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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SouthSide24 |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 14:45:49
I am new to the travel ball venue, but one question that i can't put my arms around is, how do some teams keep all 11 players on a team happy, if they are all very good players..
I mean, during tryouts do they tell the kid your gonna play OF, even though he might have played INF for another team..Can the parents accept the fact that their kid will sit out some innings during games? Do coaches overpromise to some.. You would think some of these players would be willing to play for a less caliber team if they can play the INF or P instead of RF or sit out..Some teams seem to pull this off, which makes them strong, but what's the secret?? |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 07/30/2009 : 14:10:19
There are different stages players go through in travel ball, as well. The major players, role players, and developing players.
There are times when a kid needs to be one of the best on his team. At some point that player needs to be challenged and move to a team where he is NOT the best. He may fall in the role player spot, or the developing player role on a new team.
Ideally players move from developing, to role player, to major player. Sometimes,due to numbers, there may not be enough opportunity for a player to get their time in to fully utilize their development and they have to move to a team that will allow that to happen. There are few substitutes for game time. Good instruction MUST be followed up with game time experience in order to be effective. This is extremely important with batting and pitching. Working on mechanics outside of practice can only be so effective. Hitting against different type pitchers, or pitching to a variety of batters is the only way to truly complete the development process. No one gets better sitting on the bench. Hitters have to be able to string AB's together long enough to work through any mechanical changes they have. It is hard to make adjustments when you bat twice every 2 or 3 games in a tournament. You end up batting 8 times over a 6 game tournament.
All that rambling being said, what a player needs this year may not be what he needs next year. This causes players from a successful team to look for other options. It is not that they are not happy being on the team, but need a role that gives them a better chance of furthering their development.
It does not help being the best kid on a team that goes 3 and out every weekend. It also does not help being a kid that plays 20% of the time on the team that gets in the championship each week.
The right spot is somewhere in the middle. Once they get to HS, where they can get a majority of their reps, it might be ok to be on a team where you are a part-time player. Until then, get the game time in. |
| alsoup22 |
Posted - 07/30/2009 : 13:19:23
Amen to that. People always think the grass is greener and sometimes is it but its tough when you lose good players that you have really helped and tried to help but in the end maybe new relationships can be made . Good luck to all the new teams forming. |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/30/2009 : 10:48:12
I'm not sure you can keep 11 families happy for more than 1 year. I talk to people I know on teams that have won a lot, and those that have won a few, and Casey Stengal is right, you have to keep the ones that hate the coaches away from the ones that are undecided. Hopefully, the ones that are happy and the ones that are undecided are the ones that are productive. But, we've all had stars quit and we've all cut stars because you hope to start the next year in neutral. |
| oldmanmj |
Posted - 07/30/2009 : 09:24:41
Studs, good players, etc... this can mean many different things to coaches and parents. Most teams will lose 3 to 5 players a year for many reasons; Daddy ball, coaching style differences, quality of team, parents, quality of player, etc. It is impossible to keep a full team together more than a couple of years and that is great. As the boys get older, the field, speed of the game, size of the boy and their skills change(improve or stay the same), making it difficult for some parents to see the real picture.
Playing as many positions as possible at a young age is very helpful, especially for playing time. Some boys are that much better than the others and are firmly planted in their spot, on the field and at bat. Where the trouble begins is in most cases, a parent can not perceive the obvious difference in ability. The coaches that play their sons because he is the next Derek Jeter, in his mind, but doesn't know the basic mechanics of fielding, batting etc. is doing his child and the others on his team a huge disservice. Developing the boys is number #1, the older they get the less time they get based on their ability. Those that were great at 10 years old, usually disappear at 12 and 13 because they did not have a coach or parent willing to get them better and so goes the crying throughout baseball leagues around the world.
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| gasbag |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 18:04:04
It depends upon the age of the team, managing the parents expectations and the parents chemistry.
At older ages, you have kids that pitch only or are primarily pitchers that get very few reps at other positions.
The coach needs to tell the team players and parents when he is recruiting them, just exactly how he intends to accomplish his goals. Who and how he will decide who gets reps at what position etc. If your playing tournament ball, having two to four games a day makes it easy to overcome. However, when you play one game a day, it's a bigger dilemma. Find out up front !
Parent chemistry...simply put, do some research and try and find out that you are joining a team where the parents support what the coach is trying to accomplish and support it in a healthy matter. Nothing makes a season longer than a parent(s) who are constantly griping that their "little Johnny" is sitting and should be playing. |
| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 14:35:40
Arms in the OF too. Bigger fields mean covering more ground and longer throws. Especially from RF to 3B. |
| qui-gon.jinn |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 13:06:04
Athletes in the outfield? What a concept!!
There's always a need for gazelles and Antelopes in the outfield. Particularly those with eagle-eyes and doppler radar....
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| billbclk |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 23:30:32
Maybe they finally realize that as you get older athletes are playing in the outfield. |
| Scatbat |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 19:58:05
There are enough talent that these kids can play multiple postitions and they get some time in different positions, every position is important in travel ball, the ball is hit everywhere.... But usually someone ends up not to happy with something or another You can never please everyone. |
| bambino_dad |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 17:49:41
Your title says "11 studs" but you modify it by going on to say "11 very good ballplayers" - which is quite different. In this day and age where individual happiness and accomplishment trumps team-oriented achievement, it is a minor miracle to see a team of even very good players stay together.
I can speak from personal experience that having 11 studs on a team means that more than a few players and parents will have to make some sacrifices in order to attain elite level status. And because studs are called "studs" for a reason - not least of which is that they (and parents and coaches) are fully aware of their individual market value - achieving team oriented excellence is exceedingly difficult.
So, individual (and family) happiness has to come from being a part of something special, something greater than any individual accomplishment can attain. Perhaps it's a chance for that "championship season", or maybe the opportunity to play for that "top quality coach" - all of which might exceed the downside of platooning or being a reserve player. Still, the chances of that happening with 11 studs is about nil. |
| 10 BB |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 17:43:07
Our team the Bay Bombers have accomplished this by using two equal or close to equal catchers. They both hit and alternate every inning. The key is fresh legs for catchers expecially in the heat of summer. Next we have one kid that rotates the infield 2nd, SS, and 3rd. He also hits. Last on championship day our weakest hitter who also plays RF but is one of our fastest base runners sets and is a sub who runs for our catchers. If you pick players based on this formula I think most of the time but not always, they stay happy!! You will never please 100% of the people a 100% of the time. |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 16:40:31
Most of those teams put together players based on position needs. They don't typically take 6 SS and 5 1b and run them out on the field.
As for playing time, with 11, you have 9 positions, plus an EH, so 10 of the 11 are in the lineup at any one time. (Some tournaments allow for continuous lineup so you can bat all 11). It is not difficult to manage getting one player in the game each time. Many times it is not the same kid over and over. Maybe it is a rotating catcher, or a pitcher that is going to throw the next game or later in the current game. 11 is easy to manage, 15 is a different story. |
| AllStar |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 16:32:45
First off, there are only one or two teams in each age group that truly have 11 studs. They probably have a) 11 kids who have been told they are studs or b) 11 dads (or moms) who are convinced that their kids are studs.
I have never seen every family happy, whether it be All Stars, travel teams with great records and lots of hardware, .500 travel teams or travel teams with bad records and little or no tournament success. I've seen every player come back on "bad" teams and every player leave on "great" teams, and a lot of in between. Winning doesn't solve everything and parents whose kid plays most innings complain either about, a) the innings they sit out or b) where they are playing. There should be frank discussion about playing time before anybody makes a commitment to the team and the parents should be asked to agree to whatever the policy is and then that agreement enforced.
Right field is pretty important once you get to travel level ball. I hope you're not telling your son it's not. Our RF affected the outcome in at least 7 or 8 games this last season. |
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