team USA

congrats to your son. Another great chapter in his Life book!

Thanks prime, but I wasn't trying to make this post about my son. I was trying to get the point across to anyone out there wondering what the USA baseball experience was and was it really worth it. We went into it not knowing much at all, just really curious. Again, I was blown away with the professionalism that the entire USA Baseball organization exhibits and stands for. I'm sorry if this post came across to be about me son. I didn't mean it to be about my son, more about USA Baseball.

I am glad your son had a positive experience. My son participated a couple years ago, and really enjoyed his time in Cary. That being said, it was not all rainbows and roses. We had to go through 3 different "tryout" levels to get to the Mid-Atlantic team, all of which cost $200 a pop. Once we got to Cary, we felt the Team USA was a pre-selected group and if you were not on that list, you were not selected to move forward. So to me, it was a money making venture to finance the small group of pre-selected players to move on. Had I been asked to make a donation to Team USA, I would have done that over getting my son's hopes up that he had an equal chance on a level playing field of making the team and playing for his country.
That probably sounds like sour grapes since my son was not selected, but that is truely how we felt.
Our story had a happy ending, by not being selected, he was playing in a different tournament the same week he would have been with Team USA, and was noticed by a well known program travel ball program, is now playing with them and getting college interest. Not being selected taught him its not always how you play, but who you know. A hard lesson to learn at 13, but, a lesson well learned.

pink lady, i can appreciate your response. i can sort of see where you are coming from because some of the kids had been through this multiple times and knew coaches by name already. as far as the cost, i think they realized the expense because all of the tryouts were $50. only once he made the mid-atlantic team did we have to pay the $200 fee, but that included two uniforms (less pants). obviously i would love for my son to make the final team, but him going through this experience will be invaluable. i think they have to learn at an early age that life is not always fair and sometimes you have to learn to get up after being knocked down. we really didn't have too high of expectations because son suffered an injury a few weeks back that severely hampered his performance, but he still wanted to go to be part of the experience, and like i have said in the above post it met and exceeded our expectations.

YG,

I just started looking at USA Baseball for my 15U this year. I found the on-line information completely confusing. I couldn’t even determine if the tryouts were for current 14U/16U/17U players, or for next year’s. We live in the Capital District (DC, VA, DE, MD and WV). I never could find a Maryland NTIS Tryout for my son (until it was too late). I did find a Delaware tryout that was advertised at $150 for a 2 hour tryout.

Would you mind giving me a little more detail about your son’s tryouts? Dates? Local? State? Etc.

Do the state teams in each region play against each other, and the regional team is selected based on performance in those games? Did you find that process to be objective?

So, is his Mid Atlantic team is finished but a select group will be invited to the National Team Trials? If so, the National teams will be playing 17U/18U next year?

I’ll apologize in advance in case I’m the only person who is confused about this process.

Thank you.

USA baseball is over rated. We have had friends play in their tournaments and son also played this year with them. We couldn't even get new balls for our games. Lots of money for basically no real shot at making the "team". Would never do it again.

I have read on here about others experiences that appear to be very negative. I can only speak for ours. It was more than I could have imagined. Maybe I am just a patriotic sucker, but all the red, white and blue flags and the speakers that we heard at the symposium the first night was more than worth the price, even if we had played no baseball. Mid-AtlanticDad, son went through two different tryouts to be selected to the Mid-Atlantic team. The first tryout was held at USC in Columbia, SC. There were about 18-20 kids at this event. There were other sites he could have attended, this one just worked out best for our schedule. He was invited to the second round in Charlotte, NC about two weeks later. There were about 50 kids for 16U and 17U at this event. For both of these, there were your typical showcase drills (60 time, outfield/infield, batting practice), then they didivded up and played simulated games to allow pitchers to be evaluated and have hitters face live pitching. I can't remember cost of first event, it may have been $150, but I do remember second stage being $50. About two weeks later, son was named to Mid-Atlantic team. That team traveled to Cary, NC to compete against 15 other regional teams from across USA at USA Baseball facility in Cary. It was a 4 day event that consisted of a team practice and 3 9-inning games over the next three days. We had brand new game balls for every game with USA NTIS logo on them and the fields were as good as any collegiate field I have seen. There showcase field was like a minor league park. The umpires were very professional and I cannot say enough about the coaches for our team. I don't know if others felt the same in other regions. I hope this helps you some. Maybe tournaments put on by USA Baseball left something to be desired, but this event was top notch. Out of the some 300 kids in 16U division, they will select 40 initially with that to be trimmed to 28 at a future date to make up the 16U Team USA. This will be a developmental team that will train and play in Cary throughout 2012-2013 is my understanding. Those that make it have to go through the tryouts each year to make the next level team is my understanding. From what I have seen so far it has been very objective. I haven't seen a kid get to the next step that my eye told me didn't belong, but I'm not a scout Hope this helps.

At the end of the day, it's really what your son (and you) get out of this part of his baseball journey. Good for you that it was a memorable and good experience.

Good luck to him going forward!

YGD

I think both sides are right. We went to the USA event last year and it was great, but almost all kids selected had been on USA team in the past. It seems that you had to hit a towering homerun at bat every pitch, or throw 95 to be considered. Kids should be told it is a great experience, but it is highly unlikey you will be selected no matter how well you do.