Travel Ball in baseball

[Rocky&Boarwinkle]

I recently read a story by ESPN about the AAU type phenomenon being replicated in baseball with some of the changes that have been happening in high school age baseball and the chasing of the elusive college scholarship by parents of baseball players.  My own son is playing American Legion baseball this summer, but the numbers out for tryouts were not what we expected.  Also several of our local kids that would have normally played on the legion team are conspicuously absent this summer.  Upon investigating I have found that many of them have been "recruited" to play on "showcase teams" or have migrated to Babe Ruth's expansion into the U18 older kids tournaments.

I was just curious about who had experience with these things and who was doing all of these new movements that are poaching players from the traditional Legion system.  Is there any type of advantage, or is it like the ESPN writer says and they are just taking your money.  I understand once you hit 15 you are seeing physical maturity and improving skills that aren't going to be realized at age 12 or so.  Just trying to start a conversation on the pros and cons of this age groups 3 options and if this change is actually any better for the kids or is getting some of them more college opportunities.

http://www.espn.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/keown-110823/elite-travel-baseball-basketball-teams-make-youth-sports-industrial-complex

[Pig Papi]

My son has played travel ball and showcase ball since he was 12.  I would not trade his experience for anything.

The key to me is defining what your son wants and what you as a family want for his baseball experience.  The goal could be to just get better.  The goal could be to try and make the high school team. The goal could be to get noticed by a college.  All of those goals are fine and decisions should be based on your personal goals.

There is no question that some showcase teams exist to make the organization money.  They have to have numbers to generate the revenue to keep promoting the elite teams.  Just be sure you know what your are getting into.

I would put a high premium in whichever avenue you choose on coaching.  Who is coaching your son?  What can he teach your son?  Will he help make your son a better player? 

You only get one shot at making the right choices so ask all the questions and do all the research you can.

[Rocky&Boarwinkle]

All those are good points.  At this point, he already played on the high school team as a 9th grader this year and probably played the most of any of the 9th graders.  He really just wants to improve to the point that he will lock down a starter spot on the high school team.  I have been very impressed with the coaching he has received in just two sessions so far.  A nice mix between exacting standards and positive feedback when improvement or good plays are made.  Several stoppages at every position and hitting drill to make corrections in technique, etc.  And while a certain financial committment is expected from the family in our program, it is tremendously lower than many of the showcase and travel situations I have heard about.  And like you said, it seems that it can be a very good experience if you are on the right team with a good, knowledgeable coach.  The benefit of our local legion program is that they have tons of fundraisers and enjoy good sponsorship from local businesses so that the family expense is lower.

Our goals are not as lofty as trying for any significant scholarship for playing baseball.  He enjoys it very much and could possibly develop to that level, but he also knows that his ticket to good college money is in GPA and ACT scores.  His sister got a 32 and was valedictorian with a 4+ GPA.  I don't expect him to replicate that, because all kids are different.  So in our case, Legion is just fine.  But I know of some local players that have gotten poached by larger towns travel teams, and I just wonder if they are getting the supposed recruiting benefits they think they are getting for a substantially larger cost to the family.  The bottom line is that the local legion team doesn't have quite the overall talent level that they have had in the past.

Thanks for your response. If that is all you have ever done and have had good results, I understand why you would be positive to the showcase potential.  Especially if you have been part of one of the programs that doesn't seem to be taking advantage of the setup to make a profit for themselves.

[hawkhawg]

I was eating lunch with my mother and family on Mother's Day and a bunch of probably 12 year olds walked in with dirty baseball uniforms on.   It's kinda sad that teams can't take a Sunday Mother's Day morning off.

[Rocky&Boarwinkle]

I was eating lunch with my mother and family on Mother's Day and a bunch of probably 12 year olds walked in with dirty baseball uniforms on.   It's kinda sad that teams can't take a Sunday Mother's Day morning off.

I love baseball too, but there are some days that don't need to be baseball days.

[woodrow hog call]

I haven't been involved in it for over 10 years but was pretty involved in the Babe Ruth and Legion programs at one point. Back then it would go through cycles where one program would be all the rage for a while, then for whatever reason, kids would start migrating to over to the other for a while.

It's been my experience that good strong leadership at the top of these programs (at the local level) is very important in keeping the quality of the coaching and the overall experience as positive as possible. Pig Papi said it perfectly, do your due diligence and make the decision that best suits his needs and wants from a summer program.

I remember in the high levels of Legion ball it was pretty hard for a kid to have a summer job because of the different game times, travel to tournaments, and odd practice times, but it was a very high level of competition and pretty good baseball to watch.

The Babe Ruth was a little more laid back, the schedule was more conducive to a kid that had a job, the travel was less, and the level of league play was not that great but each team had a handful or at least a few good players. So at the end of the season  they put together an all star team for district or state tournaments, then you would have a high quality team that would get to play some better competition. Fun times in both situations, good memories.

EDIT: I will also add, the college coaches will know where the kids are playing they want to look at. I have seen a college coaching staff show up to a Babe Ruth game with a radar gun, just like they would at an American Legion game. Difference might be more opportunities in Legion because of going to some of the bigger tournaments where coaches come to watch players on several teams.

[hogmolar]

I was eating lunch with my mother and family on Mother's Day and a bunch of probably 12 year olds walked in with dirty baseball uniforms on.   It's kinda sad that teams can't take a Sunday Mother's Day morning off.

As a coach of a travel team we planned to take Mothers Day off. However as the year progressed the moms were like why in the world are we not playing on that weekend. The moms are the crazy ones about this stuff. It really is like a big family.

[tophawg19]

some of these teams travel all over the country playing. it puts you against the best in the nation . but is very expensive to keep up