he is at and the kids are at least good enough to not make him feel like he has to carry the team (happened to my son a few years ago) then let him have fun and play with his friends.

It gets so much more competitive in a few years.

Thanks Wklink, thats the plan.

Wklink,
Here is a scenario for you. Lets say your kid was invited to play a tournament with a higher level team that he was unfamiliar with. As a Dad, what opinion would you offer to your son to help him make a decision?

My son was asked to play a doubleheader for a 16U team when he was thirteen. I told him all they're looking for is him to be competent and not make any serious mistakes. I told him I beleive he could compete. I told him he would probably bat last and play left. I asked him if he was interested in knowing if he could compete. He led off and played second. When he led off the bottom of the first with a double he was on his way for the day.

My son only knew one player as an older brother of a friend. I also told him the only difference would be his teammates have sideburns and car keys. Then I laughed. He stoled third and scored on a grounder after the double. That got him accepted. They loved him when he took a pitch in the ribs with the bases loaded for a walk off win in game one.