Debates: Freshman Teams, Parents in sports, Iredell County

Speaking of Iredell County
First I would like to address the issue concerning the facilities, or the lack thereof. This all starts at the top and works its way down. Lack of interest at the county and city government levels reflect THEIR lack of committment to our youth programs. Thats where the money is and also where the decisions are being made as to where and how much money is spent on fields and gyms. We here in Mooresville got up a group several years ago and presented our case to the Rec. Dept., City Council and NBC News 6. We were told that changes and improvements would be made but not much has changed. Iredell/Statesville school system is in poor shape financially, many of the high school facilities are NOT up to standard due to this and probably other leadership issues. Mooresville Sr. High seems to be doing better in large part to AD Mike Carter at MHS and the success of the football program has provided funds for improvement and maintenance of facilities and programs. Its all about leadership.

As for local teams (AAU, USSSA, etc.)
Several years back a group of us (dads) were'nt pleased with our progress in youth baseball as it stood then. WE TOOK IT UPON OURSELVES to create and develop select tems apart from the rec level. It was a slow start and we got spanked...a bunch, as our friends from the NM area can tell you. But we stood together and stayed together and slowly made improvements. As of last season (our final one) we won many games in AAU and USSSA tournament play, at one time being ranked number 2 in the USSSA national rankings and finished 5th in the state tournament. As the population grows here in Iredell county this should add to the talent and coaching pool others who are dedicated to these programs. Maybe you, Lake Norman Fan, could get the ball rolling? There are local AAU and USSSA teams already established in this area as well. But I'll agree with you, MUCH more needs to be done in comparison to neighboring counties.

As for local high school teams:
S. Iredell is suffering from a loss of players DUE to Lake Norman High School. They are currently a 2A (down from 4A) school now and lost many of their better players to Lake Norman. Lake Norman, being a first year school is suffering from normal growing pains and the effects thereof, not suprising. However, lack of competent coaching has been an issue at many Iredell Co. schools (not all) and that includes Mooreville too. I'm feeling your pain. I have no clue as to Statesvilles situation, could be money or lack of interest. Feel fortunate for your situation at LNHS, their facilities are the ENVY of ALL other county schools, except maybe for the baseball field, but it will come.

Whitey has been THE baseball icon of our town since I was a kid. I know him well. His Legion teams are a source of pride for us. We need more like him, he's a good man. We simply dont have the number of kids as most of our neighboring counties do but were growing fast and that should change soon.

 

Any of you guys representing West Iredell? I heard you guys playes Alexander Central last Thursday..What are some of the thoughts on ACHS and West? Also I heard North Iredell playes ACHS tomorrow, whats the word on North?

 

I was very close to Iredell Co. baseball for 2.5 years.
I think there is some real good talent, the Johnson bro's, etc....
I also think there are some fine coaches that actually care a whole bunch, there just isn't enough interest for some reason. Well, there wasn't 2 years ago anyway, there may be now. The kids that did play were hard core and real gun ho about playing. South Iredell kind of got hosed by some parents who were real rude to the coach there. Mooresville is just an extention of Whitey's Legion team. Coach Gatton always did a decent job at West I though, and Brian Hightower really brought a lot of enthusiasm adjacent to the Holler, he just didn't have enough talent. I certainly hope it's getting better.

 

Thanks for all the feedback!!!! -
(is this is a great board or what?)

TANK: - You're right on the money, there's a big difference between Mooresville baseball and Iredell County baseball. Mooresville has a great program and I hope Lake Norman HS follows in thier footsteps

With a lot of hard work, the baseball facility will be as nice as the football and basketball (thanks to parents and others work has begun on installing lights).

Coach Robert Little is very dedicated to reviving baseball in the area I think his first year team will surprise a few this year.
Thanks again............

 

Lake Norman Fan:

Get the younger kids excited about baseball in your area again ... especially being a new school. Allow youth team that show up at the game to get in free (their parents will have to pay and you will DEFINATELY make up the lost gate at the consession stand - youngsters RUN through money at ball games). It will be good if they sat as a team and their coaches would have the opportunity to explain different facets of the game - teaching them at the same time.

Talk to your players about making a point of going out of their way to introduce themselves to the youngster attending the game. You will get the excitement back in Iredell County in no time.

 

Is it Time for Freshman Teams in the Charlotte High Schools?

With the number of quality freshmen getting cut every year, some say it's time for the HS coaches to get together and have a league of freshmen teams. I know Mike Shildt was advocating this a couple years back and found little interest among the coaches, but the fact is that freshmen teams are the way of the world in most big cities. A lot of good baseball players are getting cut, and others who make the team don't play their freshman year, and that's a shame. Many of them go on to play in later years or transfer to play. In addition, a lot of second-tier upper classmen get cut to make room for the fresh troops each year.

Most schools carry 16 to 18 on the varsity and another 16 or so on the JV team, about 33 or 34 total. That's an average of only 8 or 9 per class. By letting 13 or so freshmen play on a freshmen team, the coaches get to see who the freshmen are that they want to keep in their programs, and they can cut back a little on their roster sizes. Wouldn't it be nice to have 15 players on varsity and jv and 13 on the freshman team -- 43 total. You keep an average of 10 per class for the upper 3 years and get a look all season at 13 young guys. The freshmen could play an abbreviated, Saturday-only 8 or 9 game schedule and we'd really get a look at the up and coming talent.

Field space, coaches, umpires, and practice time are all big issues, but somehow other big cities make it work. All the big programs -- Providence, Butler, East Meck, Sout Meck, North Meck, Myers Park, Independence, Hopewell, etc., have plenty of quality players to fill the teams.

More kids playing, more future fans, etc. What do you think?

 

Freshman Teams

The year before last, 4 freshmen made the team at North Meck... Those players are now Juniors and are split between North & Hopewell.... It can hurt a class & a player to loose that one year of school ball. I agree with Dodgerblue - BUT ... in this day and age where schools are looking for ways to shrink athletic budgets, it isn't going to happen.

 

Because of budget and other concerns, I think a Freshman team would have to have a volunteer coach (school or Dad) and the parents would have to raise the $ for equipment, umpires, etc. It's great that the larger schools have an abundance of talented freshmen, but most smaller schools don't.

 

The big schools up north have had these teams for years. I attended high school in the western suburbs of Chicago in the early 70's and we had 4 baseball teams. Varsity, JV, Sophmore, and Freshman. It was a pretty big school but all the schools in our conference had the same setup.

 

This is pretty much standard in other parts of the country.

Another thing that seems pretty much standard in the big sports states (California, Texas, Florida & others) is last period PE - and you can have a specialty PE course in YOUR sport. So the baseball players could actually work on their games AT SCHOOL - LEGALLY - WITH THEIR COACH the entire year. If you also had a field house.........talk about being ready for the season!!! Same for the football team, the soccer team, the softball team, the tennis team, the basketball team..... If you are a multi-sport athlete, you choose which team you will work out with for the year (that's what they do in other states).

A block schedule makes that a little more difficult but you don't want to lift 5 days a week anyway and a block schedule would allow upper body/lower body time + infield/pitching in the field house with long toss outside on nice days. That would average out to 4 hours of baseball (or whatever) per week, with instruction, during the off-season.

You don't get credit for it after 2 years and you have to be on a team the prior year in order to get last period PE (reserved for returning players - all sports).

Now .... if you could couple 1) Freshman teams 2) last period Specialty PE & 3) Cheerleaders/"Between Inning Field Maintenance Workers"...... that's got the earmarks of a NICE program!!!!

(Added) Another thought - maybe get the cheerleading squad to work the consessions at the games - in uniform (that brings in the male students, which brings in the females students) they could circulate, take orders and deliver the grub. The parents could watch the game, the gate goes up and the concession money goes WAY up and the CL squad gets a percentage of the concessions for competitions, uniforms, etc.

Too bad none of the A.D.'s read the board....This has promise. Think of batting averages if you had that much off-season winter hitting..... Pitchers would be ready... lessen arm problems due to having them in proper condition....The last period P/E would be optional - not mandatory. You can get credit for 4 years of chorus or band, but not 4 years of P/E....