Teams Unite

Total agreement here. When is enough, enough?

I keep saying that american's favorite past time is becoming as exclusive as golf, tennis and gymnastics. I am not sure that the best players are able to play the game but the players who are most blessed to have parent who can afford to pay for their kids to play the game.

Amen brother! How bout scoreboards to boot? NOT!

The whole system is ridiculous. How much to play on a team, then travel and hotel and food costs?? How did scouts ever find talent before showcases and PG and scouting services?? I believe we have been buffaloed into believing that players will go un-noticed if we don't spend our life savings for the right team, the right showcase tourney, the right camp, the right coach, etc.
Bullcookies!!

If the kid can play he will be found. Don't like the cost? Don't go. We have options in this country and your option is to simply not go.

Easier said than done, sir. In to far at this point. Rant over-I just have more summer left than I have money, so a little frustration coming out.

I think what I am trying to say is that these tournaments have set a market price for their tournament. They have now added hotel bookings to the price. The scouts come there because players will be there. If the teams stop going then the scouts won't go either...the scouts go for players and not tournament directors.

I understand you-it's like a vicious merry-go-round, and the different orgs. are selling the exposure and the tournaments they go to. I just seems it has gotten out of hand. I don't like being told by the tournament that we have to pay 1000-1200 to enter their tournament and use their hotels so the hotels can gouge us as well.

Wasn't at this tournament and no one said but my guess is there were not scouts running all around this tournament. Certainly not the 16u games.

With games scattered all over the place where's a scout to go?

Txbball14 If you don't like it don't go, that's the easy way out.

I don't think an organization should be able to dictate where you stay, didn't use to be that way. So you are going to be ok when in a year or two they make deals with restaurants and tell you where to eat and where to buy gas so they make a spiff off of you. If Texas teams stop feeding the out of state tournaments and start staying home and play things would change. You would also have a more concentrated area for those scouts and coaches to visit.

Scouts and college coaches will come to the big tournaments where they know D1 kids and propects are but for 95% of the teams that travel believing that they are going to get noticed is crazy! Most of the teams that travel don't even have a D1 or D2 kid on their roster. Unless you're the top two or three level teams with a well run summer organization the scouts and coaches are not sitting in the bleachers out in Guthrie, Ok hoping they find someone thats not already on the radar. Scouts know where the prospects are and they are NOT at a majority of the tournamnets that promote that scouts and coaches will be there.

I feel for the families that can't travel because they are paying $125.00 a night for a room when they could book there own room for $75.00 and now afford the gas to get there.

Let's just call the majority of the tournaments what they are "Baseball Vacations" and lose the hype of the term showcase.

Is it even legal for a organization to mandate where you must stay or you can't play in there tournament?

This is not my first summer rodeo but after many years it is my last. We need tournaments, it's fun to travel with your team. But when a hotel mgr in Ark and Ok confirm what I had thought and tell me they had to raise their rates so they could commission the tournament organizer $10.00 a room I decided to voice my opinion. It is what it is until people change it!

What was the tournament? Name it and maybe teams will not go next year.

Sounds like I'm in the wrong business.

If you want to do what's best for the kids and families, we need to get the Tigers, Dbat, Patriots, Frozen Ropes, Heat, Ft Worth Cats, etc.. to hook up with UTA, TCU, LaGrave, and Air Hog, and get it on.

The clubs could charge more and still save the families thousands of dollars. Quality programs from around the country would travel to Dallas to play here. College Coaches and scouts would be at those games, I promise you.

We had Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Houston at a 7:00 Friday Night at South Grand Prairie two weeks ago. We didn't have that at any single game at East Cobb this year. I would much rather play here as a coach.

It is a positive experience for the boys to get to play at some of those venues, but for 1 or 2 games and 50 teams, come on.

Can the respective GM's and coaches set their egos aside and work together to make it a successful venture?...just askin

quote:

Can the respective GM's and coaches set their egos aside to make it work together to make it a successful venture?...just askin

you know the answer to that

quote:

Originally posted by monkeyboy:
Can the respective GM's and coaches set their egos aside to make it work together to make it a successful venture?...just askin

No they can't or should I say no they won't.

quote:

Originally posted by Vanlandingham:
If you want to do what's best for the kids and families, we need to get the Tigers, Dbat, Patriots, Frozen Ropes, Heat, Ft Worth Cats, etc.. to hook up with UTA, TCU, LaGrave, and Air Hog, and get it on.

The clubs could charge more and still save the families thousands of dollars. Quality programs from around the country would travel to Dallas to play here. College Coaches and scouts would be at those games, I promise you.

We had Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Houston at a 7:00 Friday Night at South Grand Prairie two weeks ago. We didn't have that at any single game at East Cobb this year. I would much rather play here as a coach.

It is a positive experience for the boys to get to play at some of those venues, but for 1 or 2 games and 50 teams, come on.

Agree with you 100%, Lynn.

quote:

Originally posted by Vanlandingham:


We had Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Houston at a 7:00 Friday Night at South Grand Prairie two weeks ago. We didn't have that at any single game at East Cobb this year. I would much rather play here as a coach.

Your catching on.

If they truly cared about the kids and their families, they could. This will get me flamed, but I don't care.

Which organization will be the one that says "no, we won't do this any more!" It is going to take someone like Tigers, Dbat or Patriots in my opinion to stop it.