Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Below are just a few stream of consciousness suggestions as readers consider their views on how they encourage their children in sports. When people refer to travel baseball, they typically mean a team of higher-level athletes who play in competitive tournaments and probably work out at their own facility. We invite you take just a few moments to browse our ever expanding list of teams below. Is it a help or detriment to their character and bodies? As parents, however, we can sometimes unknowingly pressure our kids to continuing pursuing things at a higher level because we want it for them, not because they want it, and we proverbially try to put a square peg into a round hole. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Golf has, traditionally, been a sport played by upper-class white guys. Teen suspect in shooting of 15-year-old NYC boy caught upstate after months on run: sources 12-year-old NYC boy was shot while playing with other kids in apartment lobby Harrowing video footage. Uber competitive athletics is going to end for 99.9 percent of kids/young adults. I have friends I respect whose kids have played (and some who do play) travel ball, and I mean no offense to them by this post. Operating Policies and Position Statements, Little League - Character, Courage, Loyalty. It was excellent, by the way. The travel baseball vs Little League debate has been a hot topic in US youth baseball for quite some time now. Be a parent. We only have 1 high school senior playing basketball. Thanks to all who replied. , weakening volunteer-based programs that promise affordable sports for all children. LittleBallparks.comis a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sitesto earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. With the emergence of travel baseball and its more developed infrastructure, Little League has lost its appeal as a path to higher levels of competition. We enjoyed Upward for what it was and knew that it wasnt hugely competitive (for the most part). The local Little League and the teams players, manager, or coaches, do not need to raise any funds to be able to participate in the Little League Baseball World Series. You all make very good points to consider. I submit that even with all the excitement of the game, and the money and fame that come with it, the life of a professional athlete is not one to be envied. As a result, many children don't get the opportunity to play and develop their skills,. I dont usually read things that are in America. If your kid is good and loves to play, you wont be able to keep them from it. My son started disliking baseball at 9 years old because the boys in rec wouldnt hit a cut off, and dropped the ball so often. Its no coincidence that the top two picks in the 2022 MLB Draft, the Orioles Jackson Holliday and the Diamondbacks Druw Jones, were sons of superstar Major League players. That the glory of the Lord might cover the dry land as the waters cover the sea. I agree with some that was said. She excelled once she wasnt under my leadership and under the leadership of a professional. If youre not ready to make certain sacrifices, then this form of baseball is probably not for you. Developing skills in (or at least having exposure to) music, art, great books, drama, theology, politics, or science-and-math-related activities makes us better, more empathetic, engaged human beings and citizens, and better leaders. In Pony baseball, players are put into divisions by age groups of two years. My 10 year old tried out for a travel team for over 2 months. A travel team can be started by anyone. Players invest a lot of money and energy into it. A lot of well rounded and good mannered young men who enjoy competition and sportsmanship. My 5 year old has peers that are playing baseball year round already! Falls Church Klwanis Little League. Though parents are well-intentioned, often children are tired of pursuing what was once fun but has become a stressful climb to the next level of competition at the expense of other parts of their lives, or at the expense of joints injured by overuse. It is called Daddy Ball but it is perpetrated by way more than daddies. There are many benefits of pursuing sports excellence, travel like any other passion filled event children can participate can be an extremely beneficial. For a 9 year old team the average tournament entry fee will be $200-$300 EVERY weekend, not to mention the gate fee of at least $10 per person per day. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. It is other worldly, it is unlike anything the Non Christian can imagine, to deny ourselves something the world says is a must and do something the world sees as foolish. This is related to the previous: the best players leave the rec league for travel ball, and then the mediocre players get tempted to do so, and then all the kids get burnt out and stop playing baseball. While I cant say my son progressed all that much during the Tee Ball season, other kids definitely did, and he had a ton of fun. The biggest problem I see is the fact that there are too many marginal players who should be. blair and son funeral home smiths falls / top of the world patty griffin meaning / travel ball killing little league. Just like my folks did. I thought I had found the answer. They had to draft 8th graders to play for the high school JV team so the others could step up and play the Varsity. Additionally, every local Little League program in the United States with a team that travels 150 miles or more per one round trip to a section, state, and region level tournament receives a reimbursement from Little League Baseball of $1 per mile for one round trip to each tournament site, to help offset travel expenses. On the other hand, if the goal is for the kid to have some fun while learning the fundamentals of baseball, Little League is the way to go. While it has completely permeated and overtaken little league baseball, it exists in every sport, football included. Jan 25, 9:37am. If anything, there are more youth sports options for people to pick what works best for them, even though there are. I never felt that way until I got to college, but looking at the demands of travel ball, I totally understand how the kid feels. Thats why Im writing this post. That was it! . Ryan E. I think this is a good post and is great advice. If his 10-year-old son did not make the team at the $2,500-per-season private baseball club where I coached, the boy would lose friends and the familys routines would be upended, he argued. Some of the thoughts overlap what was already said. Our league is like the one you described. I wrote about this for Camden Chat in 2016: Orioles baseball will not be the most important thing that we teach our daughter about. Im coming at this topic from a multi-dimensional approach. Now I know the reasons. General Pitching Topics. Baseball should be a fun game for him not a demanding job. Until more teams see value in helping the game at home, this problem for the entire sport will continue. Well, this certainly diverged off the main topic of traveling versus rec sports, but I hope it provides a little more to talk about, especially among family members. Congrats to the 3524663635357 travel ball teams playing in a "World Series" this week or the next couple of weeks. What will travel ball mean for your marriage? They work the young players harder, but the result is better player development. The league originally included boys age 8 to 12. Once I got to be 13, we left Havenwood Little League to create our own team and I played with that team through age 15, when I stopped playing. That would inevitably awaken the competitive impulse, leading to more practices, more effort expended, and the gradual creep to a higher key. Its apparent that wegenerally speakingspend more time encouraging our children to pursue athletic excellence than we do in developing a Biblical Worldview in them. Nonetheless it's something that I hope that I can enjoy with her (and any future kids, too) for the rest of our lives, much as I still enjoy talking and watching baseball with my parents to this day. I am very thankful we found an amazing travel ball coach at age six. Lets think about two sports; Golf and NASCAR. Fill your childrens team with morals and role models. Also limiting the distance is striking a ball generates force in proportion to the speed at which the ball i. I hear this quite a bit. Is it any wonder that race sponsors like Goodys and Virginia National Bank have been replaced by Bluegreen Vacations, Ally, or Bank of America? Who knows; organizationally they still seem to be doing pretty well overseas and a U.S. team won three of the last four Little League World Series featuring international teams. . The only kind of baseball scholarship D1 programs offer is a partial one. Little League now includes a senior division for players age 13 to 15 and a big-league division for age 16 to 18. Educate them. When comparing travel baseball vs Little League, each of the two has its own advantages and drawbacks. Tha KS alot for all your insight!!! Often this will vary from league to league and from coach to coach. I remember back when we played Dizzy Dean and Babe Ruth baseball. foster a love for the game. We have made this decision for the past three years and been ridiculed for it and told we are not being fair to our son. You can argue all you want and say you go to church when you travel, but the first time you skip church because it interferes with game time, you have taught your child that a game is more important than worshipping God. Praying we keep the Lord first in all thingsand your insights help!!! For millions of American families, paying private for-profit clubseuphemistically termed travel teamsthousands of dollars a year to organize athletic games for their children is now an unquestioned way of life that shapes family routines, work schedules and commutes. Other parents might be emboldened to speak up. I had played non-stop from the summer before my freshman year, through fall ball, winter weights, the spring season, then summer ball before it started all over in my sophomore year. I love helping people get a better understanding of the game. Think brands like Mercedes-Benz. We have the pressure of middle school tryouts being in 2 years, and we wanted to make sure that he did well at those tryouts. Almost every parent volunteers. For millions of American families, paying private for-profit clubseuphemistically termed "travel teams"thousands of dollars a year to organize athletic games for their children is now an. Our hope as parents is that they think of themselves first as members of Gods family and then our family, and then perhaps as an athlete, etc., after that. We must show them how to live well so that they may flourish and worship what is enduring. As recently as the 1990s, travel baseball was a niche experience limited mostly to elite players in baseball-rich areas like Texas and California. Because COVID, America sold out Little League through the widespread adoption of high-dollar travel baseball, Major League Baseball has its RBI Program, providing year-round instruction in the game, I wrote about this for Camden Chat in 2016. It always seems to happen with those families that God is really working with. Anthony Lynn, who remembers his Little League days so vividly, told me that he thinks travel ball is cynical. For additional information please contact Tony Carter 615-202-9606. I know you were saying that theres no one answer for everyone. Enjoyment: Help your children enjoy a sport for the simple joy of the sport. Providing evidence of insurance to field owners and tournament organizers can consume a team manager's life and drain the budget without the right insurance program. Participating in travel baseball will likely eat most of your free time. Despite not playing travel ball until high school, he got several offers and ended up playing for a highly regarded D1 program. (Not that we did everything right by any means!!) I would also ask to establish contact with you for a best practices sharing of information and spreading of the works you are enjoying. http://kristenanneglover.com/my-kids-dont-play-sports/#comment-6411. Our youth baseball program is custom-built to meet all the insurance needs of teams and leagues in one easy-to-use, affordable plan. I agree, there are a ton of options. The result: In the United States, baseball is becoming a mostly white country-club sport for upper-class families to consume, like a snorkeling vacation or a round of golf. As a pastor, I require my daughter to be in church every Sunday, which means that she misses all Sunday games that interfere with worship. And there are eight Urban Youth Academies. However, players who do participate in any non-Little League activity, and miss games or practices because of such participation, may be suspended or dismissed from their Little League team by action of the local Little League Board of Directors. The competitive environment, expert guidance, and the quality of available facilities are unmatched by any other youth competition. He told us last week that he is glad that we have taught him to focus on his eternal future. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. My daughter has played with the same girls and coaches for 3 seasons now. So we are playing upward thru our church. Please dont mortgage your home on a dream that your kid might be good enough to go pro. Likewise, I appreciate the voices of parents who have been there on both sides. 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