What was the best part/experience for your son when he played in a summer league and what was the worst part/experience?
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Lots of games, good competition. Bad side: Almost no days off, travel on buses until 2-3 in the morning, bad food at games and the town shut down about 9:30 so nothing open for food after games. Pitchers had to attend all games even through starters only pitched every 7 days.
Huge discussion of this last year:
https://community.hsbaseballwe...-they-are-a-changing
Best: games every day, learned a lot about baseball, saw new parts of the country, met players from all over
Worst: he didn't say much that was negative, has been lucky I guess
First year son(RHP) played in the Hampton's League, and then NECBL for 2 weeks. He enjoyed the NECBL, taking a ferry to Martha's Vinyard. Was not thrilled with the Hampton's League but I think a lot of that had to do with it being during Covid and sharing a basement with 5 other players.
This year my 2022 son is playing in the Hamptons league, and is assigned to the team with the D1 female player. Anticipating a circus!
Kid is playing the same local league he did last year. 4 games a week and the comp will be good enough for him to get more reps to improve his fielding and work on improving his outside hitting. More importantly he will be able to work 4 days a week as his savings has been depleted. His very kind and too generous parents have subsidized his summer gym fees.
My son said the best part and worst part were essentially tied to the same thing. Playing six days a week was fun. Playing six days a week and the travel left little time for anything else.
Playing two summers near his grandfather allowed them to spend the most time together ever. Grandpa got to see him play more ball than ever before.
The schedule, road trips by bus, road trip food and cheap hotels convinced him if not drafted in the top twenty rounds (position player) he wasn’t interested in signing (there were forty rounds when he turned twenty-one).
The amount of games is designed that way to keep them busy. No drinking or going to parties.
The travel part is designed to let players know what milb is like. If your sons don't like games almost every night, no place to stop and eat they won't last long in proball, although it's gotten better.
TPM
seven days a week and Bob Gibson is your opponent. Why time off from your favorite game. Every inning, every pitch every day you learn a lesson. Paint a railroad bridge over the Missouri River teaches history and $$$.
Bob
@Consultant posted:TPM
seven days a week and Bob Gibson is your opponent. Why time off from your favorite game. Every inning, every pitch every day you learn a lesson. Paint a railroad bridge over the Missouri River teaches history and $$$.
Bob
Agree Bob.
Summer ball is for working on your stuff and getting in the reps or innings that you didn't get at your program. Embrace the opportunity.
Good: Reps, try tweaking some things with no real repercussions, different coaching perspectives. Draft implications in some leagues.
Bad: Very few of the kids actually want to be there. Unless you're in the Cape or a premier league, many are just doing it because their coaches told them to. They would rather be at the lake, the beach, or mostly just sleeping in and playing video games/catching up with home friends. Sometimes you will also be dealing with an inferior coach/staff that are also trying to make a name for themselves.
Fortunately, there are serious baseball players, who will replace the "make believe" players. That attitude will carry to their future career's.
Bob
The good: playing everyday; playing with some very good players from many different schools; free dairy queen whenever they wanted. They would run out between reps/practice to get smoothies. Lunch and dinner, too, when needed. Son said they never got tired of it, especially the ice cream. Son loved his summer experience.
The bad: for me, the turnover. Players were coming and going all season for different reasons (summer school, homesick, etc). I was used to the college constant roster. This also gets them ready for a pro team turnover.
The Bad: for son, the host family. Host family (no cost to player) mom had some cognitive issues starting and the dad maybe thought having players in the house would be additional eyes on her. It was their first time being a host family. However, the players were not around a lot, and sometimes when they would come home late from a game no one would be there. Another family kinda adopted them and let them know they could count on them for any reason, which was very helpful. There were other issues, too.
@TPM, no drinking??? If they are drinkers/partiers, they will find a way, I can assure you.
Dave only played one summer of summer ball and it was for the Falmouth Commodores. It was a requirement to work part time as well as strict curfew on nights off. I mean if you got caught drinking you went home the next day.
Pitcher's job was field cleanup as well as camp counselors during camp weeks. They got paid weekly and that money went to the host family. He lived with 2 of his Clemson teammates in a finished basement. We came up to visit one weekend and the family treated us like royalty and they treated the boys as if they were their own. Dave still corresponds with them to this day but their hosting days are over.
Boys got to go to Fenway as All Stars and met all of the players.
It was an experience on sons bucket list and one that he will never forget.
If your sons get to play on the Cape, don't pass it up.
We are hosting for the second time. The first time was 3 UT son's teammates. Built a strong connection with the guys. I feel sorry for them because it is a 45 minute drive to field each way. This year we have 1 UT player and 2 MTSU players. We have a finished basement. We have 1 player who was supposed to stay with us but decided to stay at his house. 1 1/2 hour drive each way. I can't imagine doing that by himself when you get home from some away games at 2 AM and have to be back for another away game at 11 AM the next morning. We have offered for him to come stay with our guys on those nights. We always try to provide their favorite foods and hook them up with their favorite things to do when they have time, which is rare. The last group loved to fish so we hooked them up with some good ponds in our area. Some, I have not even been invited to go to. Our problem is we are not here the first week because of SEC Championship but we just let them in the house and tell them where everything is.
Let me add onto last post. If you can, host a summer college guy or a minor league guy if they need them in your area. We have done both and it is a blessing to them and your family. We did the minor league guy when our guys were in HS and it was neat for them also. Most college leagues desperately need host families. If you have been blessed by your son being with a host family, repay the favor.
Anyone have any experience with the Southern Collegiate Baseball League?
Thanks!
@TPM posted:The amount of games is designed that way to keep them busy. No drinking or going to parties.
The travel part is designed to let players know what milb is like. If your sons don't like games almost every night, no place to stop and eat they won't last long in proball, although it's gotten better.
Dramatically better. They were served sandwiches with mold on the bread, stayed in a hotel where the water was brown. There is ticking it out but recognizing that parts of it suck. Ours was worse because the host family was not a good fit for the program. I had no idea (son never mentioned it) until I went to the last game and the director came up and apologized profusely for his experience. Then called me again when we got home and said they would never be allowed to host again. Some kids have great experiences. I would call his valuable but not good. The game part was good and he did well, I just wish I had known about the other parts because I could have assisted with food delivery or something.
Middle son went from dump to luxury pool house one season. The host family had him sleeping in room with 10 year old and wanted him to babysit. Which neither was appropriate. Grandpa also slept in living room in underwear all day. They moved him to a family who lived in Atlanta and had a house there. He lived in luxury pool house the rest of the summer and got to drive their Jeep.
@baseballhs posted:Dramatically better. They were served sandwiches with mold on the bread, stayed in a hotel where the water was brown. There is ticking it out but recognizing that parts of it suck. Ours was worse because the host family was not a good fit for the program. I had no idea (son never mentioned it) until I went to the last game and the director came up and apologized profusely for his experience. Then called me again when we got home and said they would never be allowed to host again. Some kids have great experiences. I would call his valuable but not good. The game part was good and he did well, I just wish I had known about the other parts because I could have assisted with food delivery or something.
I just saw your post. I meant milb is better now than it used to be.
No one should have to go away to play summer ball and have a bad family experience. I am sorry that happened to your son.
Best part, when it was over. Worst part, sitting on the bench because college coaches had made a deal with the head coach that their player would get the majority of the playing time.