Prepster's- Something to think about

Braves,

Dont get too frustrated! I think you and Bruce and Prep - and the rest of your friends that started this site have done an outstanding job. Educational - interesting and fun.

And most importantly - it has helped the kids who play this great game.

Frankly - that is ALL that really matters as far as I am concerned.

I have only been reading this site for about 4 years - but let me tell you - I read just about everything and I am really grateful that - because of you and your friends efforts - I have had the chance to do so.

 

My son attends a school in a county near Char-Meck. The above is so very true for him. He is a very good catcher and is leaving his current high school for another school in the county, (change of guardianship). His present coach is a burnout case (over 28 years) and does not care. There is to much at stake to continue in this situation.

 

The topics of transferring, and program building on TBR spurred a phone conversation yesterday between a friend of mine and me. I was quite surprised to find out that the school his son attends lacks a dedicated baseball coaching staff. All indications are that this school would have leading edge coaches that go the extra mile. Not so. The coaches rely heavily on a PARENT to organize and run off season workouts, and practices. They have a few kids who will probably play college ball, and view the coaches as a joke. Now THERE is a reason to consider transferring to a better program. I have been the route of trying to boost interest in a school baseball program(lighted field,fall baseball,getting kids to play summer ball), and was viewed as a self serving SOB who only had my child in mind. Needless to say we switched schools. I'd say that 99% of transfers are done with the best intentions.

 

man...

In my opinion, 'With My Full Armor On' It is definately a feeder program issue. It has to start at 2,3,4 years old. You cant give kids a free pass to play at whatever school they choose unless they attend that school. You dont have to play for a winning baseball program to be a winner in life.

 

As a former player at an inner-city school this topic is interesting. When i attended high school it was based upon busing a couple years and neighborhood a couple, so i saw both sides. The idea of "contracting" programs that aren't good enough to field a decent team is ridiculous. Isn't the whole idea behind high school sports that it is "amateur"? I have seen and played against players that probably have no business playing on a baseball team in high school but who cares how good they are. Is that not high school sports? Look at the statistics on how many kids play past high school. Whos says you have to be competitive year in and year out? Just because your son plays on a travel team and attends a non inner-city school does not mean he is good enough to play at the next level and most aren't. If some of these schools are so "talent-rich" then why not transfer some kids to inner-city schools so some of them can play. Be glad these guys are participating in the game with such low percentages of inner-city kids playing baseball nowadays. Chances are a school like WC or Garinger wouldn't beat Providence or South now but what if they did? Do we not love the underdog in sports? Even though in the past schools were not "neighborhood", go back and look at how many players from schools like West Charlotte (I know they have had 10+ at least), Garinger, Harding, and West Meck went on and completed four years of collegiate baseball, not one year or two. I would bet that South Meck and Myers Park are on the low end of the totem pole on that statistic. If we are talking about taking away teams that aren't competitive what do you think these inner-city schools think of schools in other sports like football, basketball, and track? 90% of the other schools can't even sniff the inner-city in those sports but i'm sure they don't complain.

The best part of this whole argument is I was on a #7 seeded WC team that beat a #2MP team in the first round of the Conference Tournament.

And Braves, when i was in high school many of the inner-city schools would have been even better in sports like baseball because kids transferred to East Meck, Myers park, and South Meck so they wouldn't have to attend these schools. I could've "lived" with my grandmother who lives in SouthPark and gone MP or East Meck when i was bused to WC or could have attended these schools on my own since they are in my "neighborhood" but chose not to. So this happens...

There are always two sides to a story...

 

I understand what you are saying and I know what you guys had accomplished at WC. I respect your opinion, but HS baseball in Charlotte is not the same as it was 5-6 years ago. Back then you you had Harding and WC that were very good, but each year those schools have regressed to the point that it has become a mockery.

For schools to have to bat opposite handed, to not steal bases, to not try to score from 2nd base on a double; for an umpire to call players out after clearly running past 1st base before the ball gets there, for an umpire to incorporate a little league strike zone for the opposing team is not what HS sports is about. To play a team like this and the score is 42-0 after two innings...I can't imagine what lessons one would learn from those type games.

It's not just the scores of these games that are terrible, it's the way other teams are forced to play.

You brought up basketball. Well, if I was on a completely inferior team game after game that might bother me, but what would cause me to get upset is to play against a team that decided to shoot only opposite handed or not jump after a rebound. To pass the ball around and not shoot until the shot clock was going off. That would be insulting, a mockery and I wouldn't want any part of that.

This thread has nothing to do with showcase baseball, the Providence's, SM's or AK's. It has to do with schools that can not field competitive teams, have no interest from the community in improving it and asks are there solutions to correcting it?

and LionBear, if you knew the history of this board, you would know how often I have mentioned how much I admired your WC Lions and more specifically, the respect I have for the way you played the game and the respect I have for your coaches at WC. I have had this same conversation with your dad on this topic on and off this board.

It is an interesting topic and I believe there are solutions, but it will take 3 leaders to start the progress:

1. The Principal
2. The Coach
3. A community leader that wants to get involved.