Summer Travel Teams - Who's playing for whom?

Sorry about my pathetic spelling in the last post. Again not trying to knock any program just asking what peopale feel they receive out of these program as far as practice, training. I assume most of these players take individual lessons during the off season, is that included. Also before some dad hammers me I am asking about the entire team, I am sure some make all the practices but how about the rest of them.

lineshot,

I beleive it is far less than that of the Sox program. I believe it is around $700-$750.

Lineshot,


Regarding practices, our kids do everything they can to make practice, it is very fast pace and it is great to be practicing when you have team mates that play at this high caliber (it will elevate your game). We have had app. 5 weeks of practice with another one at 4pm today. Our practices are intense with pitchers working off the mounds, lot of hitting and fielding drills for position players. Live hitting vs pitching in game situations will start in late January.

Smokey is right there with the price.

Our players do not just show up -
We carry 21 players with 4 players rotating every week to vist colleges or going to showcases. Our roster had to be announced early due to colleges wanting to send our players information and to get an early start on our media guide.

Exposure -
We try to have our area players reach the college and professional level by providing our players with national-level competition and superior coaching with an emphasis on skill development and exposure to college coaches and professional scouts.

It is also important to set high standards and encourage our players to strive to reach these standards. We place the athletes in high-pressure situations and give them the chance, not just to succeed, but just as importantly, to fail and learn something from the experience. Regardless of what level of baseball they ultimately attain we believe all young men leave us more confident and self assured for having participated.

Sorry to be long winded but we are very proud of our baseball program and it's tradition of excellence.

Please ask any of our parents or players on what they think about our 17u program. I am sure you will hear the same enthusiasim.

Thanks 33/34, what national tournaments did you play in last year and did you take your team or do you add players for them? How many players at your practice today? Thanks as I am just trying to get a grip on some of these teams and what is involved. It just seemed to me that I kept seeing tt at local tournaments last year, bourbanais, kenosh ect..

Thanks again

33/34,

Looks like you are getting grilled today...

Not trying to grill anyone just asking some questions about his program and philosophy about the travel scene.

deucedoc, I second that you appear to have a real nice team. I've seen a couple of those guys play and they are players! Good Luck this summer.

Thanks coach, we will crank it up tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing the boys.

reggies1970:

quote:

Originally posted by reggies1970:
what is the the best program in illinois. looking for a team for next summer

Chicago White Sox. How much you asking for? If it's reasonable I'm sure Kenny can find you a spot.

Seriously,what part of the state are you from? Highland Park? That may limit your choices to the Chicagoland area.

Welcome aboard the HSBBW.

1970,

looks like you live in top tier country. you should try and contact 33/34 via a pm if you want information....

Top Tier looks for you, not the other way around. If you're good enough, they will call.

I am sure they do???

Previous posters right on about quality of Springfield Statesmen. Greg Finnigan is quality coach and guy. In addition to his team, he's starting up 16U and 15U teams. 16U team previously made up of Spfld Bulldogs...a very nice team.

Cowboyfan,

Greg is quality person and a very good baseball person. His program will be good because of him..imo

Two more 07 Orioles,

Nick Rice, Kenosha Wis
Kyle Kaminska , Naperville Central

Rice is nice........

Deuce,

Conrgats on NR...great kid and great arm.

any new updates to report? i hear some teams have finalized their rosters

Throughtout the country, your Elite 18u teams will not announce their roster - due to bird dogging and cross checking.

33/34,

are you trying to say that there are some unethical teams out there that recruit players off of other rosters?

hegone

Here in our region it goes on all the time

Commonplace with CABA national tournaments that have "open" rosters.

that is a pretty sad case of affairs. hidden rosters. i guess it is an open market. must be tuff on coaches..

hegone

you have to hope your kids are faithful

TRhit:

That's part of coaching isn't it...keeping kids in the roost.

Our thought on that type of situation is that we dont care who we have or whether they leave or not. We are going to field a team of guys who want to bust their butts to play baseball. Luckily guys that we have had in the past few years are guys that have busted their butts have been very good.

33/34 & TRhit,

you are right on, I know of a few teams here in the illinois are that do not post rosters because of the risk other teams will take their players.

quote:

that is a pretty sad case of affairs. hidden rosters. i guess it is an open market. must be tuff on coaches..

He...It is not "hidden rosters" in the case of the CABA World Series or CABA tournaments.

The player has to be on the tournament roster...could be as many players at 25-25. No hidden agenda of any kind. They play the preliminary rounds with certain kids to get to the Championship rounds. It is for the Championship rounds where they "fly in" pitchers.

Happened to us in Broken Arrow when we played Houston back in either 1999 or 2000.

No problem. Just have to gear up to play with the big boys.

Does any coach really want the kind of player who commits & then leaves? We checked a few teams and played a couple tournys with some teams to check them out before my son made any commitments. The coach asked if it was ok to list him as a part of the team. I took that as a commitment on the part of the coach and my son. I expect him to be part of a TEAM. You can't have a TEAM without commitment.

The commitment works both ways. Player to team as well as team to player.

You have to respect a team that takes only as many players as they can use. No need to stockpile too many players to keep happy.

NC...If you don't go to these national tournaments in the 100-115 degree temperatures in July/August, without about 20 players including 9 pitchers, you're crazy.

I/we did....with 14 players.

Kids were exhausted at the end of the preliminary rounds.

Numbers, i.e., "fresh" kids rule in those Championship rounds.

I could not agree more with Beenthere.

Last year we had a high profile pitcher on the 16's collapse from heat exhaustion in the first inning, prior to this incident he did not play or pitch in any games in that tournament (well rested).

In Georgia, we had a position player collapse by game 5 and could not play the rest of the tournament (pre-cautionary measures).

JMO
When you play in in an elite 18u tournament (usually down south) in humid heat with high intensity you better have players ready to step in (position players as well as pitchers).
It gets pretty scary when the oppositions pitchers are fresh and pumping 88-92 from game 1 through game 7. I try to have the batters drop down an ounce on their bats by the later games or games in August. Everyone is fatigued...

Been,
I have been to some long hot tournys. I do beleive that we brought some extra arms to those, but I believe those kids were playing with the knowledge of their other teams. All I'm saying is that for a player to tell a coach " I'll be there for you and the team" and then take a hike, shows some weak character.

I would add that if the program is not what was sold, the kid has a right to leave. But I thought we were talking about kids giving their word in December and dropping out before the season starts.

oops...misunderstood, ncdad. Sorry.

I say put your roster out there. If somebody wants to go elsewhere, who cares. I guess its part of the game. Not that it's the same thing because millions of dollars are involved in the majors. Though look at how Damon signed with the rival Yankess. He probably could've stayed in Boston for about the same amount of money. Where has the loyalty gone? There's alot to be said for old school players like Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, and Robin Yount. These players stayed loyal and played for their respective team and city for almost 20+ years.

I don't know if Damon owed any Loyalty to the Red Sox.....he spent a small part of his career there. That said, it is fun to see the Travel Team Rosters and hopefully they will be out soon. I think some teams may still be far from complete.....new players are added in the Spring and even the Summer. The other thing is that these teams are constantly trying to improve so they want to see who looked good in the HS season.

Going from the Redsox to the Yankees, shows no loyalty. No matter how long or how short you played for that certain team first. There's no loyalty anymore.

rebel,

I'm an old school guy most of the time. However, in this case I'm not so sure. I've read that the Red Sox's first offer to Damon was for 3 years at about 9 mil per year. Considering what he signed for and for how long, I don't believe that the Sox were ever prepared to go that long and for that much money. In that case, who wasn't being loyal? 3 or 4 mil per year is a lot of $$$. That being said I agree that with agents leading the way for their clients, they are empowered to get the very best contract that they can. Such is life today.

Two more guys we have picked up:
Kory Peppenhorst Carlyle Il signed with Eastern Illinois U. C-1B L/R

Daniel Webb Heath KY a top 10 08 according to Baseball America. Rhp/1B R/R