What are the odds?

Dadof3 posted:

How many of you have sons that made the big league without the dad or mom being a superstar themselves?  I have 3 young boys and wonder if any of them even have a chance?  I myself am athletic.  I feel if my dad would have helped me growing up I could have made a name for myself in soccer.  Never played baseball or any other sport other then running and basketball.  I was pretty much decent at everything.  I had the heart, but not the coaching or the training.  I did play for a d3 for one year in soccer before I decided it wasn't for me.  I am not big, 5'11" 175 lb when in shape.  My wife is petite, in shape but not an athlete.  I will never push my boys to do anything they don't want to, but I do see talent in my 11.5 and 8 year old.   Anyway, how many parent s come from a background like me? 

Any thoughts or ideas?

Very similar for me being a good athlete with a + arm and good at sports. . . only having my parents split up as a young teen and a move that took me out into a community with no support, particularly in the area of training and coaching.  When I had my boys and they showed athletic potential, I was determined to give them whatever support (no pushing) they needed to achieve for any athletic goals they might have.  One of my boys didn't take advantage of what I was willing to do for him and the other did.  The one that did had a wonderful college career in baseball and just finished his 4th season of pro ball. 

Certainly, nepotism is very involved in baseball.  But. . . it doesn't give any guarantee for any kind of success, particularly at the major league level.

My kids didn't become professional athletes. They did play D1 baseball and softball. Both mom and I were D1 athletes. So was my dad. There are several other college baseball players on both sides. When my kids were little I figured they would go as far as college sports if they had the motivation, work ethic and desire. 

even if both parents are Division 1 athletes the Chance is quite small, however it depends on the kid. when bryce harper was 13 he probably had a 90% Chance to become a pro (barring injury).

most other Kids have a Zero percent Chance. So the saying "only 0...x% make it so you better not try" doesn't make sense for all Kids, that number is just an average.

best is you teach them solid fundamentals, develope General Fitness and especially Motor coordination and then see if they are among the elite of Players when they are 13. and elite at that Age doesn't mean the second best of your travel Team but basically better than anyone else in town by quite a bit.

usually when you interview youth coaches of pros they say something like: I haven't seen such an athlete in 20 years. If your kid is that guy it does make a lot of sense to chase an elite Baseball career, because your Chance is pretty good. the numbers just apply to the Population of all youth Players which is very diverse in effort and Talent.

I guess pro isn't really what I meant....  More like college ball on a partial scholarship would be nice, something to help cover the cost of college.  I should have stated it as that.  I know the odds of making it pro are really slim to none and that is fine but I want to keep them active in sports to keep them out of trouble as they get older.  I don't want them to have time to get into trouble and I am trying to raise them right but I know how boys can be as they get older.  I hear from this board how busy kids are trying to play college ball and study (as well as hs too).

One can do all they can as a parent to "raise them right" and provide them support in things like sports, but ultimately, it's up to the drive and ambition of the child as to the path they take.  

If we parents only had as much control over our kids as we think we have, especially in HS . . .???  

Truman posted:

One can do all they can as a parent to "raise them right" and provide them support in things like sports, but ultimately, it's up to the drive and ambition of the child as to the path they take.  

.......

100% agree.   There is more to it than physical makeup.  Training, desire, mental attitude, opportunities and luck are so important.

The short answer to your question is yes, your children all have a chance to play beyond HS but I do not think your children have the same odds of the kid that has a 6'3 Dad with a 5'8 mom. 

This topic or a similar topic has come up from time to time and it typically gets pretty animated.  The only reason it gets animated is because we all know the 5'9 player that was a stud and went on to become an All-American at State U.  I know that guy myself, but I also am aware that he is in the minority by a large margin.  Comparing two players, all things being equal except height and weight, the bigger body is going to get the opportunity most every time.   

I knew my son was athletic at 2-3 years old. I had no idea he would be good enough to play college baseball. All that being said, it doesn't matter how much athleticism you have if you don't make good decisions, study and work hard. Control what you can control and let them guide your support towards their interests. 

I'm 5'8" - our two sons are 6'3" and 5'11".  Both throw over 90.  I doubt I ever threw over 80.  Gotta be the mamma.  

Older son made it the big leagues.  Younger one in the minor leagues.

Don't know why this happened.  Maybe I was an underachiever?  My wife's and my love of baseball surely added something though, maybe....I guess?

My wife is 6'2".  Her Grandpa was 6'6".  I'm 5'10" but my Dad was 6'3".  My 13 year old is already 5'9" and doesn't have hair under his arms yet.   None of that matters though if he can't hit the ball

justbaseball posted:

My wife's and my love of baseball surely added something though, maybe....I guess?

This.

And that you expect more from them in the classroom,  than the activities on the field. This should be the goal very early on, because if you don't get it done in class, your not going to play college ballife.

Put aside the pro stuff for now,it's way too early.

Genetics play a role no doubt. That's basic biology.

On the other hand how many of MJ's kids excelled at sports.

The odds are that 95%+ of youth players won't start on their HS varsity team.  Then the odds are downhill to playing on a pro team. There's that.

Dad thought bubble:

Our town sponsored various sports camps in the park over the summer. It wasn't far from our house. It didn't cost any more than day care. So why not sports. I didn't look at it as instruction. It was fun day care.

During. baseball camp, at the end of one day a parent asked how good was their 8yo. The D1 coach's response was, "There's no telling how good he can be." I started chuckling. The coach saw me smiling. We chatted. He did tell me how good my son was (for an 8yo). He gets asked by parents all the time how good their kids are. It's his standard line. He said, "I'm not going to tell them they're wasting money. These two weeks raise a lot of money for our spring trip." I told him you wouldn't believe how parents interpret his comment back at LL.