End of an Era????? Sad story from up the hill.

My only problem with that is the league all stars usually end up being the coaches kids, whether deserving or not, and not necessarily the best players in the league. Are the rec leagues sponsoring the weekend travel teams? I know here in the mountains starting in March and running through July the younger age groups can essentially play a tournament every weekend and never spend the night away from home. There will always be a place for rec league ball, but better players enjoy the competition of the travel team scenario.

 

I do not think the leagues are sponsoring these teams, but are offering this additional level of play as an incentive to keep the better players participating in the rec program. This program is only offered to the younger age groups: 9-10 & 11-12. They also just stay local for tournaments (within 1 hr) & no overnight travel; or rarely..

Most of the time these teams are taking their lumps, but they are exposing these kids to some good competition. It hink it is great.

 

kids have to learn to play somewhere. they don't just show up at 11 years old knowing how to play. if the local leagues shutdown will you have traveling t-ball? what if the traveling thing ends? once these things shut down and the fields are turned into skateboard parks then where will kids learn to play baseball.the city is not totally to blame at e.a. from what i've been told and i got it from the guy who's the e.a. commisioner in the article. parents are not doing any work and seem to refuse to do so. i think it will be saved at least for this year. this also affects girls softball as well.

 

My daughter plays rec softball....we fight the mens and womens leagues more than anything esle for field space. Ironically, the adults get the better time slots and the 12U girls get the later time slots when they should be at home doing homework.

IMHO I don't think travel ball causes all the problems....the majority of the problems all caused by the adults running the Park and Rec Departments for the City....it's not about the kids anymore.

 

i think the most involved parents are usually parents of travel kids so they're gone as well. adult softball is not at issue in asheville

 

Another Program Experience

Eleven years ago in Lumberton, a very dedicated group of baseball lovers started LYBA to give the kids a fair chance at learning the game. The local rec league was what you would expect: disorganized, poor equipment, fields, no uniforms, no allstars. Fortunately for us, the City Rec Dept bought in and helped us with the things they do best : daily field maintenance and scheduling umpires. Businesses in town bought in with sponsorships. We joined Dixie Youth and went to work and within a few years great things started happening. Participation took off, the level of play leaped ahead. Our allstar teams went from being the laughing stock of our district to regular district champs and strong state caliber teams. Through the first five or six years, the level of involvement with the parents was stunning. Everyone was willing to grab a rake, haul a kid who didn't have a ride, defer to the good of the league over the good of their team, spend time in the concession stand, organize evaluations and drafts, and on and on. Why did they do this? Because they knew where the program had been and where they were headed.
But then a funny thing happened. Most of the original organizers "aged out" of the programs. The new families that came in, though many in number and good people, had no idea what baseball in Lumberton was before LYBA. They just thought the new fields, fancy uniforms, and great organization just happened, just because. The concession stand is now hired out. The fields are beginning to look like "rec" fields again. One or two of the early pioneers have held LYBA together for the last five or six years through incredible effort and determination. One guy in particular should have a field named after him for the effort he has put in. When his child soon ages out, I fear for the staying power of the league. No one seems to be stepping up to the plate to carry that torch from an administrative standpoint. And I know that as quickly as the improvement in participation and quality of play was recognized, it can just a quickly disappear.
I was one of the organizers and I have an incredibly positive experience etched in my mind. We did a GREAT thing in our community. The one thing I regret is that our original group did EVERYTHING for about six years and did not sell the idea to the TBall and Minor League parents coming in behind us. When your child is nine or ten or twelve, you never think it will end. But without new parents with the same work ethic and vision to keep the program alive, it cannot thrive.
Currently LYBA appears to be strong. All Star teams are still competitive and the numbers have not appeared to suffer. Its not too late here if that next group of organizers can be found. I think the next year or two will tell the tale. If it is allowed to unravel, the kids will lose.

 

Thanks for a great post baseballman. Although the city of Asheville is definitely a problem, the senario that you describe is is exactly what is now happening at East Asheville. EA has been a premier league in the state for many years. All the work down there has been done by a handful of people for a long time, now there is nobody stepping up to the plate to take the reins for the next generation of kids. Money can always be found if you look in the right places and knock on the right doors but it is going to take the physical and time commitment from some new people to make the thing fly. Unfortunately you can't force people to work. Hopefully people in the community will realize what is at stake and step up and take the bull by the horns.

 

Update on Lumberton league. I played golf with the guy who has run our league for the last few years. He told me that the new president of LYBA had a 13 year old and a tee baller and was doing a GREAT job with the organization. They were just awarded the 14 u Southeast Region Babe Ruth tournament next summer and people are volunteering left and right. He was very upbeat about the state of the organization.

 

We fight the same thing in Jamestown. I ran the local youth league for many years. You would have thought that the town saw us as the enemy. Youth sports are not appreciated as they once were. Fields are tougher to come by and land and money to develop your own is scarce.

I've been in travel ball and Rec for 6 years now. The two can co-exist, North Wake County Baseball does a good job with the two co-existing. They play Rec during the week and travel ball on weekends. We do the same. It works for the kids that want it.