2024 Youth Baseball - Every Kid’s a future MLB HOFer!!!

[Mez2 4023]

Thanks guys, we're staying with a few families in a big air bnb in DS, so that will be helpful. I'll relay the comments to our parents as well.  

We're just about all bringing our pop up tents so hopefully that will help with the sun, foul balls not so much. But,  hey, YOLO!

 

 

[BrazilHorn 6608]

8 minutes ago, Mez2 said:

Thanks guys, we're staying with a few families in a big air bnb in DS, so that will be helpful. I'll relay the comments to our parents as well.  

We're just about all bringing our pop up tents so hopefully that will help with the sun, foul balls not so much. But,  hey, YOLO!

 

 

One thing re the tents. Space is tight between the fields (think four fields backing up to one another) with pretty narrow walk ways. You may be ok but you may also find it’s too crowded. You may want to recon prior to schlepping the tents through parking lot

[Mez2 4023]

Are coolers allowed, or better yet,  do they check coolers as you enter the place? 

[BrazilHorn 6608]

38 minutes ago, Mez2 said:

Are coolers allowed, or better yet,  do they check coolers as you enter the place? 

I don’t remember. They sell beer there. I think they coolers are allowed though. I would say no glass bottles etc. you can always say coolers are team stuff etc

[HOOKEM4 5037]

It is just rec 12u allstars, but my son just pitched a complete game shutout/no hitter. He had one bs pop up right to the 1st baseman that popped out of his glove. If not for that, would have been a perfect game. Pretty proud of the little man.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

Now I need to find a 13u select level team. All of them are 14u and he literally just started pitching last fall. He is mechanically exceptional and that's why he is accurate. He has to keep going. Huge confidence builder for him.

[BrazilHorn 6608]

10 minutes ago, HOOKEM4 said:

Now I need to find a 13u select level team. All of them are 14u and he literally just started pitching last fall. He is mechanically exceptional and that's why he is accurate. He has to keep going. Huge confidence builder for him.

Where do y’all live?

[HOOKEM4 5037]

Austin

[BrazilHorn 6608]

14 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

Austin

Sun devils has two 13 U teams (they are Westlake/Dripping)

I bet Wings, Canes, Senators will all have. 
 

Maybe not for summer ball (but all those teams already built) but for sure fall ball. 

[FigurelliPwC 115]

My son has played select since 12U - one thing you will quickly learn is that there is no loyalty.  Kids constantly wanting to chase “better” teams based on records.  My son has played for Boom, Tier 1 (now USA Prime), Lonestar amd now Texas Senators.  A lot of options, so find a team that has practices that are convenient for your family.  I would rank the overall experience we’ve had as:

Lonestar being the top (coaching, good practice fields, communication and good value)

Senators 2nd (very similar to Lonestar in all aspects but more expensive)

USA Prime 3rd (great coaching but just didn’t have good teams at the age level, poor practice field)

Boom - would not recommend 

From my observations, I wouldn’t want my son playing for Canes (Coaches are mostly a-holes that scream at the kids and I’ve seen a few get kicked out of games).  Phenom I’ve heard mixed reviews on.  Lake Travis Outlaws as well.

Wings, TRPD, THZ seem to be other good options.  Agree with BrazilHorn, that age group the Sun Devils are very talented, making that Team will be a challenge.  Practices might be far south since they are based out of Driftwood.

Enjoy All Stars, my son and BrazilHorn Jr. played together, great experience.

[tx 3 putt 76958]

Hope all the surly kid have a great summer of baseball 

Edited June 10 by tx 3 putt

[HOOKEM4 5037]

23 hours ago, FigurelliPwC said:

My son has played select since 12U - one thing you will quickly learn is that there is no loyalty.  Kids constantly wanting to chase “better” teams based on records.  My son has played for Boom, Tier 1 (now USA Prime), Lonestar amd now Texas Senators.  A lot of options, so find a team that has practices that are convenient for your family.  I would rank the overall experience we’ve had as:

Lonestar being the top (coaching, good practice fields, communication and good value)

Senators 2nd (very similar to Lonestar in all aspects but more expensive)

USA Prime 3rd (great coaching but just didn’t have good teams at the age level, poor practice field)

Boom - would not recommend 

From my observations, I wouldn’t want my son playing for Canes (Coaches are mostly a-holes that scream at the kids and I’ve seen a few get kicked out of games).  Phenom I’ve heard mixed reviews on.  Lake Travis Outlaws as well.

Wings, TRPD, THZ seem to be other good options.  Agree with BrazilHorn, that age group the Sun Devils are very talented, making that Team will be a challenge.  Practices might be far south since they are based out of Driftwood.

Enjoy All Stars, my son and BrazilHorn Jr. played together, great experience.

Thanks for the tips. I will keep an eye out for tryout dates and just have him tryout for several of them. Agree on Canes. My youngest plays for TRPD, but they don't have a 13u team and their 14u is pretty good. Doubt he could make that team based on conversation with the head coach. He will still tryout though.

My nephew is on the Senators national 17u team so maybe he has some pull to get him a spot. I just have to keep him playing. Only 2 more weekends of all-stars and he cant be done forever. 

[Planet Houston 4930]

On 6/9/2024 at 10:58 PM, tx 3 putt said:

Hope all the surly kid have a great summer of baseball 

So far so good, this was today 😎

Second time ever to pitch, got thrown in to start the second inning down 5-0 in a game our coaches decided to save our good pitchers for knockouts. He proceeded to go 6 up 6 down with a couple of Ks, finishing three innings giving up 1ER, and essentially saving the game that we won 10-7. And he hit his hardest ball of the season on a bases clearing double. Proud papa today! 

[Jshep34 2308]

Hopefully yall don't get rained on down there. But dude was on fire on the mound. Great job

[Dennis Taylor 18828]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:56 PM, HOOKEM4 said:

It is just rec 12u allstars, but my son just pitched a complete game shutout/no hitter. He had one bs pop up right to the 1st baseman that popped out of his glove. If not for that, would have been a perfect game. Pretty proud of the little man.

 

On 6/8/2024 at 3:07 PM, HOOKEM4 said:

Now I need to find a 13u select level team. All of them are 14u and he literally just started pitching last fall. He is mechanically exceptional and that's why he is accurate. He has to keep going. Huge confidence builder for him.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

Gonna brag on him some more. Next start last Sunday he had a complete game no hitter again. The team wasn't as good that we played and he had 2 walks in an inning and gave up a run on a WP so wasn't perfect. Still won 16-1 and didn't give up a hit. Now we start the tournament weekend and he (along with my other 8 pitchers) will have to keep it up if we are going to win it all. 

[Basil 754]

 

 

We just got back from a week in Cooperstown All Star Village for the 12u.  I had been told it was an amazing experience and it was.  The kids absolutely loved it.  64 teams and they played 9 games in 4 days.  For those of you who haven't heard of it yet (because you will at some point) it's a wonderful experience.  Competition level was AA to majors, but there were a lot of AA-level teams there.  Here's HR and a strike out*.\

* I have no idea if that's actually a strike out or not, but he did have SOs so it could be.

[jkates 316]

On 6/13/2024 at 1:40 AM, Planet Houston said:

So far so good, this was today 😎

Second time ever to pitch, got thrown in to start the second inning down 5-0 in a game our coaches decided to save our good pitchers for knockouts. He proceeded to go 6 up 6 down with a couple of Ks, finishing three innings giving up 1ER, and essentially saving the game that we won 10-7. And he hit his hardest ball of the season on a bases clearing double. Proud papa today! 

I love Walby. 

[BrazilHorn 6608]

Headed back to Houston this weekend for 14U tourney. Kids have taken a couple of weeks off so team is going in "cold" so we shall see.

Team came in 2nd last time they were in Houston over Memorial Day so fingers crossed for this go round.

Going to Stros game tomorrow night with my boy so definitely looking forward to that a well as seeing boys back on the field.

[cmontexas 3271]

Big drama in Texas LL

Quote

A lot of Facebook traffic surrounding our Fossil Creek Little League team in the past couple of days.  It has been a whirlwind week for this team, and I am taking to Facebook to hopefully accomplish two things

1)  Provide clarity around the allegations and accusations that have been thrown at this group of twelve year old boys

2)  Provide an easily digestible summary that can be easily shared and maybe garner some momentum online to get some justice for this team

First, and foremost, it should be understood that this team has endured thorough and complete scrutiny from the Little League International Tournament Committee and have been cleared to play in the Little League World Series.  The letter from the committee dated June 12th is provided in this post.   No one on the team, nor the league has been found to be in any violation of any Little League rule.

The Fossil Creek Little League Majors division entered two teams into the Texas West District 7 Little League tournament (dubbed as "Black" and "Gold" for purposes of identifying each team).  The Black team had just completed a clean sweep of the Jim Sundberg Invitational Tournament capping it on June 8th with an 11-2 victory over the District 7 defending champion and perennial force University Little League.   (FCLL Black also defeated Westside LL 14-0 in the tournament with Harrison Harper pitching a 4 inning perfect game on 41 pitches w/ 7 K's.)  

This team was VERY GOOD and everyone in the district now knew it.

Concurrently, and unbeknownst to the team, Fossil Creek Little League had received and responded to a slew of allegations surrounding this team. In short, there were concerns that this team had been an existing "select" baseball team that had come over as a whole entity to play in FCLL and make a run at the LLWS title.  On June 11th, prior to the start of the District 7 tournament, our Head Coach Greg Harper participated in a conference call with representatives from Williamsport (Little League International Headquarters) and Waco (SW Region) to aide in their investigation.  The team and its players were thoroughly vetted and on June 12th were cleared to play in the District 7 tournament.

It should be noted here that, to our knowledge, this is the last official investigation and official action taken by any Little League official investigating our team.

FCLL Black defeated FCLL Gold on June 14th in the opening round of the tournament and defeated them 11-0.  We were slated to play University LL the next night in the semifinal.  Due to a declared scheduling error on the part of District 7, we were notified at 7:00am on Saturday the 4:00pm game was postponed until Monday at 6:00pm.

When our team arrived at the field at 5:00pm on Monday, there was no opponent available.  We were unaware that the District had emailed at 3:30pm suspending the tournament while additional allegations against Fossil Creek Little League were investigated.

Tuesday around 4:00pm, the tournament website was updated to reflect a 6-0 forfeit score in the FCLL vs University LL.  At 4:30 Greg spoke to Derek Rush, President of Fossil Creek Little League, who advised us that FCLL had "voluntarily" withdrawn our team from the tournament under threat of losing their LL charter and having all teams in all age groups removed from District 7 play.  There was no finding of any violation. We were simply told that "this is what Williamsport wanted".

The 36 hours since then has been a whirlwind of allegations and accusations, but there has been NO FORMAL FINDING OF ANY RULE VIOLATION presented to the team.  At this time, we have been given no reason for this forced withdrawal.  Our children have been told they have been penalized, but we cannot tell them what violation was committed.

Numerous calls have been made and emails have been sent to District 7, Southwest Region, and Williamsport.  Not a single response has been provided nor has an acknowledgment of our inquiry been provided by any entity outside of our local LL.

Little League Baseball has effectively disqualified a team but has provided no reason for their disqualification and has given no indication of any explanation to come.  

We appreciate any help you can lend to bring awareness to this situation so we can either be reinstated to the tournament, or at least provide a reasonable explanation to a group of 12 year old boys who have worked very hard for many years to achieve their baseball dreams of winning a LLWS title.

More information to follow in comments (screenshots, letters, etc.)

Thank you for your support.

P.s.  We have much information from various sources to provide any news or social media outlet that would like to further investigate.  In the interest of keeping confidence of our sources, I won't lay it all out here, but there is a lot of information behind this.

*-*-*-*-*-*-UPDATE-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Little League International has said that since Fossil Creek Little League President Derek Rush voluntarily withdrew the team from the tourney, they accepted it and moved on with D7 tourney play, it is binding and there will be no reinstatement.

More info to come throughout the night.

 

[ballrific 215]

Big drama in Texas LL

A lot of Facebook traffic surrounding our Fossil Creek Little League team in the past couple of days.  It has been a whirlwind week for this team, and I am taking to Facebook to hopefully accomplish two things
1)  Provide clarity around the allegations and accusations that have been thrown at this group of twelve year old boys
2)  Provide an easily digestible summary that can be easily shared and maybe garner some momentum online to get some justice for this team
First, and foremost, it should be understood that this team has endured thorough and complete scrutiny from the Little League International Tournament Committee and have been cleared to play in the Little League World Series.  The letter from the committee dated June 12th is provided in this post.   No one on the team, nor the league has been found to be in any violation of any Little League rule.
The Fossil Creek Little League Majors division entered two teams into the Texas West District 7 Little League tournament (dubbed as "Black" and "Gold" for purposes of identifying each team).  The Black team had just completed a clean sweep of the Jim Sundberg Invitational Tournament capping it on June 8th with an 11-2 victory over the District 7 defending champion and perennial force University Little League.   (FCLL Black also defeated Westside LL 14-0 in the tournament with Harrison Harper pitching a 4 inning perfect game on 41 pitches w/ 7 K's.)  
This team was VERY GOOD and everyone in the district now knew it.
Concurrently, and unbeknownst to the team, Fossil Creek Little League had received and responded to a slew of allegations surrounding this team. In short, there were concerns that this team had been an existing "select" baseball team that had come over as a whole entity to play in FCLL and make a run at the LLWS title.  On June 11th, prior to the start of the District 7 tournament, our Head Coach Greg Harper participated in a conference call with representatives from Williamsport (Little League International Headquarters) and Waco (SW Region) to aide in their investigation.  The team and its players were thoroughly vetted and on June 12th were cleared to play in the District 7 tournament.
It should be noted here that, to our knowledge, this is the last official investigation and official action taken by any Little League official investigating our team.
FCLL Black defeated FCLL Gold on June 14th in the opening round of the tournament and defeated them 11-0.  We were slated to play University LL the next night in the semifinal.  Due to a declared scheduling error on the part of District 7, we were notified at 7:00am on Saturday the 4:00pm game was postponed until Monday at 6:00pm.
When our team arrived at the field at 5:00pm on Monday, there was no opponent available.  We were unaware that the District had emailed at 3:30pm suspending the tournament while additional allegations against Fossil Creek Little League were investigated.
Tuesday around 4:00pm, the tournament website was updated to reflect a 6-0 forfeit score in the FCLL vs University LL.  At 4:30 Greg spoke to Derek Rush, President of Fossil Creek Little League, who advised us that FCLL had "voluntarily" withdrawn our team from the tournament under threat of losing their LL charter and having all teams in all age groups removed from District 7 play.  There was no finding of any violation. We were simply told that "this is what Williamsport wanted".
The 36 hours since then has been a whirlwind of allegations and accusations, but there has been NO FORMAL FINDING OF ANY RULE VIOLATION presented to the team.  At this time, we have been given no reason for this forced withdrawal.  Our children have been told they have been penalized, but we cannot tell them what violation was committed.
Numerous calls have been made and emails have been sent to District 7, Southwest Region, and Williamsport.  Not a single response has been provided nor has an acknowledgment of our inquiry been provided by any entity outside of our local LL.
Little League Baseball has effectively disqualified a team but has provided no reason for their disqualification and has given no indication of any explanation to come.  
We appreciate any help you can lend to bring awareness to this situation so we can either be reinstated to the tournament, or at least provide a reasonable explanation to a group of 12 year old boys who have worked very hard for many years to achieve their baseball dreams of winning a LLWS title.
More information to follow in comments (screenshots, letters, etc.)
Thank you for your support.
P.s.  We have much information from various sources to provide any news or social media outlet that would like to further investigate.  In the interest of keeping confidence of our sources, I won't lay it all out here, but there is a lot of information behind this.
*-*-*-*-*-*-UPDATE-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Little League International has said that since Fossil Creek Little League President Derek Rush voluntarily withdrew the team from the tourney, they accepted it and moved on with D7 tourney play, it is binding and there will be no reinstatement.
More info to come throughout the night.

 

if true, not the first or last to try. Other ways have been tried in the past like brand new charters, etc. If all the kids live within the address boundary and played the minimum regular season games, may be something else going on

[BrazilHorn 6608]

Won first game 9-5 out here on the surface of the sun otherwise known as some baseball complex in Waller. 
Now team has break til 6. This place is like a hotter version of field of dreams in Dripping. Four fields way too close to one another so there’s like 4 foul balls a game from other field that fall in play. 
 

Won 2nd game 8-5. Opposing team had their pitcher trying to quick pitch (we were home team) to try and get another inning but umpire finally called it. 
 

On to Sunday. 

Edited June 23 by BrazilHorn

[BrazilHorn 6608]

Won the tournament in Houston!!

5-0 on weekend. Something I have never seen happen in championship game. Other team quit down 9-1. Just so hot and they just brokedown. 
 

Great weekend for the Austin boys!!

[BrazilHorn 6608]

10 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

Won the tournament in Houston!!

5-0 on weekend. Something I have never seen happen in championship game. Other team quit down 9-1. Just so hot and they just brokedown. 
 

Great weekend for the Austin boys!!

 

[HOOKEM4 5037]

1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

 

So awesome. Congrats!!

 

We came up 2nd in the Allstar tournament. Just ran out of gas and started collapsing on defense. Had a chance at a double play to give us a chance to go win.  My SS got excited and pulled a flores. He had been nails all season. Unfortunate, but still proud of the boys. Really hard to win tournaments in June in Tejas.

[torre 1286]

https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2024/llbws/tournaments/southwest-region/

 

Road to Williamsport begins today in Waco.    Texas East (Richmond) and Texas West (Boerne) are reps.  

Boerne vs Ark currently underway on ESPN+,  Boerne leads 2-0,  after top of 1st.

[Dennis Taylor 18828]

 

[Murfdogg21 4412]

I'm in need of a good, bad, and ugly tutorial on select/travel ball. My oldest son just finished 7U and moving to 8U this fall with a very good group of rec players. We lost two to select this upcoming season, and at least half the other parents have FOMO about it. I've been in the national and Houston area select facebook groups for a year and read a lot of their drama. My mostly ignorant summary is as follows and is where I need education and correction.

1. Select ball started with American Legion etc. at the high school level 1980's and before, then spread to other select tournaments at the high school level, then at some point permeated down to the youth level as young as 6U.
2. Select ball is now a necessary, or at least unavoidable, evil because "rec ball sucks." Basically if you don't go select, you are making a decision today that your son will never play high school ball down the road (short of freakish natural talent). [The most level headed select parents I've spoke to say it is out of control but you don't really have a choice. If everything has become money driven, from the coaches and programs down to the tournament directors, is there a need for some Daenerys Targaryen to come in and "break the wheel" of select baseball and get it back to the basics of higher talent kids getting more reps?]
3. Select ball is no longer select. Any kid of any talent can play as long as the parents shell out the $$$. 
4. Select ball doesn't have to bankrupt you, except you get what you pay for. You need professional paid coaches. "Daddy ball" select is basically as bad as rec ball? [We are in the Woodlands area, and it seems most teams/programs cost $300-350/mo with tournament fees, and there is an expectation that you will stick with any program for 12 months (no "spring only" or "spring and summer" option). There's also an expectation that you take paid private lessons with the coaches, or unofficially the kid's playing time is going to get docked. The facebook groups say there are teams closer to $175/mo, but I don't see them in our area plus we are told to avoid "daddy ball", so I don't understand how pro coaches can afford to charge $175 including tournament fees.]
5. [Stereotype select parent]: "Select ball is really about player development, but..."  conversations quickly turn to which teams win the most, and when a parent makes a comment about developing multiple positions or getting more playing time, mob mentality comes in and tells the parent to STFU because their kid clearly isn't good enough. I've also seen 7U and 8U teams in my area recruit for a few spots and mention that they already have a [insert positions here]. So at 8U, you already know Sammy is going to be a SS and Ricky is going to be a RF when they grow up? Does Ricky getting game reps at SS (at 8U mind you) hurt Sammy's overall development especially if Sammy is getting reps at other non-SS positions? [The facebook talk sounds toxic AF. Parents screaming at each other on social media, and sounds like there's a lot of parents screaming at each other and the umpires during games. The mentality above I've seen several times, where parents will tell others that their "weaker" kids should savor their development opportunities in practice, but leave the game reps for the best kids. Do the kids' futures and the parents' joy hang on the team W/L outcome of every single pool play game? This toxicity has trickled down to rec ball even at young ages, with parents screaming at the coaches and umpires and losing their shit over close calls in a regular season game, or which kids shouldn't be allowed infield reps. Sounds like a lot, or most, or all paid coaches are the same, because the more their teams win, the more new families they attract. Parents at 12U will say that's the appropriate age to take competition seriously and focus kids on one position and winning, but younger ages are more for fun and rotation. But if you talked to them at 10U they'd say that about 10U. Then parents of 9U will say that 9U is when it turns serious and 7/8U is for fun and development. Most of these parents and coaches can't get away from MUST WIN mode at any age it seems.]
6. "Kids should play multiple sports..." but if you don't make the 2x/week practices because of a conflict or try to sit out summer or fall ball to play other sports, you are dead to us and will be the 12th man on an 11 man roster. [Many parents with kids playing 9U-12U select that I've talked to state their kids are "focused on baseball only" like a source of pride. Ok, great for little Billy. My son likes several sports].

These points are generalized and (a tiny bit) exaggerated, and I mean no offense to y'all in the travel ball game. I come here as a concerned dad. My son just turned 7 about to start 2nd grade. It seems absurd to me that my wife and I are already "deciding he won't play HS ball" by keeping a 2nd grader in little league. He plays flag football and soccer simultaneous to fall and spring rec baseball and has expressed an interest in basketball. He was 3rd or 4th strongest kid on his very good rec team, and he made All-Stars, but I don't have an expectation that he'd be top end on a select team. It sounds like several of his best buddies come from families with no financial limitations and the parents have FOMO, so most will go select by spring 8U. I coach his baseball and flag football team and assistant coach my younger son's baseball team. The coaching alone in my "spare time" is getting overwhelming, but dealing with the drama of parents and having to play Mack Brown recruiting them to stay season after season just so my kid can keep playing with his school buddies is exhausting. I'd almost be willing to pay the select ball money just to be free of it, plus to just focus on my son who has probably gotten the shaft over the seasons as I attempt to avoid the perception of "daddy ball" and give him fewer reps than he deserved and never bat him higher than 4th in the lineup. I come to this thread because y'all are my people and have the knowledge. It feels like I'm Don Quixote and pushing against the unstoppable ocean of disagreeing with a culture I have no hope of changing, even on as small a scale as my own rec ball team. Here are the TLDR questions, TIA:

• My wife and I could probably budget for it, but is it worth it, is it necessary?
• If so, at what age is the real ROI over rec ball? What is the point of no return age that you must start select ball by?
• Am I going to shell out $350/mo for 12 months a year, plus another $85/week in lessons to the coach, just to be on a team where we have no clue how much playing time or which positions my son will have an opportunity to play? Most teams in our area require 12 month contracts and the coaches say what they need to at try outs to convince you to join. I talked to parents at two tryouts we attended, but I feel their feedback is biased since they are the parents who stayed, not the parents who bailed.
• ^ continuing, is it really about development, or does testosterone and competitiveness ultimately always take over and it's about winning more than developing the bottom half of the roster?
• Will the schedule impede my son's ability to play other sports and extracurricular activities? 
• Can a hodgepodge group of rec players just sign up in the AA division of a tournament and play for reps and competition, or must you be part of a recognized program to enter? A few of my parents who don't have the $$$ have asked me about this option.

Edited August 4 by Murfdogg21

[joeycovers 391]

1 hour ago, Murfdogg21 said:

 

• My wife and I could probably budget for it, but is it worth it, is it necessary?
• If so, at what age is the real ROI over rec ball? What is the point of no return age that you must start select ball by?
• Am I going to shell out $350/mo for 12 months a year, plus another $85/week in lessons to the coach, just to be on a team where we have no clue how much playing time or which positions my son will have an opportunity to play? Most teams in our area require 12 month contracts and the coaches say what they need to at try outs to convince you to join. I talked to parents at two tryouts we attended, but I feel their feedback is biased since they are the parents who stayed, not the parents who bailed.
• ^ continuing, is it really about development, or does testosterone and competitiveness ultimately always take over and it's about winning more than developing the bottom half of the roster?
• Will the schedule impede my son's ability to play other sports and extracurricular activities? 
• Can a hodgepodge group of rec players just sign up in the AA division of a tournament and play for reps and competition, or must you be part of a recognized program to enter? A few of my parents who don't have the $$$ have asked me about this option.

1. No. But I’m also a believer that a lot of the money we pour into youth sports at 10 and under isn’t worth it. AAU select club soccer cheer etc. It’s all money grabs. 
 

2. I would say around 11u. The bases start getting a little bigger. The pitching more consistent. Kids start hitting puberty. You find out real quick where your kid is at. 
 

3. Seems a little high. Depends what level your son is playing at. Some high level major team are free but if not you are either paying for those kids to play free or find a local team that doesn’t charge much in dues and does a lot of fundraising. Generally the older the kids get the less fundraising is involved because parents are over it and it gets more expensive.  You can definitely find an 8U team though that isn’t $350. My original 8U team we fundraised and played for free. 
 

4. Depends on the coach. It get pretty cutthroat the higher level you play at. Most AA teams are pretty laid back. Majors guys will sit your kid for a weekend and say it’s best for his development and they pick up a kid that’s off that weekend to come hit bombs and thro gas 

 

5. Fall is usually pretty light. Spring tough.  I’ll say this. If your kid can ball and one of the better players on the team the coach will figure out a way to make it work. 
 

6. Yes. Just pay the insurance and sanction fee which is about $150 total. They both last a year. PG is the big one now and that’s who I’m referring to but in your area I believe 5 tool and NCS are common.  If you want to take the neighborhood Rec kid all stars and go play in a AA tournament you can.  
 

 

reach out if you have any other questions or need clarity or can call. 

 

[BigDHornfan 6548]

Love it when the boy gets a new glove.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

On 8/1/2024 at 10:27 AM, Dennis Taylor said:

 

I had a kid on my 12u rec team this fall that hit a home run that a dad measured where it hit on a sign on another field at 320'. It is crazy how the 12u kids grow so differently.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

15 minutes ago, BigDHornfan said:

Love it when the boy gets a new glove.

Not enough drip, it's supposed to be pink/purple/blue and bedazzled! 🙄

I just built a batting area for my boys. They were hitting off the dirt area where they wore out the grass 2 years ago. Leveled it and put in turf. Yeah, I need to clean out the jungle but I am lazy and I just did it 2 months ago. The rain makes things grow!

 

Edited August 4 by HOOKEM4
ousux

[HOOKEM4 5037]

8 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

I'm in need of a good, bad, and ugly tutorial on select/travel ball. My oldest son just finished 7U and moving to 8U this fall with a very good group of rec players. We lost two to select this upcoming season, and at least half the other parents have FOMO about it. I've been in the national and Houston area select facebook groups for a year and read a lot of their drama. My mostly ignorant summary is as follows and is where I need education and correction.

1. Select ball started with American Legion etc. at the high school level 1980's and before, then spread to other select tournaments at the high school level, then at some point permeated down to the youth level as young as 6U.
2. Select ball is now a necessary, or at least unavoidable, evil because "rec ball sucks." Basically if you don't go select, you are making a decision today that your son will never play high school ball down the road (short of freakish natural talent). [The most level headed select parents I've spoke to say it is out of control but you don't really have a choice. If everything has become money driven, from the coaches and programs down to the tournament directors, is there a need for some Daenerys Targaryen to come in and "break the wheel" of select baseball and get it back to the basics of higher talent kids getting more reps?]
3. Select ball is no longer select. Any kid of any talent can play as long as the parents shell out the $$$. 
4. Select ball doesn't have to bankrupt you, except you get what you pay for. You need professional paid coaches. "Daddy ball" select is basically as bad as rec ball? [We are in the Woodlands area, and it seems most teams/programs cost $300-350/mo with tournament fees, and there is an expectation that you will stick with any program for 12 months (no "spring only" or "spring and summer" option). There's also an expectation that you take paid private lessons with the coaches, or unofficially the kid's playing time is going to get docked. The facebook groups say there are teams closer to $175/mo, but I don't see them in our area plus we are told to avoid "daddy ball", so I don't understand how pro coaches can afford to charge $175 including tournament fees.]
5. [Stereotype select parent]: "Select ball is really about player development, but..."  conversations quickly turn to which teams win the most, and when a parent makes a comment about developing multiple positions or getting more playing time, mob mentality comes in and tells the parent to STFU because their kid clearly isn't good enough. I've also seen 7U and 8U teams in my area recruit for a few spots and mention that they already have a [insert positions here]. So at 8U, you already know Sammy is going to be a SS and Ricky is going to be a RF when they grow up? Does Ricky getting game reps at SS (at 8U mind you) hurt Sammy's overall development especially if Sammy is getting reps at other non-SS positions? [The facebook talk sounds toxic AF. Parents screaming at each other on social media, and sounds like there's a lot of parents screaming at each other and the umpires during games. The mentality above I've seen several times, where parents will tell others that their "weaker" kids should savor their development opportunities in practice, but leave the game reps for the best kids. Do the kids' futures and the parents' joy hang on the team W/L outcome of every single pool play game? This toxicity has trickled down to rec ball even at young ages, with parents screaming at the coaches and umpires and losing their shit over close calls in a regular season game, or which kids shouldn't be allowed infield reps. Sounds like a lot, or most, or all paid coaches are the same, because the more their teams win, the more new families they attract. Parents at 12U will say that's the appropriate age to take competition seriously and focus kids on one position and winning, but younger ages are more for fun and rotation. But if you talked to them at 10U they'd say that about 10U. Then parents of 9U will say that 9U is when it turns serious and 7/8U is for fun and development. Most of these parents and coaches can't get away from MUST WIN mode at any age it seems.]
6. "Kids should play multiple sports..." but if you don't make the 2x/week practices because of a conflict or try to sit out summer or fall ball to play other sports, you are dead to us and will be the 12th man on an 11 man roster. [Many parents with kids playing 9U-12U select that I've talked to state their kids are "focused on baseball only" like a source of pride. Ok, great for little Billy. My son likes several sports].

These points are generalized and (a tiny bit) exaggerated, and I mean no offense to y'all in the travel ball game. I come here as a concerned dad. My son just turned 7 about to start 2nd grade. It seems absurd to me that my wife and I are already "deciding he won't play HS ball" by keeping a 2nd grader in little league. He plays flag football and soccer simultaneous to fall and spring rec baseball and has expressed an interest in basketball. He was 3rd or 4th strongest kid on his very good rec team, and he made All-Stars, but I don't have an expectation that he'd be top end on a select team. It sounds like several of his best buddies come from families with no financial limitations and the parents have FOMO, so most will go select by spring 8U. I coach his baseball and flag football team and assistant coach my younger son's baseball team. The coaching alone in my "spare time" is getting overwhelming, but dealing with the drama of parents and having to play Mack Brown recruiting them to stay season after season just so my kid can keep playing with his school buddies is exhausting. I'd almost be willing to pay the select ball money just to be free of it, plus to just focus on my son who has probably gotten the shaft over the seasons as I attempt to avoid the perception of "daddy ball" and give him fewer reps than he deserved and never bat him higher than 4th in the lineup. I come to this thread because y'all are my people and have the knowledge. It feels like I'm Don Quixote and pushing against the unstoppable ocean of disagreeing with a culture I have no hope of changing, even on as small a scale as my own rec ball team. Here are the TLDR questions, TIA:

• My wife and I could probably budget for it, but is it worth it, is it necessary?
• If so, at what age is the real ROI over rec ball? What is the point of no return age that you must start select ball by?
• Am I going to shell out $350/mo for 12 months a year, plus another $85/week in lessons to the coach, just to be on a team where we have no clue how much playing time or which positions my son will have an opportunity to play? Most teams in our area require 12 month contracts and the coaches say what they need to at try outs to convince you to join. I talked to parents at two tryouts we attended, but I feel their feedback is biased since they are the parents who stayed, not the parents who bailed.
• ^ continuing, is it really about development, or does testosterone and competitiveness ultimately always take over and it's about winning more than developing the bottom half of the roster?
• Will the schedule impede my son's ability to play other sports and extracurricular activities? 
• Can a hodgepodge group of rec players just sign up in the AA division of a tournament and play for reps and competition, or must you be part of a recognized program to enter? A few of my parents who don't have the $$$ have asked me about this option.

I skimmed some of this but in my opinion, I would let him play as many rec sports as possible. My kids played rec league until it was painfully clear they needed more. I coached them and took them to training sessions with professional coaches so I could learn how to coach better honestly. Once it was clear I had nothing to offer to get them better we went select.

It is 100% pay to play for most organizations. Your son needs to want to train outside of regular practice on his own volition. If your son dominates, you will get people from different organizations recruiting them or you can work to getting your son on the better teams. There are a shitload of politics but in the end, if you train them and they are good, they sell themselves.  

My goal is for my kids to have fun. They are consumed with baseball. They practice together essentially everyday. I do not force anything. I offer options for training and if they want to do it we go, if not, we do something else. Just be present, offer them options and make sure they love it, don't worry about the select pressure bullshit. 99% of the select kids won't make a HS team. 100% of the kids deserve to have an enjoyable childhood. Make it happen for your son.

[BigDHornfan 6548]

My son loves baseball. This is his last season in 12U.
He doesn’t have the personal drive to put in the extra dedication to play select so rec has been more than enough for him.
He’s been on great teams that won the championship to teams that only won one game 2 different seasons and has had fun the whole time. That’s all that matters.
What is awesome to see is his love for the game in general and his thirst to know everything about the game.
He watches Rangers games on tv with me and soaks it all in. He pays complete attention when we go to games in person and knows the rules.
His goal is to start umpiring once he turns 14 and right now he wants that to be his career.
He watches ump videos on YouTube constantly.
It’s awesome to sit back and watch him quench his baseball thirst.

His first throw out to third from behind the plate is my all time favorite picture of him.

Edited August 4 by BigDHornfan

[HOOKEM4 5037]

47 minutes ago, BigDHornfan said:

My son loves baseball. This is his last season in 12U.
He doesn’t have the personal drive to put in the extra dedication to play select so rec has been more than enough for him.
He’s been on great teams that won the championship to teams that only won one game 2 different seasons and has had fun the whole time. That’s all that matters.
What is awesome to see is his love for the game in general and his thirst to know everything about the game.
He watches Rangers games on tv with me and soaks it all in. He pays complete attention when we go to games in person and knows the rules.
His goal is to start umpiring once he turns 14 and right now he wants that to be his career.
He watches ump videos on YouTube constantly.
It’s awesome to sit back and watch him quench his baseball thirst.

His first throw out to third from behind the plate is my all time favorite picture of him.

My 12 year old only started baseball because his brother was loving it in 8u. His first season was spring 12u when he just turned 11, never played before. He was a team favorite bc of his attitude.  He was terrible but made a play here and there.

Fall season he was an afterthought. They ran out of pitchers and one day they through him in. He went 5 inning and had 13k's. Ever since he has been every teams top pitcher. I coached him this last spring and the allstar season. We beat every team he pitched against. Rec and allstars. 

Point is, it is never too late. Support and teach them at their pace. Don't worry about the future. Worry about today, you can control that.

 

[jkates 316]

On 8/4/2024 at 7:47 AM, Murfdogg21 said:

I'm in need of a good, bad, and ugly tutorial on select/travel ball. My oldest son just finished 7U and moving to 8U this fall with a very good group of rec players. We lost two to select this upcoming season, and at least half the other parents have FOMO about it. I've been in the national and Houston area select facebook groups for a year and read a lot of their drama. My mostly ignorant summary is as follows and is where I need education and correction.

1. Select ball started with American Legion etc. at the high school level 1980's and before, then spread to other select tournaments at the high school level, then at some point permeated down to the youth level as young as 6U.
2. Select ball is now a necessary, or at least unavoidable, evil because "rec ball sucks." Basically if you don't go select, you are making a decision today that your son will never play high school ball down the road (short of freakish natural talent). [The most level headed select parents I've spoke to say it is out of control but you don't really have a choice. If everything has become money driven, from the coaches and programs down to the tournament directors, is there a need for some Daenerys Targaryen to come in and "break the wheel" of select baseball and get it back to the basics of higher talent kids getting more reps?]
3. Select ball is no longer select. Any kid of any talent can play as long as the parents shell out the $$$. 
4. Select ball doesn't have to bankrupt you, except you get what you pay for. You need professional paid coaches. "Daddy ball" select is basically as bad as rec ball? [We are in the Woodlands area, and it seems most teams/programs cost $300-350/mo with tournament fees, and there is an expectation that you will stick with any program for 12 months (no "spring only" or "spring and summer" option). There's also an expectation that you take paid private lessons with the coaches, or unofficially the kid's playing time is going to get docked. The facebook groups say there are teams closer to $175/mo, but I don't see them in our area plus we are told to avoid "daddy ball", so I don't understand how pro coaches can afford to charge $175 including tournament fees.]
5. [Stereotype select parent]: "Select ball is really about player development, but..."  conversations quickly turn to which teams win the most, and when a parent makes a comment about developing multiple positions or getting more playing time, mob mentality comes in and tells the parent to STFU because their kid clearly isn't good enough. I've also seen 7U and 8U teams in my area recruit for a few spots and mention that they already have a [insert positions here]. So at 8U, you already know Sammy is going to be a SS and Ricky is going to be a RF when they grow up? Does Ricky getting game reps at SS (at 8U mind you) hurt Sammy's overall development especially if Sammy is getting reps at other non-SS positions? [The facebook talk sounds toxic AF. Parents screaming at each other on social media, and sounds like there's a lot of parents screaming at each other and the umpires during games. The mentality above I've seen several times, where parents will tell others that their "weaker" kids should savor their development opportunities in practice, but leave the game reps for the best kids. Do the kids' futures and the parents' joy hang on the team W/L outcome of every single pool play game? This toxicity has trickled down to rec ball even at young ages, with parents screaming at the coaches and umpires and losing their shit over close calls in a regular season game, or which kids shouldn't be allowed infield reps. Sounds like a lot, or most, or all paid coaches are the same, because the more their teams win, the more new families they attract. Parents at 12U will say that's the appropriate age to take competition seriously and focus kids on one position and winning, but younger ages are more for fun and rotation. But if you talked to them at 10U they'd say that about 10U. Then parents of 9U will say that 9U is when it turns serious and 7/8U is for fun and development. Most of these parents and coaches can't get away from MUST WIN mode at any age it seems.]
6. "Kids should play multiple sports..." but if you don't make the 2x/week practices because of a conflict or try to sit out summer or fall ball to play other sports, you are dead to us and will be the 12th man on an 11 man roster. [Many parents with kids playing 9U-12U select that I've talked to state their kids are "focused on baseball only" like a source of pride. Ok, great for little Billy. My son likes several sports].

1. Don't know, don't care, doesn't matter.
2. Probably necessary at ages closer to high school. Not necessary at your 7/8U age. 
3. True.
4. Mixed. There are dad coaches that are great through age 12 or so. We had such a team. There are also professional paid coaches that suck.
5. True. You can find different mixes of this. 
6. Depends. My son's 14U major team is pretty decent and almost every kid is in football and/or basketball at school. They all played multiple sports at 7/8U. 

[jkates 316]

On 8/4/2024 at 7:47 AM, Murfdogg21 said:

Here are the TLDR questions, TIA:

• My wife and I could probably budget for it, but is it worth it, is it necessary?
• If so, at what age is the real ROI over rec ball? What is the point of no return age that you must start select ball by?
• Am I going to shell out $350/mo for 12 months a year, plus another $85/week in lessons to the coach, just to be on a team where we have no clue how much playing time or which positions my son will have an opportunity to play? Most teams in our area require 12 month contracts and the coaches say what they need to at try outs to convince you to join. I talked to parents at two tryouts we attended, but I feel their feedback is biased since they are the parents who stayed, not the parents who bailed.
• ^ continuing, is it really about development, or does testosterone and competitiveness ultimately always take over and it's about winning more than developing the bottom half of the roster?
• Will the schedule impede my son's ability to play other sports and extracurricular activities? 
• Can a hodgepodge group of rec players just sign up in the AA division of a tournament and play for reps and competition, or must you be part of a recognized program to enter? A few of my parents who don't have the $$$ have asked me about this option.

-Not necessary at 7/8U.
-If he's serious about playing varsity baseball, I'd say age 11-13 is when you want to transition to select.
-That's a possibility. You need to research and ask questions about the teams in your area over the next few seasons.
-It's rarely about development in select. The parents all say "We need reps" when they mean "We want to win a $2 ring." Reps are at practice, Karen.
-Yes. You need to research and ask questions about the teams in your area over the next few seasons.
-Yes. You can get a group of kids, register, pay the insurance, pay the tourney fee, and play. 

[Stros121 4]

Watching Boerne and no in  the LLWS. Boerne is undefeated in the bracket. If they lose this game they lose the tournament? Wow they are crushing it now!! Boerne up 6-4.

Edited August 7 by Stros121

[Stros121 4]

Y

[kmac30 416]

My kid is 11. He’s a lefty, pitches, 1st and OF. Spring season he threw a total of 300 pitches in 14 innings(all spring). We took half of June and all of July off. Just tarted throwing again 2 weeks ago. Elbow pain. WTF. Took ibuprofen and rested it another week. Just went out to throw and he’s saying it hurts. Dr appointment is scheduled for Wednesday. Only kids I know to have hurt elbows are those that throw all the time, pick up and pitch when their team isn’t playing, and rarely rest. I don’t even think he throws hard enough to get hurt. Just moved teams this fall. Practice starts next week. At a complete loss.

[Dennis Taylor 18828]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:20 PM, kmac30 said:

My kid is 11. He’s a lefty, pitches, 1st and OF. Spring season he threw a total of 300 pitches in 14 innings(all spring). We took half of June and all of July off. Just tarted throwing again 2 weeks ago. Elbow pain. WTF. Took ibuprofen and rested it another week. Just went out to throw and he’s saying it hurts. Dr appointment is scheduled for Wednesday. Only kids I know to have hurt elbows are those that throw all the time, pick up and pitch when their team isn’t playing, and rarely rest. I don’t even think he throws hard enough to get hurt. Just moved teams this fall. Practice starts next week. At a complete loss.

Wss he throwing breaking balls? 

[Mez2 4023]

Too many unknowns to give a good answer, does he do any sort of arm care in his offseason? You said he took a while off from throwing, did he do any at all before starting back to throw?

Find a good pedi-sports medicine doc and listen to what they say. We had the same issue with one of our kids last spring towards end of year and effectively shut him down for close to 3 months, he still hit and did everything  else, except throw. It was frustrating,  emotionally for him, really for any 10,11 year old. His doc referred him to a PT in town and also worked a lot individually on core work and cleaner throwing mechanics. 

 

[kmac30 416]

He does some band work, but not that much. We had thrown a couple days before to start getting to it. No problems.

Have Dr appointment Wednesday. We’ll see how it goes.

[kmac30 416]

Wss he throwing breaking balls? 

No. All he’s allowed to throw is fastball and change

[Mez2 4023]

1 hour ago, kmac30 said:

He does some band work, but not that much. We had thrown a couple days before to start getting to it. No problems.

Have Dr appointment Wednesday. We’ll see how it goes.

Keep us posted on what the outcome is, we typically tell our kids that even though they're in the offseason, we still want them throwing. In other words, don't go a full 2 months or so without doing any type of baseball throwing.

 We incorporate a lot of NPA/Tom House drills in our off-season and stress that to our players, my son included. I hope this is nothing but some minor stuff for you guys, hate hearing stuff like this pop up for kids, especially at this age. 

[BrazilHorn 6608]

Get some bands and find some strengthening drills for elbow/shoulder etc

Also if he is pitching year round you may want to shut down pitching for fall and just do 1B. Give arm rest. 

[Surly Bevo 24908]

Even if he is just throwing fastballs, you need to have somebody who would know take a look at his mechanics.  300 pitches over 14 innings (21 an inning) isn't out of bounds for that age, so maybe something he is doing there that is aggravating things.  Arm slot, overly leading with the elbow, not using the lower body as much and putting it all on your arm and on and on and on are mechanics things that can screw a pitcher up.  If any of that is starting to hurt him at 11....when frankly he doesn't have any muscles etc to really HURT, then it is possible it only gets worse.  

And yea, if he is hurting.  REST....nobody is going to play on their HS team, a college team or the MLB based on their fall when they are 11.

Edited August 26 by Surly Bevo

[BrazilHorn 6608]

One thing I would add is you might check and see if it could be a growth plate issue. This can be source of pain/discomfort.  Worth seeing ortho either way. 

[Spaulding Smails 1552]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:20 PM, kmac30 said:

My kid is 11. He’s a lefty, pitches, 1st and OF. Spring season he threw a total of 300 pitches in 14 innings(all spring). We took half of June and all of July off. Just tarted throwing again 2 weeks ago. Elbow pain. WTF. Took ibuprofen and rested it another week. Just went out to throw and he’s saying it hurts. Dr appointment is scheduled for Wednesday. Only kids I know to have hurt elbows are those that throw all the time, pick up and pitch when their team isn’t playing, and rarely rest. I don’t even think he throws hard enough to get hurt. Just moved teams this fall. Practice starts next week. At a complete loss.

I posted up thread, and not to sound like an alarmist, but this sounds EXACTLY like my son.  Quick summary:

He was a late bloomer (also a lefty), and really didn't start pitching until he was 12.  First year pitching, he didn't pitch much.  2-3 innings max.  Never more than 60 pitches.  He was VERY effective with lots of movement, but kind of wild.  To be expected.  He went occasionally to a pitching coach who was a young kid who played D-1 ball.  No real pedigree with lessons.  That spring, he started to complain of elbow pain.  So, we shut him down.  Went to the ortho, and he had tennis elbow.  Did PT, got better, took the summer off and came back the next year.  

Over the next few years, he pitched more and more, but was never a work horse.  Never threw more than 100 pitches.  Always the 4th or 5th guy in select ball and on the HS team.  Worked with a few pitching coaches, but never really found a good one.  Always had crazy movement and good but not great velo.  Would complain occasionally of elbow discomfort, and I always pressed him about it, but he said it was no big deal.  This last spring (his sophomore year), he was shut down in late April and had Tommy John surgery in June.  

The reason I say all this is because I'm constantly second-guessing how we got to that point.  I think it was somewhat genetics, but probably mostly bad mechanics.  Not egregiously bad, but just bad enough to put lots of strain on the elbow for a kid that maybe didn't have the strongest ligaments to begin with.  If I had it to do over again, I would have had him on the bands constantly, doing better arm care in general, and really find a good coach that can work on mechanics.  Even if it's something minor, get the mechanics dialed in.  Hoping everything's OK with your boy. 

[kmac30 416]

Yikes. That’s my fear.

When I say he took time off, he still had pitching lessons Wednesday afternoons. Wiffleball and throwing the football was really all we did this summer. Pitching coach is big on arm care. Bad elbow took him out of the majors and he swears it started when he was 10. Mechanics are pretty solid.

Dr tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed