Need some advice for my son

my son is 9 years old (10 in march). he's a great all-around athlete, playing football, baseball, soccer, tennis and swimming since he was 4. He has played city-league ball since the beginning and has always been one of the better players on his team. he's got a good glove, is fast, accurate arm and hits well.

my question is this: when is it time to "get serious" about baseball?

he has a few friends that play for travel teams and has just been asked to try out for the spring league at the city's most competitive park. it's "the" park to play at, with the top 80-90 kids. the travel team kids play in this league and it has some former major-league player/dads as coaches. i know some of the dads, having coached their sons (and against their sons) in football. it's the elite league for athletes.

we've already been recruited (and verbally committed) to play for a city-league team of upper-level players. there's no doubt that this team would do very well. it has some of his friends on it from soccer and football. so, he'd be very comfortable. he'd probably get to pitch again since he has experience. plus, i'd get to help out coaching (not many years left that i can do it) and the park they play at is close to home and relatives.

added to this is that we're already playing soccer (which i'm also coaching) with the coach and three players that will be on the baseball team. games are on saturday, which i'm sure will be a practice day for the other park (we've got 5 weeks left of soccer). the coach and i also coach together on our sons' pop warner football team. so, i want to keep a good relationship there.

my son would get better instruction, practices and competition on the elite team -- it's more "serious" baseball. they play hard. i'm not sure that my son will pitch in that league and, since they fill teams with tryouts and a draft, there's no guarantee that he'll be on a team with his friends.

as a dad, it would be cool to be able to say that my son plays in the elite league. and, though he is very good at baseball, football is his favorite sport. he wants to be a pro player one day. he likes the physicality of football and testing himself against someone on every play. however, as a parent, im not sure i want him to have a life of body-punishing hits. i'd like for him to learn to see that baseball is competitive, too. if you're good, you will excel -- you don't need someone to throw a key block, or make a good handoff for you to succeed.

so, my predicament is this: tryouts are sunday for the elite league. do i possibly burn my bridges with our current commitment and have him try out for the elite league where he may not get on a team with his friends, or do we just keep playing "for fun" in the regular city league.

we're at a crossroads and i'm not sure when it's time to take baseball "seriously". i know he's only 9 now, but these are important years coming up that will set up the rest of his life.

what do you folks with experience have to say? i'm looking for advice.

thanks for your time.

- larry

 

I have 3 boys. The oldest stopped playing baseball at 13. My second son is playing HS baseball. My third son is 11. The two oldest played LL through their 12 year old season. Opportunities arose on several occasions for them to play TB, but they declined. The youngest has played LL up till this year. He decided that he wanted to play on a travel team with a few of his friends. The key here is HE decided.

At the younger ages, I think its best to learn the fundamentals and most of all have fun. At 9, most kids are not prepared to play double headers every Sat and Sun. (IF they should get to the championship game a 3rd game on Sun. ) The old comedy saying is true with youth baseball as well....Always leave them wanting more.

My thought is somewhere @ 13-14 to get serious about baseball. At that point your son will ask you to get involved with a travel team. Statistically, most kids will stop playing baseball between 12 and 13 years old. Your son will decide whether he wants to swim, play soccer, basketball, or just go fishing.

Playing youth baseball should be fun first and foremost. There will not be one recruiter from any college or MLB team recruiting at any 9 year olds games. Relax and enjoy the time you have with your son. Youth baseball is only for a limited amount of time.

 

Larry- the above post is excellent advice. As long as you feel he is learning the fundamentals, let him play with his friends. The other team you mentioned---many of those players will quit playing baseball before they are 16.

As said, when they are 13 should be the first time they shpuld start showing signs of taking it seriously, but your son is an athlete. Let him continue to play all the sports he enjoys. He won't be left behind. Also, Ty will let you know when and if he decides to dedicate himself to one sport. For his sake, I hope he doesn't. You can tell him this: When it comes time to start exposing his skills to the scouts--they will love the fact that he is a multi-sport athlete.

 

every kid is different, but...

there is a competitive fire that burns in a few. These aren't always the most talented kids, or the biggest stars, in an age group but, to a somewhat educated eye, they stand out. That competitiveness is the fuel that motivates these kids to learn more, work harder and to accept challenges that come to them.

Larry, where your son falls is something you probably already know and if not, the others that have coached him should have a pretty good idea. The fact is that if he plays at the highest level, and he thinks it is fun, then he will succeed at that level.

The most important person to talk to is your son! Even if his words aren't clear on what he thinks of it, his body language will give you an answer.

Football and baseball are, in my mind, the two best sports a boy can play through his youth and high school years. One teaches them the physical toughness and the need to "lay it all out" on every play. The other teaches the values of mental discipline and the willingness to "be the man" in game changing situations.

Soccer, on the otherhand, is communist... you need to get him away from that!!!

 

haha (about the soccer). we just did it as a way to keep our boys running in the winter months. the coach quit right before signups, so we volunteered to "coach" our kids. we don't know much at all about the game, but figured -- how hard could it be.

i think you guys have helped me make up my mind. i don't have many years left to coach him and i want to enjoy it. i want it to be "just a game" as long as possible and, when he's ready (if he's ever ready), take the next step.

i agree -- football and baseball are two fundamental sports, for very different reasons. there's so much a dad can teach to his son by playing and coaching both. i don't want these days to end, but i don't want to hold him back from being all that he can be.

can't they just stay young forever?

 

Don't be so fast to put down soccer. It is one of the best sport skills you can have that also helps in all the other sports. I truly believe soccer is one of the reasons my son excelled in other sports. In every other sport he participated in, footwork was important. Where do you learn that? ...soccer
As a Mom of a multi-sport athlete, I say let your son play any and all sports he wants to and with his friends if that is what he wants. At the age of 9 my son played organized baseball, basketball, flag football, and soccer. (He could also swim, snow-ski, roller blade, skateboard, took tennis "lessons", played golf with Jr. golf lessons and was learning to water ski.) He thought they all were fun! He decided as he got older which sports were for him. He gave up club soccer in 7th grade to play middle school football, kept baseball and basketball. In High school, he played those three and picked up track and even bowling. He played on many different teams and with players of all ability levels, some were bigger and better athletes than he was, but none had his desire. Now that he is playing only one sport in college, I can see it in his eyes how much he still misses the diversity of other sports. He came to every HS football game he possible could and even in the freezing cold during Christmas break, he went outside to shoot some hoops.
I say all that to say this: whether his team won or lost, he will tell you he very much enjoyed playing in every single one of his games and would not have trade his childhood/high school sports for anything.

 

Thank you very much for this. Our sons would get along great!

 

I will give you a little more advice that I hope will help. My son did all these and is now starting at the varsity level in HS in all 3 major sports as a sophomore. He always preferred playing with his buddies and coaches who were positive and fun. While I was a very involved dad and a former college athlete myself, he doesn't want to hear anything that resembles coaching from me at this point. He just wants me to be his dad and do other stuff with him. Please enjoy these times and have fun with it and when he gets to the 7th or 8th grade his talent will be evident. Then when he gets in front of HS coaches they will see his talent and plug him in where he will be successful.

 

Soccer?

And don't forget the really cool "Stab Vests" they give out to the players!

Take the Soccer elsewhere. I just had Breakfast.

 

all about the game

i'm not a pro but i have coached ball for a long time and with what i've learned from kids is that you should talk to him to see what he wants and leave your own opinion out of it it's all about his love for the game and if he wants to commit to baseball he will let you know that he needs more out of what he is getting from the team he is own cause if you push him into the elite league he my lose intrest and he will gradually go away from baseball all together and alot of good players give up because it becomes daddy ball to them instead of what he wants as long as he is learning good fundementals of the game let him enjoy it and when the time is right he'll know and you want have to influence anything