| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| scorpion4 |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 12:57:41
I have my own opinions, but wanted to know what some of you think about a few things..............................
At what age should a kid/family narrow it down to one or two sports?
When you have a kid on a travel baseball team that also plays a few other sports, he is inevitably going to miss more than his share of baseball practice. Some of the time, the kid would probably rather be at baseball practice, but it's his parents who choose. Do you sit that kid more for missing so much practice, even if he is one of your "studs"? After all, he can't get himself to practice, so is it his fault? Is it fair to those kids who are always at practice and whose parents participate in everything to get less playing time because this other player/players are better?
If a kid is going to play 3 or 4 sports or be involved in several things and baseball is one of those things, should it be travel baseball?
what do you guys think? |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 02/11/2010 : 14:53:03
Wonder how many kids other there playing other sports like basketball and wrestling that did not get the same opportunity at tryouts and were actually hindered by playing other sports.
I know of some that got a very short tryouts due to these other sports, and did not make the team. If baseball is their primary sport, it is hard to get them to play these other sports next year if that is going to be the result.
Maybe it is just schools that don't have Freshman teams.
BTW, why is it that some HS's have freshman, JV, and Varsity teams but others only have JV and Varsity? It can't be school size because the bigger ones I am thinking of don't have Freshman teams. Just curious. |
| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 02/10/2010 : 16:37:26
It does not get any easier when they get to HS. Ask freshman who are playing basketball or wrestling that are trying to get tryout time for the baseball team after other freshman have had a week's head start.
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| patent pending |
Posted - 02/10/2010 : 16:21:59
I think it's a shame now a days , parents allow their kids to play on 2 teams at the same time. For example travel ball and middle school ball. Fall ball and football with coaches approval yeah that may be ok , but when your playing 70++ games in the spring traveling it don't make sense to play 17 games for the middle school. Not to mention the travel ball team will probably run rule the middle school team . |
| AllStar |
Posted - 02/10/2010 : 11:26:19
Baseball practice should be optional until the winter sports are over. Say 2/15 or 3/1.
Baseball takes precedence over Spring football. We actually had a dad lie about whether his kid was doing it and the kid darn near collapsed playing baseball after being at the Spring Football Jamboree all morning.
Football takes precedence over Fall baseball.
July 4-the start of Football/the Start of school is for swimming/skiing/Six Flags etc.
Lacrosse and Baseball pretty much run simultaneously. Probably just need to pick one.
You can tell I'll never win a world championship.
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| BBall123 |
Posted - 02/10/2010 : 10:34:35
Reminds me of a saying fellas , " The older I get, The better I was " 
I too have coached youth Baseball ,Football and Basketball for 10 years. My son did all three sports ,with fall baseball overlapping Basketball and Football for 4 years.I think in the younger years, 5-10 This allows a kid to develop that athletic talent they have and determine just what it is they like and want to focus on. We finally at 10U made the desicion to stick with Spring Baseball and Fall Football and take the winter off. That decision has made him a much happier,healthier kid, Physically and mentally.
He is excelling in both sports and in school and is having a chance to just be a kid through the holiday season.
All kids are different but for what its worth, This decision has worked great for us. |
| gasbag |
Posted - 02/10/2010 : 08:44:14
Papa - I've found that wrestling is the best "humbler" of all sports. I've also found over the years, I used to wrestle the college kids when I coached and they came back to roll around with the high school...then transitioned to just wrestling the high school kids....now the middle school kids are threatening my ego ! Pretty soon I'll be reduced to only talking about sports and not participating !!!! I find myself making that transition now in preparation for that event....
That brings me to a question, don't you wish that you had the body of that 16 year old combined with the knowledge you now possess ? We would be cerebreal BEASTS ! I guess that is the irony of sport. It also is the driving force behind us older folks being involved in youth athletics. What a tremendous reward it is !!!!! The other reward is telling "fish" stories about our younger days to today's athlete's. I wonder if they know we may embellish the facts on occasion ? Hope no kids are reading this post !!!!! |
| baseballpapa |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 20:18:09
gasbag: When was your day. It couldn't have been that long ago and you look like you could still bring it to the young studs even now. Now back in Papa's day and even now I can hold my own with these young whipper snappers. |
| gasbag |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 17:18:09
Being a middle school wrestling coach ( and having coached youth baseball and football as well ), I actually like my "multi-sports stars ! They are usually the better overall athletes. I hate to see kids get guidance from coaches whom preach "my sport or the highway" philosophy. Makes me mad as I think it's selfish. Most kids will never play sports beyond high school...less in college....and even less professionally ! I think it cheats the kid and could ruin lots of great memories in a variety of sports with their friends. Now, with that said, what I don't care for is kids trying to pursue varying sports with the same season ( ie, wrestling n basketball concurrently, baseball n lacrosse etc ) These seasons don't just overlap for a few weeks but run concurrently. That's when I have requested that kids select one or the other. I do not mind overlapping seasons of wrestling / baseball / football etc. I think too many coaches try to get kids to focus on one sport way too early in "a kids" life ! I know times have changed since I was a lad and these kids are bigger, stronger and faster than back in the day, but fun has not changed and making great memories with great friends is still the same I have to believe ! |
| bmoser |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 15:21:10
I feel as though more Q&A between parents and coaches prior to committing to each other could alleviate multiple sport conflicts.
1 team my son tried out for back in 8u had a 1 page player profile that asked what other sports he played, and what those start/end dates were, and if any other sports would be played between the start/end dates the team he was trying out for. There were a few other questions that probed into parent expectations and target budgets/#of tourneys. There was also an area for parents to ask questions that could be discussed on a subsequent phone call if my son were selected.
I thought it was a good idea to exchange this info prior to either party making any commitments. |
| LeftyBat |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 15:20:26
This is travel baseball. I think I have an expectation that a coach will BALANCE a players ability with his attendance and make a judgement about when enough is enough and talk with the parents. Clearly some teams are WAY more serious in Jan and Feb than others. Unless your son is on an elite team with clear expectation communicated with all the parents prior to selection, I would think its out of line to expect a child to miss football practice to come to baseball practice in the fall. (and the reverse for travel football teams...) or miss his travel basketball playoffs to be at early season baseball practices.
As a parent, I want my son to get what he earns. If he's not good enough to hold his spot on the field and loses playtime to a kid who is missing a few practices because they are wrapping up travel basketball or wrestling, then that is our problem. I think that when you play sports at a high level, there is an expectation that your coach will try and put the best team on the field and play to win. Equal playing time is for rec ball. Its about equal opportunity to compete, not equal outcome. Sooner or later it's going to happen anyway. Your son will reach a point where it does not matter that he showed for every practice, ran sprints at the end, caught an extra 50 ground balls a day and worked harder than his teammates. If that does not make him good enough he will be riding the bench or cut. I think this whole train of thought applies more to 12 13 14 15 year old boys than it does to 8-11 years where the focus is likely a little more on development than winning.
Lastly, playing travel baseball, travel foot ball and wrestling, with no down time to rest the joints and mind is likely going to cause some problems physically for many kids and burnout for others.
As my son's ortho put it (former team physician for Bengals and Bearcats and an Olympic team or two in other sports, so NOT a doctor who does not "get it") "Even professional atheletes have an off season for a reason. They need the downtime to allow their body to recover." He said he sees lots of boys who go from football to basketball to baseball to football to basketball to baseball, and then to him to ask why their arms, knees, ankles and shoulders hurt...
I have had to dial my son down in order to keep him on the field. Left to his own devices, he will run himself into the ground... |
| 3sondad |
Posted - 02/09/2010 : 13:13:51
During January and February there should be no complaints about kids missing baseball practice for Basketball. Same with Fall and Football. If the kids is missing during the "season", then it only depends on what the coach and the parent worked out before the season. If there is an understanding, parents should respect it and not start the nit picking. JMHO.
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