SMU Baseball

rcmax and others,

By what standards was the TCL deemed a "success"? I am not arguing that it was or it wasn't....I am just curious.

-PD

I doubt SMU will start baseball again. They just cut a successful track and field program.

Panther Dad, We had several players from Lamar University that played up there this summer and had nothing but great things to say about the program. These are young men who have played in the northeast the previous summers so I would believe they would be good judges.....

bbmom,

I'm glad the Lamar players enjoyed the TCL season, but I have heard stories from many that thought the season was difficult -- especially in terms of how much time was required. From my perspective, this affected the local kids more than those from other states/regions. A metroplex kid traveling to Weatherford or Graham or Granbury made a substantal commitment in terms of time, etc. Those kids had a difficult time attending summer school or working summer jobs. I know many will argue that a league of this type requires sacrifice -- and getting better is worth the investment.

I am also curious if the league was successul from a financial point of view -- was attendance as anticipated?

Don't misunderstand my questions -- I love the idea that there is a premier college league in our back yard.....and I hope my son(s) have an opportunity to play in the league.

I suppose there are many definitions for the word "success".

-PD

TCL: success, i would say, in attracting a number of good quality college players.

would agree with the observation re too many games. as if we didn't learn it when they were young, it is possible for too much of a good thing; these young men are still college kids, after all.

I do not know anything about the financial end but any of the better summer wood bat leagues require a lot of time and travel. My son played in the NECBL last summer and the ACBL this past summer. Driving time to most out of town games was from 30 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Even though they did not play everyday it was still hard to work. A lot of kids did though. There were also a lot of local kids on the teams that did not live in the immediate area and they would drive to games from their homes. These leagues are to develop players. I know that some of the LU players do not go off and play during the summer because they need to work or go to summer school. This is something that needs to be thought out before committing to one of these programs. These programs are also very competitive. They will replace kids that are injured if they will be out more than a week or so because there is limited time to get these leagues finished. My sons league finished almost 2 weeks late because of rainouts. Very frustrating because family vacations were missed, but he felt it was worth it because of the development.