2019 Select Ball

[jkates 316]

Meh, why not separate this from the LL thread.

Lil Kates' 9AA team won a tournament last weekend and got bumped to 9AAA. We'll see how that goes starting this weekend! 

[PappyVanVinceYoung 85]

This may not be the right thread, but any advice on getting involved in select ball? I'm in the Houston area and just starting to look into it for my kids.

[jkates 316]

1 hour ago, PappyVanVinceYoung said:

This may not be the right thread, but any advice on getting involved in select ball? I'm in the Houston area and just starting to look into it for my kids.

It's the perfect thread for it. Due to how the team my son is on formed, I'm not the most knowledgeable of the process. For our group, a couple of guys decided to coach and invited 10 kids out for the team. There are several select teams like that from our local rec league (SBMSA). Most of it is done by word of mouth, coach invite, etc.

I know there are organizations like Marucci Elite, Houston Warriors, Dynasty, SBA, etc. that will hold tryouts at different times in the year in order to put together teams. What I don't know is when, how you get registered, cost, etc.

What part of town do you live in?

[bschoolprof 6,272]

1 hour ago, PappyVanVinceYoung said:

This may not be the right thread, but any advice on getting involved in select ball? I'm in the Houston area and just starting to look into it for my kids.

1. see if your kid really, really loves baseball and wants to practice and play all the time, and it's not just Dad wanting him to really, really like baseball

2. see if your family can handle most weekends at the ball park all the time (both Saturday and Sunday with unpredictable playing times that sometimes stretch into the night).  If you have more than one kid and/or a wife that isn't that into it, this can be a huge issue.

3. if you pass 1 and 2, decide on daddy ball vs a for-profit team.  Jkates situation sounds like daddy ball.  This is a very common stepping stone to select.  Several little johhnies excel at rec ball, so a few dads get together to form a tournament team.  The advantages of this approach include: a) it's usually much cheaper, b) the kids are all friends and may have played together for a while already.  The downsides I have seen with daddy ball include: a) dads that don't know as much about baseball as they think they do, and b) political bullshit (why does coach's kid always play SS when he boots 3 grounders a game?) that can hurt feelings and sometimes ruin friendships.  For profit teams have paid coaches and usually their own facilities (e.g., a batting cage business that runs select teams to make money).  The disadvantages here are a) this can be very costly, b) some places can care more about money than your kids' development, c) you can pay a shitton of money for little johnny to ride the bench if he's not that great - it's not rec ball (this is true in daddy ball as well but even moreso at the pro places).  The advantages include the chance for better: a)  coaching (some teams have former MilB guys that really know baseball well), b) facilities, and c) development. 

In my view, the best thing about select is the possibility of your player being coached up by guys that really know the game. The extra game experience is also very important, but I think the developmental/practice part is most important.

In terms of finding out about teams, inquire with local batting cages and recc leagues.  Many batting cage places will have some affiliation to or run a select team to help support the facility.  Expensive teams are more likely to have a web presence and they will be easy to find via google.  Daddy ball teams are often looking to add players here and there as kids come and go.  You can find out about these on select baseball discussion boards and from recc leagues.  For example, the rec league we play at rents its fields to select teams but requires them to hold open practices twice a year for anyone that wants to tryout as a condition for field rental.  

Full disclosure: my kids play recc ball because we didn't pass 1 and 2 above, but they have tons of friends that play select and I learned much of the above from their parents over the years.  

Hope this helps.  Good luck.  

    

[bschoolprof 6,272]

40 minutes ago, jkates said:

It's the perfect thread for it. Due to how the team my son is on formed, I'm not the most knowledgeable of the process. For our group, a couple of guys decided to coach and invited 10 kids out for the team. There are several select teams like that from our local rec league (SBMSA). Most of it is done by word of mouth, coach invite, etc.

I know there are organizations like Marucci Elite, Houston Warriors, Dynasty, SBA, etc. that will hold tryouts at different times in the year in order to put together teams. What I don't know is when, how you get registered, cost, etc.

What part of town do you live in?

the most common tryout times in central texas are the late summer for the fall season and late winter for the spring/summer season.  Most select teams play a lighter schedule in the fall or at least claim to.  

[PappyVanVinceYoung 85]

3 hours ago, jkates said:

It's the perfect thread for it. Due to how the team my son is on formed, I'm not the most knowledgeable of the process. For our group, a couple of guys decided to coach and invited 10 kids out for the team. There are several select teams like that from our local rec league (SBMSA). Most of it is done by word of mouth, coach invite, etc.

I know there are organizations like Marucci Elite, Houston Warriors, Dynasty, SBA, etc. that will hold tryouts at different times in the year in order to put together teams. What I don't know is when, how you get registered, cost, etc.

What part of town do you live in?

I’m in the Memorial area. Kids played SBMSA and were pretty good. We may play Post Oak next year. 

My kids have taken some lessons at Warriors and one was asked to tryout for a team, but we declined because we were already going to play SBMSA and their location was pretty inconvenient for us.

My kids love playing baseball and practice at home with each other all the time. It’s easily their favorite sport, but they do still play other sports and will continue that. 

I’d like to just find out more and see what options there are for the Fall.

 

[Jacob McCandles 202]

What age?

Sent from my BBB100-7 using Tapatalk

[PappyVanVinceYoung 85]

Almost 7 and almost 9. They both played 8U coach pitch. 

[Jacob McCandles 202]

My kids grew up in SBMSA and went to MHS. If either son wants to play at MHS, they likely will need to migrate to select ball at some point. I cannot think of one player on MHS varsity over the past six years who played significant innings who didn't play select from at least 12u on.

That said, don't get caught up in Memorial area drama of forming a select team as soon as possible. With BBUSA in the backyard, it is just too tempting for those with resources to jump to select for the wrong or misguided reasons.

9u is a beating wherever they play, so my advice is to stay in SBMSA one more year and ride that year out close by, with friends, and without the extra cost.

That said, I think Katy PONY and CFSA offer Sunday rec leagues (DH each week) in the fall. It can be a decent way to spend time playing in the fall.

Also as an FYI, 9u in the fall and all the learning it entails sort of precludes football.

[jkates 316]

4 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

1. see if your kid really, really loves baseball and wants to practice and play all the time, and it's not just Dad wanting him to really, really like baseball

2. see if your family can handle most weekends at the ball park all the time (both Saturday and Sunday with unpredictable playing times that sometimes stretch into the night).  If you have more than one kid and/or a wife that isn't that into it, this can be a huge issue.

3. if you pass 1 and 2, decide on daddy ball vs a for-profit team.  Jkates situation sounds like daddy ball.  This is a very common stepping stone to select.  Several little johhnies excel at rec ball, so a few dads get together to form a tournament team.  The advantages of this approach include: a) it's usually much cheaper, b) the kids are all friends and may have played together for a while already.  The downsides I have seen with daddy ball include: a) dads that don't know as much about baseball as they think they do, and b) political bullshit (why does coach's kid always play SS when he boots 3 grounders a game?) that can hurt feelings and sometimes ruin friendships.  For profit teams have paid coaches and usually their own facilities (e.g., a batting cage business that runs select teams to make money).  The disadvantages here are a) this can be very costly, b) some places can care more about money than your kids' development, c) you can pay a shitton of money for little johnny to ride the bench if he's not that great - it's not rec ball (this is true in daddy ball as well but even moreso at the pro places).  The advantages include the chance for better: a)  coaching (some teams have former MilB guys that really know baseball well), b) facilities, and c) development. 

In my view, the best thing about select is the possibility of your player being coached up by guys that really know the game. The extra game experience is also very important, but I think the developmental/practice part is most important.

In terms of finding out about teams, inquire with local batting cages and recc leagues.  Many batting cage places will have some affiliation to or run a select team to help support the facility.  Expensive teams are more likely to have a web presence and they will be easy to find via google.  Daddy ball teams are often looking to add players here and there as kids come and go.  You can find out about these on select baseball discussion boards and from recc leagues.  For example, the rec league we play at rents its fields to select teams but requires them to hold open practices twice a year for anyone that wants to tryout as a condition for field rental.  

Full disclosure: my kids play recc ball because we didn't pass 1 and 2 above, but they have tons of friends that play select and I learned much of the above from their parents over the years.  

Hope this helps.  Good luck.  

    

That's mostly fair. It depends on the specific team/org, of course. Our 2 main daddy coaches played D-1 college and pro ball, so they know a ton. And we've played against plenty of organizations that have a putz at the helm.

[bschoolprof 6,272]

That's mostly fair. It depends on the specific team/org, of course. Our 2 main daddy coaches played D-1 college and pro ball, so they know a ton. And we've played against plenty of organizations that have a putz at the helm.

That sounds ideal.

[F250 28,823]

Summer baseball is about to kickoff for my two sons. I've got one in 16U and the other in 18U. They are scheduled for 6 tournaments over the Summer. This is the easy age when you can sleep in at the hotel and tell your kid to drive himself to the game.

[jkates 316]

Any of you Houston area guys played at Katy National Park before? How is it? We've usually played at Baseball USA (good) or West Little York (crappy). Never played in Katy but we will on Saturday.

[Jacob McCandles 202]

2 hours ago, jkates said:

Any of you Houston area guys played at Katy National Park before? How is it? We've usually played at Baseball USA (good) or West Little York (crappy). Never played in Katy but we will on Saturday.

There were two "Katy" complexes when mine played. Katy Pony, north of Clay, and Katy LL, south of Clay. The ones north of Clay were hit or miss on field quality. Lots of lips, etc. on the larger fields (were the older, less enthusiastic dads coached). The Katy LL fields were usually in good shape. Both complexes were better than W. Little York and Doss Park. lol

Edited May 31, 2019 by Jacob McCandles

[Mez2 4,025]

Sugar Land Little League for life! 

But, my son is 5 and currently in teeball at the Oaks Dad's Club in the Oak Forest area. He's only 5 year old, will be 6 in a couple of months, but made the all-star team for teeball, for what that's worth. He's one of two 5 years olds on the team, the rest are 6 and close to/just turned 7, so he's behind them physically but can hold his own, next year he'll be one of the more better players overall. great learning experience for him with older kids. 

i haven't thought about select ball just yet - i have a good friend who runs a highly competitive team locally and he has a spot on that team for my son whenever i think he's ready, but like you guys I wouldnt think about getting him into select ball until around 10. at that point he should be a little more coordinated, stronger, and have a great knowledge of the game and game play. i only played one year of select ball when i was growing up - we all still played for our high schools in the summer, Mickey Mantle or Connie Mack, and as I was a graduated senior select ball was more prominent. i "think" i'm looking forward to him playing, assuming he still wants to, but realize i'm a few years away from making that decision.  as with anything, the ones leading the teams will be ultimately, how your view of select ball, or anything, is determined. good coaches and better teachers of the game will ultimately shape their playing career. just my .2 cents. 

[Lat22 4,017]

On 5/29/2019 at 10:12 PM, F250 said:

Summer baseball is about to kickoff for my two sons. I've got one in 16U and the other in 18U. They are scheduled for 6 tournaments over the Summer. This is the easy age when you can sleep in at the hotel and tell your kid to drive himself to the game.

So you'll be spending a week in Ft. Myers?  Ugh.  I hate to say it but travel ball for me was a beat down, especially since my stepson was a relief pitcher.  We'd spend our weekends on the road with no guarantee he'd even pitch. 

[F250 28,823]

2 hours ago, Lat22 said:

So you'll be spending a week in Ft. Myers?  Ugh.  I hate to say it but travel ball for me was a beat down, especially since my stepson was a relief pitcher.  We'd spend our weekends on the road with no guarantee he'd even pitch. 

No, not going further east than Georgia and the boy is on his own for that trip. Haven't been to Ft. Meyers in several years when my oldest still played. I'm familiar with the predicament the pitchers and family find themselves in with regard to traveling. Mine don't pitch outside of the occasional high school game so we've never had to go through that.

[MAROON 445]

Quote

especially since my stepson was a relief pitcher.  We'd spend our weekends on the road with no guarantee he'd even pitch. 

my son is a D3 pitcher.  I've flown up for a weekend and not seen him pitch, although luckily that has been rare.  But I have seen him throw only one inning.

Helps that I'm a baseball fanatic, so I tend to stand with the other Dads and pass judgement over the coaching decisions or lack thereof.

Edited May 31, 2019 by MAROON

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

What are the annual costs for select ball? I’m sure the range is wide given potential travel but assuming you stay local, what are the ongoing fees?

i don’t have kids but know a few parents who seem to spend Friday night thru Sunday night at one ballpark after another.  Was always curious how much it’s out of pocket.

[Surly Bevo 25,158]

39 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

What are the annual costs for select ball? I’m sure the range is wide given potential travel but assuming you stay local, what are the ongoing fees?

i don’t have kids but know a few parents who seem to spend Friday night thru Sunday night at one ballpark after another.  Was always curious how much it’s out of pocket.

Usually anywhere from $1000-3000 a season, depending on what you are getting into in terms of structure, tournaments, facilities etc....

[Dennis Taylor 18,873]

11 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

Usually anywhere from $1000-3000 a season, depending on what you are getting into in terms of structure, tournaments, facilities etc....

And in some cases you can add in  field rentals, tournament fees, gate fees, eating out all weekend, hotels, gas, etc etc etc. 

It's been awhile since I was in this boat,  but select ball was a beating. And I haven't even mentioned the issues with parents and coaches...

[F250 28,823]

The travel is where the cost occurs but that's determined by your location and level of play. I remember in 12U Majors there were only a handful of teams between Austin and San Antonio that were competitive and the Houston teams rarely traveled to the area. So we would visit Houston for tournaments and occasionally DFW.

The greater Houston area has so much talent and local tournaments they really don't need to travel much since so many teams visit Houston from all over the place.

If you are in any metropolitan area and are AAA or below then you probably don't need to travel as much. Really, if you are AA and below there is no reason to travel at all. It makes no sense to travel until the local competition is no longer competitive.

 

[pepper brooks 580]

we have a team that sort of has combined daddy ball with for profit ball that has worked out extremely well for the kids on the team.  All of them play in our neighborhood little league.  From that we took the best players available.  From that group we asked the 3 guys with the best 3 players on the team to form an oversight committee.  we then hired a professional coach with some very clear guidelines. 

1. you will not play or not play kids because they do, or do not take lessons from him.  it is a meritocracy, especially on sundays when we want to win

2. you play the kids infield and outfield on seed game day, and let them rotate a bit to keep them all engaged

3. every kid will pitch.  some pitch only on Saturdays, and then we have bracket pitchers for sundays.  that has served us very well

4. we structured his pay based on games played in tournaments.  this ensures he puts the kids in the best places to win on sunday.  the more games we play on sunday, the more money he makes.  this really has kept daddy ball and coach bias out of the process.

5. we picked players based on ability, but also their whole family.  our team will have been together 5 years this fall, and we have yet to have a player leave.  it's a great group of kids and familys.  no animosity, no pettiness.  

 

we don't play much in the spring due to all the kids playing little league.  we play a ton in the fall while encouraging the kids to play other fall sports, and get our Saturday seed games scheduled accordingly.  we saw select ball done with "pay to play" coaches and with "daddy ball".  inevitably those teams fail, and have lots of turnover.  we had a unique opportunity to assemble and run a team a bit differently, and I am glad we decided to do it.  

 

our costs structure is basically we pay dues that cover field rentals for practice, tournament entry, insurance, and our paid coach.  they're nothing more than "cost".  

Edited June 3, 2019 by pepper brooks

[Surly Bevo 25,158]

My son plays 12AAA for a Keller Youth Association team. We probably pay in 300-400 between registration/insurance/uniforms etc. we get access to the KYA fields for practice and that considerably cuts down on the expense. The association interviews the Select coaches but they are volunteers so ultimately it is “dads”. That said some of the “dads” coaching in KYA happen to be guys like Kevin Mench, Mike Adams and Clint McGill. My son’s team is coached by a “dad” who one of the local high schools trusts to coach their freshman team during summer ball when the coach can’t have contact. So not your typical “daddy ball”. That all said if you are not going to an org like this the coaches ain’t doing this for free.

Then there are tournaments. We have usually been able to fund raise much of that but as they get older that gets less and less palatable as people just want to cut a check. Tournaments are usually $400-700 a team each between entry/gate fees with some of the bigger ones with more guaranteed games getting up to $800-1000. So depending on how big your team is, how much they play etc that is another cost that isn’t coming for free (though a lot of club teams bake it in to their fee)

Oh yea then you have to equip the kid. Do they need top top shelf stuff...no but that floppy glove and that solid aluminum tee ball bat ain’t going to cut it either.

[jkates 316]

 

 

1

On 5/31/2019 at 3:16 PM, MAROON said:

my son is a D3 pitcher.  I've flown up for a weekend and not seen him pitch, although luckily that has been rare.  But I have seen him throw only one inning.

Helps that I'm a baseball fanatic, so I tend to stand with the other Dads and pass judgement over the coaching decisions or lack thereof.

I'm in this boat right now. My son is currently the 11th man on a roster of 11. I'm sort of one of the coaches. I was one of the coaches last year and this year I'm in the dugout and helping every bit as much as the 2 previous years, but my input is largely ignored as 3 of the 5 coaches have sort of become the decision-makers.

Saturday - 2 pool play games for seeding - we batted 10 in both games. He was not in either lineup. He did get 1 inning in RF (caught the only fly ball hit to him and threw home to prevent the tag) and 1 PA (HBP after a couple of foul balls). 

Sunday - 2 bracket games (1st round bye) - we batted 10 in the semifinal and 9 in the championship game. He didn't enter either game.

So we did baseball from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday and from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm on Sunday......for 1 PA and 1 inning in RF. It's tough right now. But the little man is committed to working hard and fighting for ABs. I'm committed to not being a moron about it all. We like the organization. I like the coaches. I value the practices and development he gets with this group. I want him to learn how to work for something he wants. The only tricky part is that the coaches may or may not reward him. Time will tell....

[Lat22 4,017]

So familiar. Now try doing that every day for a week in Ft Myers or BFE Georgia.

We played against a couple of Adam Dunn coached teams. That’s a guy you want on your side in a fight.

[bschoolprof 6,272]

53 minutes ago, pepper brooks said:

we have a team that sort of has combined daddy ball with for profit ball that has worked out extremely well for the kids on the team.  All of them play in our neighborhood little league.  From that we took the best players available.  From that group we asked the 3 guys with the best 3 players on the team to form an oversight committee.  we then hired a professional coach with some very clear guidelines. 

1. you will not play or not play kids because they do, or do not take lessons from him.  it is a meritocracy, especially on sundays when we want to win

2. you play the kids infield and outfield on seed game day, and let them rotate a bit to keep them all engaged

3. every kid will pitch.  some pitch only on Saturdays, and then we have bracket pitchers for sundays.  that has served us very well

4. we structured his pay based on games played in tournaments.  this ensures he puts the kids in the best places to win on sunday.  the more games we play on sunday, the more money he makes.  this really has kept daddy ball and coach bias out of the process.

5. we picked players based on ability, but also their whole family.  our team will have been together 5 years this fall, and we have yet to have a player leave.  it's a great group of kids and familys.  no animosity, no pettiness.  

 

we don't play much in the spring due to all the kids playing little league.  we play a ton in the fall while encouraging the kids to play other fall sports, and get our Saturday seed games scheduled accordingly.  we saw select ball done with "pay to play" coaches and with "daddy ball".  inevitably those teams fail, and have lots of turnover.  we had a unique opportunity to assemble and run a team a bit differently, and I am glad we decided to do it.  

 

our costs structure is basically we pay dues that cover field rentals for practice, tournament entry, insurance, and our paid coach.  they're nothing more than "cost".  

this sounds awesome.

[jkates 316]

43 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

So familiar. Now try doing that every day for a week in Ft Myers or BFE Georgia.

We played against a couple of Adam Dunn coached teams. That’s a guy you want on your side in a fight.

He's a buddy of mine. Good dude. He'd rather fish than fight though!

[66BUFF 2,565]

1 hour ago, jkates said:

I'm in this boat right now. My son is currently the 11th man on a roster of 11. I'm sort of one of the coaches. I was one of the coaches last year and this year I'm in the dugout and helping every bit as much as the 2 previous years, but my input is largely ignored as 3 of the 5 coaches have sort of become the decision-makers.

Saturday - 2 pool play games for seeding - we batted 10 in both games. He was not in either lineup. He did get 1 inning in RF (caught the only fly ball hit to him and threw home to prevent the tag) and 1 PA (HBP after a couple of foul balls). 

Sunday - 2 bracket games (1st round bye) - we batted 10 in the semifinal and 9 in the championship game. He didn't enter either game.

So we did baseball from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday and from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm on Sunday......for 1 PA and 1 inning in RF. It's tough right now. But the little man is committed to working hard and fighting for ABs. I'm committed to not being a moron about it all. We like the organization. I like the coaches. I value the practices and development he gets with this group. I want him to learn how to work for something he wants. The only tricky part is that the coaches may or may not reward him. Time will tell....

Time to find a new team.  Never want your kid to be the best player or the worst player on a travel team.

Edited June 3, 2019 by 66BUFF
spelling

[pepper brooks 580]

1 hour ago, jkates said:

I'm in this boat right now. My son is currently the 11th man on a roster of 11. I'm sort of one of the coaches. I was one of the coaches last year and this year I'm in the dugout and helping every bit as much as the 2 previous years, but my input is largely ignored as 3 of the 5 coaches have sort of become the decision-makers.

Saturday - 2 pool play games for seeding - we batted 10 in both games. He was not in either lineup. He did get 1 inning in RF (caught the only fly ball hit to him and threw home to prevent the tag) and 1 PA (HBP after a couple of foul balls). 

Sunday - 2 bracket games (1st round bye) - we batted 10 in the semifinal and 9 in the championship game. He didn't enter either game.

So we did baseball from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday and from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm on Sunday......for 1 PA and 1 inning in RF. It's tough right now. But the little man is committed to working hard and fighting for ABs. I'm committed to not being a moron about it all. We like the organization. I like the coaches. I value the practices and development he gets with this group. I want him to learn how to work for something he wants. The only tricky part is that the coaches may or may not reward him. Time will tell....

this is bullshit.  our team has never not roster batted.  we have played probably 300 games, and not once have we ever even considered not roster batting.  that is one of our mandates.  one time for a one day tourney we took 12 kids to an event, and still roster batted.  they're on the roster, they show up, they're batting all day, and no one ever sits out two consecutive innings.  we chose the players, they're playing and we coach them up to get better.  

[pepper brooks 580]

32 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

this sounds awesome.

it has been a great experience for these kids and parents for sure.  Find another tournament ball team that hasn't lost a single player in 5 years.  it's pretty unprecedented from what I can tell.  we have people asking all the time if we have any spots and to let them know if we ever need a player.  

[F250 28,823]

35 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

So familiar. Now try doing that every day for a week in Ft Myers or BFE Georgia.

We played against a couple of Adam Dunn coached teams. That’s a guy you want on your side in a fight.

The life of a PO in Summer Ball.

Was your son a PO in high school too? My friend's kid played first and pitched in 9th grade on JV and then decided to tryout for varsity as a PO in 10th grade. He made varsity as a PO then the team attended the Border Olympics down in Laredo for the weekend which is a great tournament featuring over 50 teams from south and central Texas. Anyways, my friends kid pitched 1 inning at the tournament. Dad wasn't used to traveling out of town for the weekend to see his kid pitch a single inning and then spend the rest of the time watching other kids play. That was a bit of culture shock for dad.

 

[tx 3 putt 77,434]

14 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

And in some cases you can add in  field rentals, tournament fees, gate fees, eating out all weekend, hotels, gas, etc etc etc. 

It's been awhile since I was in this boat,  but select ball was a beating. And I haven't even mentioned the issues with parents and coaches...

Don’t forget when the select team owners / coaches demand the parents buy them diamond encrusted tournament rings and help cover expenses related to escorts / strip club trips 

[F250 28,823]

30 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Don’t forget when the select team owners / coaches demand the parents buy them diamond encrusted tournament rings and help cover expenses related to escorts / strip club trips 

Ray had some issues.

[jkates 316]

1 hour ago, pepper brooks said:

this is bullshit.  our team has never not roster batted.  we have played probably 300 games, and not once have we ever even considered not roster batting.  that is one of our mandates.  one time for a one day tourney we took 12 kids to an event, and still roster batted.  they're on the roster, they show up, they're batting all day, and no one ever sits out two consecutive innings.  we chose the players, they're playing and we coach them up to get better.  

Yeah, I don't understand why the coaches are afraid to roster bat, even if just on Saturdays. Being the #1 seed on Sunday isn't some sort of accomplishment, especially considering that many teams won't throw their top arms on Saturday anyway. My son is not the star, but he's plenty capable of contributing. Oh well. We are where we are for now. My son wants to work hard and earn ABs with this squad and I'm happy to help him. 

[Surly Bevo 25,158]

If you want to know what the absolute worst of the worst of select ball is read further.

We’ve played in tournaments with these guys. It’s fucking ridiculous.


https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article159060549.html

[Dennis Taylor 18,873]

On 5/31/2019 at 3:16 PM, MAROON said:

my son is a D3 pitcher.  I've flown up for a weekend and not seen him pitch, although luckily that has been rare.  But I have seen him throw only one inning.

Helps that I'm a baseball fanatic, so I tend to stand with the other Dads and pass judgement over the coaching decisions or lack thereof.

 

3 hours ago, jkates said:

I'm in this boat right now. My son is currently the 11th man on a roster of 11. I'm sort of one of the coaches. I was one of the coaches last year and this year I'm in the dugout and helping every bit as much as the 2 previous years, but my input is largely ignored as 3 of the 5 coaches have sort of become the decision-makers.

Saturday - 2 pool play games for seeding - we batted 10 in both games. He was not in either lineup. He did get 1 inning in RF (caught the only fly ball hit to him and threw home to prevent the tag) and 1 PA (HBP after a couple of foul balls). 

Sunday - 2 bracket games (1st round bye) - we batted 10 in the semifinal and 9 in the championship game. He didn't enter either game.

So we did baseball from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday and from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm on Sunday......for 1 PA and 1 inning in RF. It's tough right now. But the little man is committed to working hard and fighting for ABs. I'm committed to not being a moron about it all. We like the organization. I like the coaches. I value the practices and development he gets with this group. I want him to learn how to work for something he wants. The only tricky part is that the coaches may or may not reward him. Time will tell....

I'm fairly certain maroon is referring to college baseball

2 hours ago, 66BUFF said:

Time to find a new team.  Never want your kid to be the best player or the worst player on a travel team.

this is good advice

[pepper brooks 580]

41 minutes ago, jkates said:

Yeah, I don't understand why the coaches are afraid to roster bat, even if just on Saturdays. Being the #1 seed on Sunday isn't some sort of accomplishment, especially considering that many teams won't throw their top arms on Saturday anyway. My son is not the star, but he's plenty capable of contributing. Oh well. We are where we are for now. My son wants to work hard and earn ABs with this squad and I'm happy to help him. 

it's a tough thing.  you want to make sure you're son is working hard and you're teaching him to "earn" time, but your coaches sound like f*cking morons frankly.  they clearly are not thinking long term greedy and developing players.  we used to get our asses kicked all the time when we first started.  we have ended the last two fall seasons ranked in the top 2 in the nation for usssa.  we have developed pitching and developed players over the course of 5 years.  we don't give a shit about seed games other than using them to develop.  we are more than happy to be a bottom seed.  that usually means we get to play the one seed at 10;00 am or noon rather than playing in the 4v5 game at 8 am.  we can throw our ace the first game of the day when he is most fresh and move on from there.   cannot ever imagine being on a team that doesn't roster bat. so many of these jackasses just get it wrong on so many levels.  i'd definitely try and scout a better environment. this kind of shit will ruin a kid's love for a great game at an early age.  what possible reason could anyone give or make up to let all but one player bat?  what a f*cking choad.  

[Lat22 4,017]

2 hours ago, F250 said:

The life of a PO in Summer Ball.

Was your son a PO in high school too? My friend's kid played first and pitched in 9th grade on JV and then decided to tryout for varsity as a PO in 10th grade. He made varsity as a PO then the team attended the Border Olympics down in Laredo for the weekend which is a great tournament featuring over 50 teams from south and central Texas. Anyways, my friends kid pitched 1 inning at the tournament. Dad wasn't used to traveling out of town for the weekend to see his kid pitch a single inning and then spend the rest of the time watching other kids play. That was a bit of culture shock for dad.

 

Ugh.  PO.  There is a term I hadn't heard in over a year.  Yeah, he was in high school too.  He played first and outfield growing up but since he was tall and left handed, people wanted him to pitch.  When he was on, he was really good.  When he was off, it was rough.  Never seemed to have too many "average" outings. It was allsome or terrible.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

On 6/3/2019 at 11:31 AM, jkates said:

I'm in this boat right now. My son is currently the 11th man on a roster of 11. I'm sort of one of the coaches. I was one of the coaches last year and this year I'm in the dugout and helping every bit as much as the 2 previous years, but my input is largely ignored as 3 of the 5 coaches have sort of become the decision-makers.

Saturday - 2 pool play games for seeding - we batted 10 in both games. He was not in either lineup. He did get 1 inning in RF (caught the only fly ball hit to him and threw home to prevent the tag) and 1 PA (HBP after a couple of foul balls). 

Sunday - 2 bracket games (1st round bye) - we batted 10 in the semifinal and 9 in the championship game. He didn't enter either game.

So we did baseball from 7:30 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday and from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm on Sunday......for 1 PA and 1 inning in RF. It's tough right now. But the little man is committed to working hard and fighting for ABs. I'm committed to not being a moron about it all. We like the organization. I like the coaches. I value the practices and development he gets with this group. I want him to learn how to work for something he wants. The only tricky part is that the coaches may or may not reward him. Time will tell....

that seems f-ed up that your son is effectively never allowed to play.  I guess the coaches aren't worried that one of the other kids will never need to come out of a game.  Everyone loves the story of the kid coming in and winning the big game at the end.  But the actual truth in that situation is that the bench warmer isn't prepared and doesn't win the game.  In-game experience is critical for development.

[PappyVanVinceYoung 85]

We're moving closer to joining a team. It will be a newly formed 9U team made up of kids from our school and a few others nearby. The head coach is not a dad; he's an assistant coach at a nearby private school that several dads have been taking their kid to private lessons to for the past few years. He intends for it to be a AA team initially. 

We will roster bat and no kid will sit for consecutive innings. He wants everyone to have an infield and an outfield position. 

The team will be formally selected in July with games starting in the Fall. We'll do two practices per week with a double header every other Sunday in the Fall. We'll play weekend tournaments every other week in the Spring.   

Still in the learning phase, but I like what I hear so far. The things I like the most are: 1) not having a dad for the head coach; 2) having some friends from our school on the team; 3) it being located near where we live; 4) a lighter Fall schedule that will allow for participation in other sports; and 5) every kid will get fairly even playing time. 

Thoughts from those with experience? What questions should I be asking?

[jkates 316]

8 minutes ago, PappyVanVinceYoung said:

We're moving closer to joining a team. It will be a newly formed 9U team made up of kids from our school and a few others nearby. The head coach is not a dad; he's an assistant coach at a nearby private school that several dads have been taking their kid to private lessons to for the past few years. He intends for it to be a AA team initially. 

We will roster bat and no kid will sit for consecutive innings. He wants everyone to have an infield and an outfield position. 

The team will be formally selected in July with games starting in the Fall. We'll do two practices per week with a double header every other Sunday in the Fall. We'll play weekend tournaments every other week in the Spring.   

Still in the learning phase, but I like what I hear so far. The things I like the most are: 1) not having a dad for the head coach; 2) having some friends from our school on the team; 3) it being located near where we live; 4) a lighter Fall schedule that will allow for participation in other sports; and 5) every kid will get fairly even playing time. 

Thoughts from those with experience? What questions should I be asking?

If you don't mind answering. PM if you want. I'm curious. What school? Who is the coach?

Sounds like a good setup. You should ask about the future. Will the coach be looking to recruit over the bottom of the roster? Or is this a long-term commitment (say, through age 11 or 12) and these kids will be the team unless they leave voluntarily? 

[Jacob McCandles 202]

15 minutes ago, PappyVanVinceYoung said:

We're moving closer to joining a team. It will be a newly formed 9U team made up of kids from our school and a few others nearby. The head coach is not a dad; he's an assistant coach at a nearby private school that several dads have been taking their kid to private lessons to for the past few years. He intends for it to be a AA team initially. 

We will roster bat and no kid will sit for consecutive innings. He wants everyone to have an infield and an outfield position. 

The team will be formally selected in July with games starting in the Fall. We'll do two practices per week with a double header every other Sunday in the Fall. We'll play weekend tournaments every other week in the Spring.   

Still in the learning phase, but I like what I hear so far. The things I like the most are: 1) not having a dad for the head coach; 2) having some friends from our school on the team; 3) it being located near where we live; 4) a lighter Fall schedule that will allow for participation in other sports; and 5) every kid will get fairly even playing time. 

Thoughts from those with experience? What questions should I be asking?

Echo that you want to ask about long-term plans.

Also, reconsider the "no one sits back to back innings" rule as it relates to pitchers. At 9u, the team will likely need at least three pitchers per game. The plan should be 2-2-2 (best for pool games) or 3-3 with one on stand-by if one can't get through an inning (for bracket games).

Be up front with kids and parents: "We will have three kids ready to pitch each game. Those kids will only pitch and bat, and will not play in the field absent an injury." This helps with pitching -- pitchers can focus, stay rested, get loose, etc. It also helps with rotation, because with a 12-man roster, you now have 9 players to rotate among 8 positions. It also helps with parent expectations: "Sally, you know the reason Johnny hasn't played in the field is that they are resting him to pitch later in the game."

This is easy to implement during pool games; just takes some thought and planning. Becomes a bit harder during bracket games.

 

[pepper brooks 580]

2 hours ago, PappyVanVinceYoung said:

We're moving closer to joining a team. It will be a newly formed 9U team made up of kids from our school and a few others nearby. The head coach is not a dad; he's an assistant coach at a nearby private school that several dads have been taking their kid to private lessons to for the past few years. He intends for it to be a AA team initially. 

We will roster bat and no kid will sit for consecutive innings. He wants everyone to have an infield and an outfield position. 

The team will be formally selected in July with games starting in the Fall. We'll do two practices per week with a double header every other Sunday in the Fall. We'll play weekend tournaments every other week in the Spring.   

Still in the learning phase, but I like what I hear so far. The things I like the most are: 1) not having a dad for the head coach; 2) having some friends from our school on the team; 3) it being located near where we live; 4) a lighter Fall schedule that will allow for participation in other sports; and 5) every kid will get fairly even playing time. 

Thoughts from those with experience? What questions should I be asking?

This is a solid plan. Sounds like coach Nolan our at Kinkaid.  Great guy and coach

[F250 28,823]

Playing in Georgetown this weekend to kickoff Sunmer ball.

My youngest son's 16U team just won their 4th game for a 4-0 record for the weekend. One more game tomorrow. Defeated two teams from DFW and two from Houston over the past two days.

[pepper brooks 580]

as we are preparing our little league team for all-stars we decided to play a couple of select ball tournaments, gauge what we need to work on, and get more game at bats and pitching in pressure situations.  Last weekend we wore the collar 0-3.  terrible.  granted our team was announced at midnight, an we played the next day with no practice or anything, and we were missing some guys.  this weekend after we had a week to practice we went out and won the tournament.  mini pep had a spectacular weekend throwing a no hitter and hitting a bomb.  we play district in two weeks.  see how that goes.  

[jkates 316]

It's always interesting to see how these young kids react in these tourneys. We had 8:00 AM starts after 45+ minute drives both Saturday and Sunday and the team was flat, flat, flat. Went 0-2 on Saturday and felt like we should have split. Lost on Sunday in extra innings. Ugh. It was a State tourney and much deeper field (26 teams, I think, in 9AAA) than most weekends. Hopefully, the boys learned some lessons this weekend.

Lil Kates got 1 inning on the bump against the eventual 3rd place team. He allowed 1 R with 2 BB and 1 K. I was proud of the performance. (Team gave up 15 in 4 innings that game.)

Lil Kates did not bat in the game he pitched, but he batted in the other pool play game going 0-for-1, 1 HBP, 1 R, 1 K. No balls in RF.

He didn't play in the Sunday game, but he drug my butt off of the couch yesterday evening to catch a bullpen and hit off of the tee. 

[pepper brooks 580]

To be fair a good number of the kids on our all star team are on the select team I’ve mentioned previously in this thread.  They’ve played a lot of tournament ball, but we also have a good number of back of the roster guys who haven’t played much of any tournament ball.  Those are the ones we at evaluating.    

 

[Mez2 4,025]

Finished our first teeball tournament this weekend, went 3-1 for the weekend and had a blast. Chuy did good, still learning and figuring out some things. lost in the championship game to little league team from the heights. They've played together for a couple of years. 

One more tournament this weekend and then break until fall ball. 

[F250 28,823]

2 hours ago, pepper brooks said:

as we are preparing our little league team for all-stars we decided to play a couple of select ball tournaments, gauge what we need to work on, and get more game at bats and pitching in pressure situations.  Last weekend we wore the collar 0-3.  terrible.  granted our team was announced at midnight, an we played the next day with no practice or anything, and we were missing some guys.  this weekend after we had a week to practice we went out and won the tournament.  mini pep had a spectacular weekend throwing a no hitter and hitting a bomb.  we play district in two weeks.  see how that goes.  

I've done this before, it worked out fairly well for us. Didn't win the tournament, eliminated in the semifinals in a tournament of 12 teams. Our biggest struggle was with some of the kids that were not used to lead offs or getting called for a balk. Most of the inexperienced kids adjusted by the time bracket play started.

Those tournaments can go really well like in your case or really bad. Having a group of experienced players really helps.

A few years ago my sons 11U team played in an open 12U tournament. Most of the teams were Majors with some AAA teams mixed in. A Little League AS team signed up and must not been familiar with the Majors/AAA designation. My son's 11U majors team played them in the first game of pool play. The first inning lasted an hour! Our kids were up 21-0 by the 2nd inning, worst game of baseball I have ever seen.

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by F250