METRO LEAGUE PARTICIPATION

The Raleigh-Durham area league is now being followed up with a Charlotte -Metro area league. I was told by one Showcase Team Organizer that North Meck HS and Hopewell HS both had formed teams in the Metro League.

What other schools are forming teams that you know of?

Will their involvement preclude any participation in showcase team play?

Will their involvement preclude any participation in Legion team play?

What direction do you for-see this taking youth baseball at the high school level as we now know it?

What benefits do you hope it brings to the game?

What are some immediate concerns that come to mind?

 

10 Teams so far and growing

Talked with an Jamie Billings AD at Hopewell and he told me that their were 10 teams involved in the league this Fall and that all the activity associated with play and practice was scheduled for during the week. They were trying to accomodate kids wanting to attend showcase events on the weekends.

Looking at the info on the HQ4Baseball website showed there is the potential for instructional time - that would be a bonus for the players.

The website also showed a per player fee if I read it right. I wonder how that will be handled, i.e. Can Booster Clubs pay that fee? Will parents feel comfortable being asked to pay for an activity school related?

Obviously a lot of questions to be asked and answered, but overall I think this is a positive step for baseball in NC. Look forward to this idea growing.

 

As to playing during the week, what about kids that play baseball and football? Why scedule around showcase? You want to go to a showcase? Then miss your Metro game. I'm sorry to complain but it's just another example of scheduling baseball right on top of football, or soccer or other school sports. I hear that HS coaches love it when a kid plays two sports. Just wish the actions were the same as the words.

Glad we are not in Charlotte. We have fall leagues and they are on weekends so that it's available for ALL kids.

Ok, you can start shooting at me now.

 

No One's Shooting.........yet<g>

Seriously, your points are well taken and it's a complicated problem that I suspect has no easy answers. But I think it gives the baseball coaches a chance to work with the kids that choose to, or aren't other sport material.

I agree that players should be allowed by coaches to play as many sports as they desire. But that scenario doesn't apply to everyone.

And discussions such as this hopefully foster thoughts that eventually become reality and the kids and schools benefit.

 

It sounds like to me

someone is creating options for kids. I can not see how that is a bad thing. Kids that want to play football are going to play football. You can not do it all "spring baseball , summer baseball , fall baseball , showcase baseball , baseball off season workouts " if you play other sports. Thats a choice that kids have to make. Would you rather they have no options? Or fewer options? What about the HS kids that dont get picked up for showcase teams? Or what about the kids that can not afford showcase teams? This is a way for kids that want to play fall baseball to get that opportunity.

I would not schedule around showcase baseball. Its not fair to the kids that do not play showcase baseball. Why should they not be able to play on Saturdays just because of showcase baseball? Most HS teams only have a couple of guys that play showcase baseball anyway right? And shouldnt this league be more about developing your players and getting them reps and instruction? I can not see them playing on Friday and Thursdays because that would confict with HS football games. They should be out supporting the HS football teams. It would look pretty bad for the baseball field lights to be on and a crowd a the baseball field with a football game going on at the same time. That would not be good imo.

Imo I dont think the Booster Club has any business paying for anything related to an additional sport. Fund raise for yourself. Charge a gate fee, run a concession stand etc etc. Each player can pay dues. Do what you have to do. How much does a t shirt with a number on it and a pair of pants from Dicks Sporting Goods costs anyway? No school uniforms should be used. And the teams should have to pay a field rental fee to pay for lights and maintenance of the facility. There are ways to make it happen and it will if you get the parents and players working together.

I think its a wonderfull idea. It creates options for kids that want to play fall baseball that do not or can not have the showcase option. Anytime we find a way to get kids on a baseball field to learn the game , enjoy the game and have some fun we need to make it happen. It beats the hell out of what they could be doing instead.

 

metro league

I also think it is a great idea. Although the baseball coach cannot coach he is able to watch and see what he has coming out for the spring. I would think the majority of the kids playing would be freshman, sophmores and juniors who is trying to win a spot on the varsity or to put his name in the coaches mind. The established juniors or seniors are probably playing some type of showcase. I believe the more you play, the better you will get. The only problem i see is the cost. The fee is 600 dollars a player if your school doesn't have a team and if your school has a team the cost can still run upwards to 3-4 hundred dollars. I still believe that baseball is inching closer and closer to who can pay to play rather than just playing. Hopefully everything can work out because i believe it can only make the players and the schools better in this great sport.

 

I coach one of the teams in this league, so I will try to help answer some of your questions. This league was designed to give high school coaches the opportunity to keep their players together throughout the summer and fall if they choose to do so. This league was approved by NCHSAA so coaches are allowed to practice these guys in groups larger than eight. The league has games on Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, and Saturday mornings so its not scheduled around showcase baseball.

The league is also run by player fees and admission to games. That pays for coaches, umpires, equipments, and field usage fees. The schools aren't affiliated. Although some of the teams have players all coming from one school, this isn't always the case. Our team is made up of players from schools that didn't have enough players to put a team together on their own.

Don't quote me on this, but right now I think there are two teams at N. Meck, two at Hopewell, one at E. Meck, one at S. Meck, one Homeschool team, one Mallard Creek team, one Stanly Co. team, one Surry Co. team, and two teams based out of Core Athletics in Concord (extra players from many schools).

 

HQ4 is a member. Maybe we can get them to come on here and explain the details

 

I'm all for options. Usually the more you have the better. But make these options available to everyone. We have Colt and Palimino in Greensboro (I think there is also some Legion). Both Colt and Palimino are on weekends so kids playing other sports during the week can also play baseball. And it's not just for football players. We have 3 soccer players, 3 football players, and 1 cross Country runner, all on varsity, and several more on JV teams.

4-6-3-DP says it keeps teams together and coaches want the kids to play together. I praise that idea. Well if that is truly the case then why not have it at a time when ALL the players can play together? Or is it that we want the kids to play together that play just one sport?

Pirate06 says it helps the kids that are younger that may want to play varsity. exactly. But why not practice on weekends and play on weekends when ALL the kids can be there. Then every kid gets the same shot and you're not penalized for playing more than 1 sport.

Even though we play on weeknds, we have practices during the week and hit only on Fridays. Why not practice on weekends when everyone benefits and the WHOLE team gets to be together? By having practices that only a few can attend it actually segregates the team uinstead of builds it. What is a FB player supposed to do; go to batting practice before he takes the football field on Friday night? (my son hits on his own off my rag arm on weekends or at 7:30 am before school)

I'm sorry but I gets old hearing this stuff about keeping "the team" together when things are scheduled where only the 1 sport athletes can attend. It gets old having the football coach or soccer coach jump your ass about playing more than one sport in the fall (even on weekends but you have to) and then in the spring having the baseball coach tell you he is more familiar with so and so because they worked out together all fall.

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea behind the metro league and the one in Raleigh. Just make it where the whole team can be there.

I go along with a lot of things here but this topic burns me. And I am far from the only parent or player that feels this way. You can tell I feel strongly about this as I am willing to sign my name to every post.


Fire away.

 

Nothing will ever work for everybody. Thats why there are so many options out there. If this league was set up to just play on Fridays and Saturdays, the rest of the parents would be complaining that their kids are getting held back because of the football and soccer players. I too believe that kids should play all sports. However, not everyone wants to do that, so they have options such as this one. There is no doubt in my mind that coaches would love to have everyone of there kids out there, but having 14 of them together three or four times a week is better than only having 8 a day, once a week. If you don't like this concept, do you also have a problem with 8-mans? Football and soccer players can't take part in those from my understanding.

Bottom line is this: If kids are playing and getting good instruction, they are going to get better which will only make their "team" better in the spring. There is nothing out there which is going to meet every players, parents, and coaches needs. Take the options given to you and make the most of them.