What can be done about REALLY weak teams??

There are some teams in the Charlotte area that need something. A case in point is the West Charlotte team. They are 0-7 overall; have scored 1 run and given up 127 runs; I have not seen them play. Is this just a one season thing and they will be competitive next year or is this
expected to continue? It cannot be any fun for fans of this team or their competition. Also not good for the game.
I am not looking to create an issue but what is going on here? Does anybody know? Braves, what do you think?

 

I dont see how it is bad for the game to give some kids a chance to play. It keeps them occupied and hopefully out of trouble. The players are aware of the situation at W.C. before they ever try out. They just enjoy the game. They always have a couple decent players. I wish there was a way to get some community backing for them. There are alot of great athletes in that school, lookat football and basketball. Vance is not a whole lot better, but they brought in a jv coach who enlisted his fathers help. His father had built a pretty good travel team organization and I look for him to do something along those lines in the Vance area again to help feed their program. I would love to see him invite some W.C. players to work with him in the summer. It would help both programs.

 

I really don't see some schools, particularly inner city schools, ever being able to compete at a high level of baseball. The sport is not one the community embraces and is not offered or coached well at the youth level.

It is a deep seated, cultural problem for the sport that many ideas have been generated to help, but the success has been spotty. The most successful being the RBI program. It's difficult for kids to get excited for a sport that is relatively expensive in comparison to others, and have few parental guidance with experience and the love for the sport that can transfer that "love" to the kids. I admire and respect the one's that have made the effort to help those programs; and I admire and respect the players participating despite unfortunate circumstances that makes it difficult for them to compete. But they play their butts off and never quit.

CMS's answer to this was to bundle some of those teams together and form a new conference. It has allowed a team like Garinger, a perennial o-fer team, to compete and actually enter the state playoffs. I wish they could move West Meck and Olympic out of that conference and substitute others, but keep in mind; those teams may not be good baseball programs but can be strong in other sports--West Charlotte State 4A Basketball Champions!!!!!!

 

Guys to see how Organizations can make a difference, check out www.PowerCross.org. They were the recipient of one of the RBI grants this year. Their 13U team has made great progress in the last 3 years and now they are playing at the top of the game with most travel teams. Also, all of these kids will attend Statesville High School. Although they are only 7th and 8th graders right now, watch out NPC.

 

It shouldn't be a surprise that young kids from areas that are relatively disadvantaged economically are nudged in the direction of the only two sports that offer full scholarships to college: football and basketball. Every influential adult in the process knows of the disparity; so, it stands to reason that their influence would tend to lean to those two sports.

As long as Division I programs are forced to divide 11.7 scholarships among 27 players (IF the program's fully funded to provide 11.7 scholarships), kids will naturally gravitate to the "full ride" sports.

 

finding fields that are accessible only hurts the process even further not only for inner city kids but for all kids that want to get better and continue playing.

 

I believe most of the suspect teams are from schools that don't emphasize baseball because there is not a large population of baseball-playing students. There has been much written nationally about the well-documented decline of baseball in the African-American community. No new news here, but the drivers of that trend are multi-dimensional and like most social issues, the trend does not reverse itself easily or quickly.
The facts are often troubling and distasteful to many, but it is hard to argue that they aren't facts. The most common explanations include the more appealing image of the basketballers and footballers for young blacks today, the impact of music and other cultural influences on young minds, and the packaging done by ESPN and other sports media that promotes the strong and valiant warrior heading into battle.....images that appeal generally to the black community who find living in America to be a battle in many ways. Baseball, on the other hand is considered slow and boring (to the casual observer).

Now, here is another reason that is rarely spoken but I believe is a huge contributor to the decline of the numbers of black baseball players. I was heavily involved in a large & successful youth baseball organization for several years. There was a significant effort to recruit players of all races to participate with little success. What I saw as our biggest obstacle was transportation. With the well-documented decline of two parent families in the black community, it was virtually impossible for Mom to get the player to practice and games three times a week at 5:30 in the afternoon as she may be just starting a second job. While this observation is a general statement that doesn't apply to all, it is true for the large majority of cases I witnessed first hand. Baseball is a game that it is difficult to improve at by yourself...team practice is essential. A kid can make great strides in basketball on his own, at his own pace, in his own neighborhood with others down the street...not true with baseball, especially if there is no interest in "pick up" games (which have virtually disappeared in the white community as well). Bottom Line: Baseball at the grass roots level has evolved into a very structured and groomed event for those that can commit the time, transportation and consistent effort to have their son in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

 

Mallard Creek has seven African American Players including Mikal Hill and they can compete with anyone. However I think eveyone has made valid points about the reasons baseball has declined in the African American community. Baseball is just not viewed as a viable or most pratical option for most Black kids so they focus on Basketball and Football. Mallard Creek might be a kind of a perfect storm when it comes to a number Black kids playing on one team and being truly competitive. However all the kids at Mallard Creek come from families that promote baseball and had the means to introduce them at very early age and play on showcase teams, trainers, camps, etc. It is really a shame because when we play a West Charlotte or a Harding,Vance etc. you see kids with potential but Baseball is not a sport that most can catch up if you do not start playing until you are in Middle or High School. Despite their disadvantages they play hard and never quit which I really respect.

 

A Tip of My Hat to..............

Boys of Summer great points!!

 

Mallard Creek is a great team and strong program and baseball families don't get any better than the Hills, and the evidence is the skill and character of Alex and Mikal.....and the devotion of Chris and his wife to their baseball development and personal development. And of course, Chris was great player in his day.