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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Steel Bats[/i] [br]My son, my wife and I have reached a crossroads in our baseball life. My son turns 14 tomorrow. For the past 6 years, my son has played travel ball at a fairly high level and has improved each year. For the most part, his travel ball teams had great coaches, great parents, great kids (and siblings), and they won their fair share of tournaments. We had some blow-outs (both ways) and we've also had lots of very exciting games. My son had his fair share of exciting moments...pitched really well in key games, made some great catches in the field, and had some game winning hits. He got to play at some pretty cool places....Cooperstown, Gulf Shores, and Ripken Myrtle Beach, not to mention all of the usual local fields....Criswell, Legion, Grissom, Winder, ECB, all the Cumming/Forsyth fields, Peachtree City, and many more. For 6 years, our family's social calendar was filled with his travel ball schedule. Now we are to the point where we have to make a decision as to which direction we/he will go for the rest of his life, including baseball. He's played (as an 8th grader) on the High School 9th grade team and he's already played in 14U travel tournaments. It's obvious to all of us that from here on out, to continue playing at a really high level, my son (and us) will have to put in even more work and practice (and $) to have a chance to succeed. My words here are to the parents of baseball players younger than 9th grade: 1. Enjoy the ride! Don't wish for the time when your son(s) will be on the bigger fields...it will come quick enough. I still get a kick of watching younger teams play on the smaller fields. 2. Don't take it so serious that your entire life depends on the outcome of a single at-bat, key pitch, or if your team wins or loses a pool game or bracket play game. 3. Take LOTS of pictures...before, during and after the game. My wife has TONS of video and pictures...I am very grateful for this so that we can cherish the memories for a long time. 4. Thank your coaches as often as possible. Most of them have their hearts in the right places. They do a mostly thankless job. 5. Thank the umpires after the games.....they do a REALLY thankless job and it's usually very HOT for them under all that gear. 6. While your son might not make all the catches, or make the right pitches, or hit the key hits....remember that he needs to know that you love him regardless of how well he does. There is a time to talk about improving or correction....that is USUALLY not right after a game. 7. Whether your son(s) play on an extremely competitive team or on a team made up of close friends (or both if you are lucky), try to keep it fun for them before and after the games. The stress level on lots of these teams is pretty high....our kids need the time to "chill" away from baseball. 8. Finally, after your 13U season, be realistic about your son's chances of making it to the next level...be it high school ball, Perfect Game tournaments, College Ball (D1 or whatever), or beyond. I've seen lots of very smart folks post on NWGB over the past few years and they all seem to get it that there is LIFE after baseball. We parents have been helping our son(s) prepare themselves for baseball for a long time now. The best thing we can do now is to prepare them for LIFE after baseball! Happy Birthday son! [/quote]