My two-cents

Me too!!! Turkey for me of course?? hahahaha

 

Parent perspective

JT--I will give you my thoughts...
My son plays HS and Showcase baseball. He loves both. He loves his HS baseball team. He loves playing with his school teammates and looks forward to a great season (hopefully going far into the State playoffs). He plays only baseball so he makes every optional workout that is scheduled year round.
My son chose to play AAU and then Showcase because he was frustrated with rec baseball. Rec is a great fit--for kids who don't eat, sleep, and breath baseball. My kid is very competitive and his idea of fun is spending hours practicing baseball. Therefore we found teams with a roster full of kids that feel the same way he does. Take the scholarship and scouts out of it. He plays showcase because he can play with and against the best players around. He feels this makes him have to raise the bar on his game. He wants to win every time out and wants to be surrounded by guys who feel the same way. There is no reason he should be required to play only what his HS coach deems appropriate 12 months a year. I understand during the school season...but, would it be ok for his HS coach to tell me that he should not take guitar lessons during the Fall and Summer? For us it's the same thing. Showcase is what he likes to do for fun outside of school hours.

So to answer you, HS baseball has not lost it's luster IMO. Showcase is something that just adds to it. It's the whipped cream on top of the sundae. When the HS season starts, he will only be a better player ready to give his coach 110% to do his part to help his HS team be the best it can be.

 

Well done!

 

Yep...I agree

 

BigRedMachine

Boy was I a huge fan of the BRM. Great post coming from a parent of a baseball player.

 

Heres My two cents ... as long as HS baseball and showcase baseball remains fair and honest , then so be it. Its not about cost, if you can be on the elite team. then go. If you want to be on the winning team that all the scouts attened, then go. If you feel good about how you got there and when its all said and done, you didnt manipulate the system or knock others down to get there, then good luck to you. Id rather be the kid that didnt need a parent to promote me, pick my high school school or use a team to promote a kid and others. I know TBR is to promote and keep baseball positive, but that may be unrealistic. There are those that manipulate the system for their kidThere are plenty of players out there working hard, dedicated and dont get things handed to them. So in this last post, I hope my opinion is understood. i have played the game and I know what happens sometimes behind the scenes. I just want baseball to remain an honest sport. Those who do.. i wish you the best and and those who dont...best of luck.

 

Come on guys

Someone has got to respond to this one. I cant wait to see who is going to jump on this bandwagon.

 

Dagswood - BigRedMachine

thanks for your input. This is much more the direction I was hoping this would go. I do hope to get back into HS baseball. I absolutley love it. And I finally feel that is where my heart is and where I belong.

Its refreshing to here that in other parts of the state HS baseball is still held in high regards. Although this is not my first chocie, maybe I'll use this spring as a time to get out more and see first hand whats going in other places. Unless I find someone who may need some help this spring. (no luck so far)I've never really had that chance.

 

i continue to see not only on this board but around home an almost manic desperation on parents part to get their kid to the "next level",why? either he'll make it or he won't. save your money because 98% of the time you'll spend more than you'll ever get in return as baseball scholarship money. i don't get it but people are getting rich off baseball the last few years where 20 years ago they were not and yet 20 years ago there were still colleges playing baseball with baseball players and kids going pro without all the travel stuff.