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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| HITANDRUN |
Posted - 12/10/2008 : 12:20:00
I started reading another post and it made me wonder, why do I have my son playing travel baseball? because it's fun, because all the best players have left the rec leagues, better competition, because it might help them make their high school team, so they can make new friends, so I can make new friends, because they love playing, because jonny from school plays. I think there are a bunch of reasons we have our kids play travel baseball, but over the course of the season it gets distorted and we don't know why we are doing it.
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BROOKSTEAM |
Posted - 12/20/2008 : 15:39:36
We tried to do both. We formed a travel team out of a rec park (mostly all star kids) and it was great. My son loved the travel team part and we have now moved away from the rec baseball. I think the biggest thing for him was coming up with a ball and having to look at who he was throwing to before letting the ball go. With his new team of course that is not the case all the boys can play. He enjous this so much more and that is what it is all about.
Personally I love the local rec-league and will continue to volunteer (coach or whatever they need) but if you son loves baseball but is bummed out during the season because there are 3-5 kids on the team that can't catch (never mind hit) then it is time to move on. |
| homerunking |
Posted - 12/15/2008 : 09:50:27
743 thats how I feel, but our rec dept. doesn't. He says its about the kids having fun.. I went to him when we were 7 and in Dizzy Dean allstars. We got our butts handed to us and I was like this is a whole diffrent leage of baseball... We played 10 league games, 2 playoff games and jumped into allstars. District was 4 games and state was 4 so I guess we played more games than I thought..LOL but some of the teams we had played and 30 games by the time they go to state...Oh well thats why we played travel ball and have stayed with it...My 5 yr old will play it also when he turns 7.... |
| 743 |
Posted - 12/15/2008 : 07:30:22
Most recreation leagues should give you atleast 12 to 14 games, plus an end of the year double elimination tournament which could come out to about 18 to 20 games depending how you do in the tournament. Then if you are good enough to play allstars you can play another 15 to 20 games, if you aren't you have no business playing travel ball anyway. |
| homerunking |
Posted - 12/14/2008 : 17:54:45
I think the main reason the most of our kids play travel ball is to be able to play against kids of the same or better caliber. My son played rec ball for 4 yrs and at age 9 we played travel ball for the first time. There is no way he could ever go back to rec ball...10 games a year compared to 60 games a year... |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 12/12/2008 : 22:46:55
My son plays because he loves the game, and wants to play in college and the pros, if possible. Whether that happens is yet to be determined, but you have to have that dream to drive you to work toward that goal. He has not been able to play league ball since he was 7 (playing up in the 8U division) because he could not understand why kids were out there that did not want to play hard. He started playing summer travel ball (June and July) at 5. The teams were put together with kids that were friends, who liked to play together, but who really like baseball and were willing to put in the work to play together as a team. We very rarely placed in the top 3 of any tournaments but that was not necessarily the goal. It was mainly trying to make it to play on Sunday. That was back in the wonderful days of double elimination tournaments.
He has played travel ball, exclusively, since then. He can't fathom playing league ball again because the players don't have the same drive to play the game.
Now, he plays other sports and does not take them as seriously, so he understands how kids can play a sport and not have the same passion as others. He just wants to play baseball with plyaers who have the same passion. |
| bballman |
Posted - 12/12/2008 : 15:11:31
My son plays baseball because he loves it. He plays travel because loves baseball and #1 - wants to play as much as he can and #2 - wants to play at the highest level that he is capable of. I think a kid should play at the highest level that they still have fun at. If that is rec, fine. If it is AA travel, fine. If it is major travel, that is fine as well. If a kid is playing major level travel and not having fun, no point in staying. Eventually they will want to quit. If they are playing rec and are miserable because they are good and no one around them can catch or hit, then they should move to travel and play at the level that matches their skills. Is all about enjoying the game.
Many people say that the high level of competition and high expectations of say major level travel puts too much pressure on the kids. I don't agree with that. If the player is not good enough to play and enjoy himself at the major level, that could be true, but there are many, many kids out there who thrive for the challenge of playing at a high level and have tons of fun doing it. |
| bigcatsdad |
Posted - 12/12/2008 : 10:24:32
This was the best team in Dallas, TX at 7.(Texas Thunder) Some of you may recently have heard of Dallas Tigers and Team Demarini, some of these players were on the Thunder.(by the way, TX fans are the most obnoxious I've EVER seen) You could start a whole new topic on this. I wondered if my son could play for the Thunder? Our rec team(Angels) went 16-0 and played in a couple of tourns. against travel teams, didn't fare very well. No message from the coach, they moved on and dissolved the team. Turns out his son tried out for the Thunder in the fall and got cut.(Yes, even at this age they make cuts after the fall in TX) The ss we had made the team and told the coach about my son, he makes the team in the spring. Team wins TX state tournament with 35 teams entered, even the famous 'Banditos'. Came in 2nd in the world series and the rest is history. Had a hard time at 9, and wondered if travel was just too serious for a 9 yr old. Tried rec again, some kids couldn't catch etc and were just starting to play. Went back to travel. Overall, we've had good coaches and experiences. Now that high school ball is around the corner, I believe travel has prepared him very well. However, I question myself at times for starting him in travel at such a young age. I hear parents telling their kids to just have fun, but is that why you play travel? My kid wants to be the best, and works at it as much as possible. Dad, can we go hit? He wants to be the one batting in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. The season does get long at times, but the competition, more games, tournaments, families, and better coaches make it worthwhile. |
| Critical Mass |
Posted - 12/11/2008 : 14:33:11
Competition and Commitment. 60-70 games a year will teach you alot about yourself, how to deal with adversity, triumph and most of all...the result of hard work. My son may not play baseball for a living, but he learn about life through the game of baseball. |
| AllStar |
Posted - 12/11/2008 : 08:42:22
quote:
Originally posted by HITANDRUN
Because all the best players have left the rec leagues.
Better competition.
^ |
| stallion |
Posted - 12/10/2008 : 23:28:32
My son is playingtravel ball because he loves baseball and wants to take it as far as he can. I understand that every kid is not looking at it that way. But let me tell you something, I have friends who have made it to the bigs, and when they were young, they wanted to play professional ball. So the dream starts some where. So it is my job as a parent to give my kid the lessons and opportunities to be the best he can be. 9 times out of 10 he want make it but I will give him all I got just in case he is that one. So in closing everyone has a different reason they are playing travel ball. Some are more serious than others. Some kids ask their dads everyday can they do something regaring baseball. Its like when i was in college, some people were more focus than others, you know what today,those people have a higher level of success than those of us who just went thought the motions So please understand that some kids are doing this for fun but they love the game so much they want to do this as long as they can. |
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