ESPN article on "elite travel ball"

Guys.....lets not act like its "travel ball" or "showcase" that's hurting things, it's the people who misbehave within those settings that soil the image.

Just like it's not college football that's the problem, it's the kids who care less about right and wrong that's the problem.

We have a general decay on society, so I imagine we'd have rude and overbearing parents in rec leagues now if there were no travel teams for these families to go to.

As I said earlier, there are good people out there in this system. The programs that focus more on development and less on winning seem to be the best in my opinion. I don't mean 9 year old, "just do you best" approach. But an approach that let's pitchers work through rough spots, not jerk them out after 1 1/3. A team that practices as much or more than it plays. A coach not handing out jerseys to new kids every weekend. Coaches that aren't in it for their reputation. A program that's not looking of the 15 best, but the 15 best fits and hardest workers. A coach that interacts/works more with the players than sucks up to the parents.

As someone stated earlier, I've also seen this in CBC, SCP as well as NC Baseball Academy. There are good people out there and the system does work for people doing things the right way, programs and families.

 

from the article...

"This is the age of the youth-sports industrial complex, where men make a living putting on tournaments...."

I remember breaking out the calculator a few years ago when my son was playing in a big USSSA tournament in Charlotte with lots of different age groups, further divided by classifications (Majors, AAA, etc), resulting in 261 teams playing across multiple sites. With an average $300 entry fee, that amounted to a haul of $78,300 for the weekend. It was a family operation promoting the tournament and they had a website to maintain and some nominal field fees to pay. I thought about the umpire costs, but when I found out what they were, I realized that was easily covered by the gate fees. So I thought to myself this is a pretty good business for the clever operator and I admired him for it...especially since he had two other tournament sites that same weekend (Hendersonville and somewhere else). He had tournaments every weekend somewhere in the area so the pattern was repeatable, although not usually at that scale.

I didn't begrudge the man making a profit and making a living. He was providing something of great value to the participants and he didn't hold a gun to anyone's head to come and pay for the experience.....but I imagine most didn't have the perspective that a calculator would provide.

 

But there are no umps in the facility for him to bait...

 

This thread didn't go as planned

I intended to point out the ESPN article. Stimulate some discussion. But left the door open to a "least common denominator" conversations. For that I'm sorry. So, i'd like to kill this thread, but not before i put my 2 cents in.

So....is travel ball, related facilities & tournament businesses....good or bad?

Despite the articles negative slant and slams on coaches, parents and society in general. I'd say that travel ball is.... GOOD. It's evolving, Like other sports are evolving. Despite the rollercoaster ride, and added cost, it's been beneficial, and a positive influence on my son. And others sons.


If the baseball business base didn't exist, then...

• my son wouldn't have had private instruction over the past 4 years by Shore, Gardiner, Shaef, Robbins, Astanazy, and others during the early years. They gave him confidence to compete. i truely think they love the kids.
• i wouldn't have been able to go to three $10-15 coaches clinics in a month, pick the brain of former pro's over several years, and pass those skills on to our travel team (that we took from Select to Premier).
• Without vision and organization, we wouldn't have nice fields and venues as a frame for those wonderful memories. Memories are the important, not the trophies.
• We'd have never gone to Cooperstown Dreams park, which my wife absolutely loved. (ok i was in the barracks and she was vacationing in peace ).
• i wouldn't have been pushed to learn about "arm care" and "functional strength" to help others play injury free.
• wouldn't have learned so much about the game i used to think about 24/7/365 as a boy. (not much has changed).

Maybe we should admit it's not perfect, gather a "what's great about travel ball" list and send them to Tim Mceown to balance things out.

 

Not just good, it's great....

I posted a couple of times on this thread...I think just finishing the youth baseball journey has got me looking back over the whole thing. My wife and I had dinner with a couple last night who just sent their son off to college and we shared some remembrances about our baseball experiences and we all agreed we would absolutely do the showcase thing again....because it was good. The things that happen that cause people to look upon it negatively mirror the bad things that happen in everyday life. Just as there is no such thing as a perfect life, there is no such thing as perfect baseball (although Cooperstown Dreams Park is close!).

I've had my share of thoughts about why things happen as they did. I remember going to Ft. Myers for a Perfect Game Showcase event and a player was invited late to join the team for that extra pitching that might be needed, or to get that "valuable exposure"...at any rate, they made the trip and Mom shared with me that she paid $1,000 each for two plane tickets. The player pitched one inning in a mop-up role and came in in another game and after walking two was removed from the game...that was it for the whole trip. I winced then when it happened and I wince now as I think about it, but it just happened that way. No one made them come and no one knew that would be the outcome.

I think balanced thinking is required...I believe all come with best intentions, but it just not possible to cook the perfect stew for everyone once you dump all the ingredients in there. What tastes sweet to some, tastes sour to others. It would be that way even if money wasn't involved, but money raises the stakes for everyone. The baseball business person has bills to pay and no real salary to bank on, the coaches know Mom & Dad are thinking about cost vs. return, the players are aware of the chatter about all of the costs. For most involved those costs will never be recovered, but that is why I say showcase baseball shouldn't be evaluated based on the cost, rather it should be evaluated on the value of the experience.....and there is no denying it is a great ride and great family fun!

 

sorry for getting off topic. it will not happen again.

 

As one (very seasoned) college coach put it. Most coaches don't necessarily agree with or like everything about showcase baseball - but they know that is where they must do most of their recruiting to get the players that they want to continue to build their programs on. Travel and showcase are not perfect worlds - but I agree the experiences and memories made are priceless. Some good and some not so good - but many really good young men are molded through these experiences.

One statistic I would be curious to see is - in the past 3-4 years, how many kids at each Division have received scholarship that NEVER participated in a Perfect Game event. The reason I single that organization out is - the overwhelming response to their biggest tournaments (in the Southeast that is) - at East Cobb, Ft. Myers and Jupiter. The days of if they are good enough - coaches will find them - seem to be fewer and far between.

 

As my wizened friend, Prepster, used to say. " They will find you...if it doesn't matter who will find you."

 

Thanks Schaef...I know you didn't write the above for the "atta boys" but you deserve one. I didn't read the article but from the tone of the posts in this thread I think people are "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." It's not the fault of showcase that coaches/dads can't figure out where little Johnny fits in to the scheme of things. As an umpire, I've worked every level of baseball with the exception of MLB. I've worked the daddyball circuit where I had to watch a team built around Johnny playing SS and his dad who watched Joe Torre manage one time try and "run" the team. It's not the fault of showcase that parents, coaches, and players can't figure out the purpose of it. It's a business and it's an investment. Like Schaef said, when little Johnny doesn't pan out..don't come on here and bash showcase like a jilted lover. If you were serious about your son's abilities and his development you would go through the proper vetting and find a legitimate showcase team instead of a daddyball team trying to play showcase. It's to the point now where I have to look at the schedule of teams to determine what kind of day I can expect. I can tell when I'm going to have to babysit for 7 innings (if we make it that far) of horrible baseball and idiot coaches and I can tell when I'm going to work about an hour and a half and see some incredible baseball and hang out with great baseball people like Schaef, Higgy, Don, Jason Hill, Bo Robinson, Jake Robbins, Empsey Thompson just to name a few. It didn't used to be that way but that's not the fault of the idea...that's just the way the showcase circuit has evolved. I've went round and round about Legion with people. It, too, serves it's purpose. It's up to you as a parent, player, coach to figure out what venue of baseball suits your needs. For the record, if the opportunity ever presented itself..I would happily let my son develop under the tutelage of a guy like Schaef. He's a no nonsense guy who like Braves said cares about developing players.

 

If you were serious about your son's abilities and his development you would go throu

WOW