What does "select" ball even mean anymore?

Here in NJ, we have seen an exponential growth of "Select Teams". My son's 12U Select league this past spring had 33 teams in it, spanning our small state. 3 Years ago, this same age level had 8 teams. It was by far the most competitive league of the 6 or more that I knew of, at this age level in the state. ( totaling over 100 teams) That being said, there were just a hand full of really good teams. They beat up on the weaker teams and the final standing were very lopsided.

I saw several teams that were true daddy ball teams. You know, created so the managers son could play short and pitch....... Many teams were formed by coaches who were booted out of local rec leagues because they were idiots or worse.... ( see my yelling coach thread ) Of course there are several teams created so these young players could compete at a higher level as well.

There is no doubt in my mind that the talent has been diluted, but it is still more competitive than the local rec leagues. In fact it has made the local rec leagues more diluted and the level of play has gone down drastically since many select players choose not to play rec. I umpired some local rec 12u games that were frightening. There were teams with players who could not throw or catch. I was very afraid for there safety.

spinedoc ..

Agree 100% and I eluded to that in my post about the LLWS ... and I don't think we are seeing a better crop of players each year with more talent than in the past. Watching the high school teams and beyond, I would hazard a guess that the percentage of quality players who go on to the next levels (JUCO, 4 year, pro) are relatively similar to the percentages in the past and that these "select" groups are not improving the overall talent level or skill level of our youth players.

JMHO

Both of your posts were dead on from what I see. Not sure if it is a problem, but it is very noticeable. We have played in 3 fall tourneys in IA so far, and we have faced the same 2 teams in roudn robin play all 3 weekends. The most runs eihter of them has scored on us has been 2 runs, and we have scored 22,20,19,16,14, and 12. All games went 3 innings due to the mercy rule.

Again, I don't see this as a real problem, but sometimes I chuckle when people say that the competition is so much better on these tourney teams. I know it is a different story at the big tourneys, but this was just an observation that I had. Very good point about how it is hurting rec level ball though. I never really thought of that. If you are a "mid-level" player, why not excel on a rec team instead of ride the pine on a travel team

Herold Reyolds, during this LLWS, has made the point twice, in two different games, that the quality of play for the US teams has improved over the International teams as compared to previous years.

It is interesting to note, that most of those boys also play travel ball. That is far different from years past.

Whether they play "daddy ball" or not, those kids are still playing more baseball... and not every kid on those "daddy ball" teams has a dad coaching. Our boys are getting better because they play more baseball!

quote:

Whether they play "daddy ball" or not, those kids are still playing more baseball... and not every kid on those "daddy ball" teams has a dad coaching. Our boys are getting better because they play more baseball!

I think the main point of what Calloway said is that kids are playing baseball. If it is told to them that it is at a competitive level, then they will less likely get bored of the sport and not want to play. If everyone did "rec leagues", then people would be more inclined to quit the sport because baseball doesn't have the label of being a fast paced, exciting game. If kids are not challenged, then there is no action. Why spend time standing around in a boring rec league when I can just stay at home and play Xbox? I think that there should be different levels of select play, if there isn't already.