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Weird Feeling (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Cjw_55106
- Start date
B Maverick
Footballguy
please dont.... but if you could get your avatar's shirt off its win win for everyone...
oh and sorry OP for the
MindCrime
Footballguy
Another detour off topic- but to go along with this point, I'm caught up in the transition to the new USABat standard. In case anyone has kids playing, all bats on the market right now will be illegal in most youth baseball organizations next year. You can read more about it online, but the new standard doesn't kick in until 2018, but no manufacturer has plans to put the bats on sale til this fall. Won't affect travel leagues for the most part, but Little League, Pony League, Babe Ruth, etc will all be affected.
Bought my my son a "new" 2016 model bat for Juniors (2 5/8" barrel). Will have to buy a new USABat(tm) standard bat at the end of the year, and then a bbcor rated bat next fall for senior league. Bat manufacturers are hearing cash registers ringing already.
Usabat info
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
When my boys started playing traveling, I seem to recall the bats standards had just changed. Then it was insinuated they would be changing again in the next year or two (I don't think it ever did though). Now that looks to be happening.MindCrime said:Another detour off topic- but to go along with this point, I'm caught up in the transition to the new USABat standard. In case anyone has kids playing, all bats on the market right now will be illegal in most youth baseball organizations next year. You can read more about it online, but the new standard doesn't kick in until 2018, but no manufacturer has plans to put the bats on sale til this fall. Won't affect travel leagues for the most part, but Little League, Pony League, Babe Ruth, etc will all be affected.
Bought my my son a "new" 2016 model bat for Juniors (2 5/8" barrel). Will have to buy a new USABat(tm) standard bat at the end of the year, and then a bbcor rated bat next fall for senior league. Bat manufacturers are hearing cash registers ringing already.
Usabat info
It's probably a good thing neither of my boys have been very good hitters, because I've refused to buy them their own bats. I did one year, on the cheap. Neither liked the "feel" of the bat (ie, some kid on the team had one that looked cooler) so they went unused. I stopped after that, and yes, I've been the parent of that kid asking yours to use your kids' bat.
The money in traveling sports is silly these days. I remember as a kid our baseball team having three bats. The one that fit most kids didn't have any grip left, and someone put electric tape on to cover what was left. We had four batting helmets, and you just hoped the kid before you got out and not walked, so you didn't have to go to bat with the only XL helmet and have it fall into your eyes while you hit. We got a t-shirt for a jersey, and a foam front/mesh back snap back cap. Sometimes they paid to put a logo on it, some times it was blank.
Now, everyone has their own $300 bat. Teams have multiple jerseys, including warm up undershirts. They travel out of town for multiple tournaments a year. Parents pay hundreds of dollars for their kids to play, yet still have to volunteer to raise more funds (to buy more jerseys and for the kids to take more road trips), and write check after check after check.
No wonder so many kids grow up with a sense of entitlement.
Reg Lllama of Brixton
Footballguy
hehBull Dozier said:
belljr
Footballguy
Yeah but I paid $130 for my $350 bat theyre just like golf drivers you buy the year before when the new one comes out. but softball they're all pretty much certified
MindCrime
Footballguy
Did this with my son's most recent bat. Got it from closeoutbats(dot)com. Paid 39.99 for a middle of the road Demarini 2016 model (probably in the $150/200 range when in stores) kid loves it.
sbonomo
Footballguy
I am calling BS - Let's say that the school is 50/50 boys girls and 9-12. If 25% of the boys population (which seem absurdly high) went out for BB then the total population would be roughly 2000 boys and 4000 total kids at the school. That is 1000 kids per class. Something doesn't seem right here.matuski said:
Cjw_55106
Footballguy
The dream has come to an end. I never want my kid to get cut, but I think this time it's a good thing. He was the "last cut"...which to me means he wasn't going to be playing much. The coach told him he hated to cut him and it the hardest decision. Normally, I'd say it's lip service, but he asked if he'd be interested in being a team manager. My son said he'd have to think about it because he might prefer to get a job. The coach asked if he knew where he'd like to work and my son said no. He said his wife runs a bakery if he was interested in working there. 
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
Righetti
Footballguy
I was the last guy on my freshman team high made me essentially, the team manager.
Learned a lot about the game watching it, seeing it unfold, seeing strengths and weaknesses in players, learning positioning and doing the book etc. I was never going to be a great player but turned out to be a reasonably good coach for six year in Babe Ruth when I was in my early 20s
Learned a lot about the game watching it, seeing it unfold, seeing strengths and weaknesses in players, learning positioning and doing the book etc. I was never going to be a great player but turned out to be a reasonably good coach for six year in Babe Ruth when I was in my early 20s
Don't Noonan
Footballguy
I coach my son on an 11U club baseball team. My son is a below average hitter, so so fielder, but one of the best pitchers on the team. He gets down on himself when he doesn't hit well but I keep telling him his pitching is what will be his best chance to go far in baseball.
The Duff Man
Footballguy
My 11 year old was cut from her basketball team in Sept and it ended up being the best thing for her.
Another team had folded so there were too many players in the area for too few teams.
She was on the team for two years but the coach's approach to the cuts were to call the kids who made the team and if you didn't get a call you were cut. Not even a call to say thanks for the last two years and encouragement to keep working at it...zero. LOL
She made another team nearby and has improved greatly, going from a player who did nothing (zero baskets in about 40 games last year and quite deserving of being cut) to a bench player that scores nearly every game and is involved.
Help your son keep a positive attitude and good things will happen I am sure.
Another team had folded so there were too many players in the area for too few teams.
She was on the team for two years but the coach's approach to the cuts were to call the kids who made the team and if you didn't get a call you were cut. Not even a call to say thanks for the last two years and encouragement to keep working at it...zero. LOL
She made another team nearby and has improved greatly, going from a player who did nothing (zero baskets in about 40 games last year and quite deserving of being cut) to a bench player that scores nearly every game and is involved.
Help your son keep a positive attitude and good things will happen I am sure.
AcerFC
Footballguy
If only you would have been last cut from soccer. Your girls might actually stand a chance.
Righetti
Footballguy
OofIf only you would have been last cut from soccer. Your girls might actually stand a chance.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Sorry to hear that. Good luck to him.The dream has come to an end. I never want my kid to get cut, but I think this time it's a good thing. He was the "last cut"...which to me means he wasn't going to be playing much. The coach told him he hated to cut him and it the hardest decision. Normally, I'd say it's lip service, but he asked if he'd be interested in being a team manager. My son said he'd have to think about it because he might prefer to get a job. The coach asked if he knew where he'd like to work and my son said no. He said his wife runs a bakery if he was interested in working there.
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
matuski
Footballguy
The graduating class is just shy of 1000.
I agree it sounds weird. Apparently basketball was the only sport with this issue, and this year was an anomaly. Football of all things had much fewer kids show up than normal, which is crazy (this is TX).
Also - like I said this is second hand info although I have heard it from more than a few parents with kids playing basketball.
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belljr
Footballguy
Sad but GL to you all. Seems like that area is just setup weird imo but that's a discussion for another dayThe dream has come to an end. I never want my kid to get cut, but I think this time it's a good thing. He was the "last cut"...which to me means he wasn't going to be playing much. The coach told him he hated to cut him and it the hardest decision. Normally, I'd say it's lip service, but he asked if he'd be interested in being a team manager. My son said he'd have to think about it because he might prefer to get a job. The coach asked if he knew where he'd like to work and my son said no. He said his wife runs a bakery if he was interested in working there.
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
MindCrime
Footballguy
Bummer, but gl to your son. Sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders. Maybe he can take the manager position and the job? If the coach's wife owns the bakery, maybe she can work around his baseball schedule?The dream has come to an end. I never want my kid to get cut, but I think this time it's a good thing. He was the "last cut"...which to me means he wasn't going to be playing much. The coach told him he hated to cut him and it the hardest decision. Normally, I'd say it's lip service, but he asked if he'd be interested in being a team manager. My son said he'd have to think about it because he might prefer to get a job. The coach asked if he knew where he'd like to work and my son said no. He said his wife runs a bakery if he was interested in working there.
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
dino259
Footballguy
The dream has come to an end. I never want my kid to get cut, but I think this time it's a good thing. He was the "last cut"...which to me means he wasn't going to be playing much. The coach told him he hated to cut him and it the hardest decision. Normally, I'd say it's lip service, but he asked if he'd be interested in being a team manager. My son said he'd have to think about it because he might prefer to get a job. The coach asked if he knew where he'd like to work and my son said no. He said his wife runs a bakery if he was interested in working there.
Not it sure what's going to happen. He might get a job, , might agree to manage, might sit it out or might play a season of AAU basketball. Either way, he'll find a summer team and this will just be a two month hiatus.
Time to make the donuts.Bang the coaches wife?
Too soon?
This year my 4th grader tried out for the travel baseball team. First team he had to try out for and mostly the first team I will have limited impact coaching. Even thought he has always been one of the better players, I was probably more worried than him. I feel that I try not to be too baised with my ranking of my own kids. It is a tough balance to keep their confidence high but yet an accurate sense of how good they really are. I am not looking forward to what has become of youth sports. I need to force myself to talk a lot with other parents to have a good situation for my kids.
rockaction
Footballguy
TLEF316
Footballguy
This thread brings back some great memories of freshman baseball tryouts. Probably one of the funnest weeks of my whole life. Our town's little league had A and B divisions for both "Major League" level (10-12 year olds) and Senior League Level (13-16). Other than maybe 2 or 3 kids who either missed the tryouts for A or had some weird reason for not wanting to play A, the B level kids were beyond horrible. Bad News Bears would be an understatement. Unfortunately, for those kids, they were insulated in their little B level world and just had no idea how bad they were, so about a dozen of them showed up for tryouts for HS ball. The results were absolutely amazing.
-One kid managed to hit himself in the back of his head with his own bat during BP. Knocked off his helmet and required a trip to the nurse (likely concussion, which nobody really cared about in the late 90's)
-One kid showed up to the first outdoor day (first couple of days it was too cold) in jeans and proceed to trip over first base and rip his pants right up the back.
-The one B league catcher that showed up had never actually seen someone throw a strike at more than 50 MPH, so he probably took 10 70+ MPH pitiches straight to the mask before he left crying
-Another kid got straight up drilled in the balls during a relay throw drill. Didn't even get a glove on it (and the throws were from like 60 feet away) Again, the nurse had to come and take him away in a wheelchair.
-To test the outfielders, they took us out on the field and shot balls out of the pitching machine at 90 MPH basically straight up. They were the air for a very long time. One kid ran around in circles out there and missed 15 straight, never getting a glove on a single ball and laying out/falling on his face on probably 70% of them. By the time he finished the rest of us were laughing so hard that someone nearly threw up.
Add in the fact that our core group (probably a dozen of us had been playing summer travel ball together since we were 8 years old) was NOT a very supportive group (in retrospect, 2 or 3 of the dudes were just straight up #######s) and the bad players had a hard time for 3 days before the first cuts.
-One kid managed to hit himself in the back of his head with his own bat during BP. Knocked off his helmet and required a trip to the nurse (likely concussion, which nobody really cared about in the late 90's)
-One kid showed up to the first outdoor day (first couple of days it was too cold) in jeans and proceed to trip over first base and rip his pants right up the back.
-The one B league catcher that showed up had never actually seen someone throw a strike at more than 50 MPH, so he probably took 10 70+ MPH pitiches straight to the mask before he left crying
-Another kid got straight up drilled in the balls during a relay throw drill. Didn't even get a glove on it (and the throws were from like 60 feet away) Again, the nurse had to come and take him away in a wheelchair.
-To test the outfielders, they took us out on the field and shot balls out of the pitching machine at 90 MPH basically straight up. They were the air for a very long time. One kid ran around in circles out there and missed 15 straight, never getting a glove on a single ball and laying out/falling on his face on probably 70% of them. By the time he finished the rest of us were laughing so hard that someone nearly threw up.
Add in the fact that our core group (probably a dozen of us had been playing summer travel ball together since we were 8 years old) was NOT a very supportive group (in retrospect, 2 or 3 of the dudes were just straight up #######s) and the bad players had a hard time for 3 days before the first cuts.
belljr
Footballguy
no - that why I'm convfused by it. I grew up like you did. freshman - jv - varsity - eventually due to numbers we went just jv - varsity. We would have a couple juniors playing jv.
But those kids usually weren't close to varsity level and eventually would be cut all together. Depending on the numbers and years
belljr
Footballguy
My daughter is way better than I give her credit for. I don't tell her this but i'm like " i think she could be better" but the other coaches are always like are you nuts
She's great. Anyway,
Its awful the path now. I'm on our softball board - while my kid is on the travel team - our rec program is a shambles because kids are leaving for "club" teams that have no business being on said "club" team but it's a money grab. We've been lucky so far with our parents. The one bad seed that "quit" is the president
he didn't like our direction becasue it was "too serious" - we have great fun but we do push the kids in a good way. We treat it like a true club team but with town kids.Luckily for us there is a legitimate club team that wants us - so next year I think half of us are thinking of leaving. This has our board all up in arms because they think club OMG OMG it's a ripoff - they have no business going there - you won't get scholarships blah blah blah - it's for the elite
We're like they are 11-13 year olds - we're not worried about that. We just want them to have the best chance to succeed. We have 5 or 6 kids that should be playing up a level - they have the potential to be really good (in general) Not I'm playing for ALABAMA next year good.
But they think it's still the 90s and early 2000's. While we don't agree with the way the club teams and youth sports are organized you have to play the hand your dealt.
You're either in or out. If you want to be out that's fine. It's not your thing. You rather have a more relaxed atmoshpere. I totally get it. But those same people then blast the people that are "in". We are not crazy parents, luckily. And have only encountered a handful of the "crazies". We just want our kids that have that potential to have the best oppurtunities
tl;dr - youth sports organizations suck, still have to paly the hand you are dealt. some clubs are money grabs somne are legit
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
I don't get this. Why would someone complain there are too many teams? My high school, fairly decent in size, has four teams for most "major" sports. I don't get how there could be a complaint for too many teams. Too many kids getting a chance to play for their school is an issue? For some sports, there simply isn't another outlet for kids who want to play that sport (ie, football).
I'm not too proud to admit I played JV football as a senior. I loved football, my favorite sport to play. But, as a senior, I just wasn't physically capable of playing varsity football (6', 130 lbs). We didn't have huge teams, so I got to fill in for JV. Even played linebacker for a game. It was good times. It also gave me a chance to be a leader, and mentor younger players. That's an opportunity I didn't have filling my normal role as tackling dummy for the varsity. I don't get how someone can complain of "too many teams" absent some other issue as in money, not enough players, etc. But cutting teams for cutting teams same seems silly. Am I missing something?
TLEF316
Footballguy
I guess I just grew up in a place/time when High School sports were a competitive thing rather than a participation thing. Not saying I was some stud athlete (far from it) or that my high school was some professional sports factory. But to me, kids getting cut as they get older and the funnel narrows just seems like a natural thing to me. By the time I got to my junior year of HS, I wasn't good enough to make the varsity baseball team. I knew this and it kinda sucked (as I'd been playing baseball my entire life) but that's how life works.
But to answer your question...yes. I'd be slightly annoyed if my taxes were going to fund 8 basketball teams (for example) with 4 on both the boys and girls side or 8 baseball/softball teams. I don't see a point to that. That's what rec leagues are for and there's nothing wrong with that.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
If you are of the opinion that schools are worth spending tax payer dollars on in the first place (and everything that follows from that), you should be in support of as many teams as possible, given the increase school performance participating in high school athletics generates.
belljr
Footballguy
I don't think there are too many teams but in the OPS example he says
They have 7th and 8th graders playing on the freshman team. A 10th grade team? Is this 9th and 10th graders? And a varsity.
They don't have enough kids to field the teams they have unless it's supposed to be
9th grad and under
10th grade and under.
Can freshman play varsity if they are studs?
The way it was explained seemed like they didn't have enough kids to play the lower levels but too many to play the higher levels. I just didn't understand the makeup of the area schools.
So in essence freshman team isn't a freshman team and the 10th grade team is a JV team that doesn't allow Juniors
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
I agree that if it is a matter of school size, and being able to fill each team, it makes sense to have fewer teams.
Cjw_55106
Footballguy
If I stated it incorrectly, I apologize (Im not going to go back and look
). We do not have 7th and 8th graders playing on the freshman team and so on. Those are things our specific school would have to do if we went to four teams. We have only three teams and Im fine with that. Yes, anyone that is good enough can play on the varsity team. The starting 3rd baseman last year was a freshman (he has since left the school) and the starting SS was a Sophomore. I never saw the 3rd baseman play but my son played with the SS last summer and that kid is amazing.
belljr
Footballguy
Ah ok. I must have misunderstood a post.If I stated it incorrectly, I apologize (Im not going to go back and look
Yes, anyone that is good enough can play on the varsity team. The starting 3rd baseman last year was a freshman (he has since left the school) and the starting SS was a Sophomore. I never saw the 3rd baseman play but my son played with the SS last summer and that kid is amazing.
I still don't get why the area doesn't do 9th , JV , varsity
Instead of 9th, 10th, varsity
But it is what it is at this point
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Semi hijack, but no better place to put this (thanks cjw!). My son (freshman) made the freshman team. They had a total of 20 kids at freshman tryouts, including 2 or 3 8th graders they invited up. Some of them were invited to try out for the upper grades. They cut zero players, and 7 or 8 ended up getting pulled up, so they have 12 or 13 left on the freshman team. After the first night of tryouts, my son relayed they following conversation, as the coaches (all new to the program) were walking around trying to get to know the players:
Coach: Hey, what's your name?
BDJ: I'm Bull Dozier Jr.
Coach: I'm coach (whatever). Are you a pitcher?
BDJ: No.
Coach: Ok, are you an outfielder then? *Note here, my son is about 5'10", 120 lbs. Tall and skinny.
BDJ: No.
Coach: If you're not a pitcher or an outfielder, what are you doing here?
BDJ: I'm an infielder. I play second base. (which he has for the last several years)
Coach: *laughs* No you're not, you're a pitcher.
BDJ: No, I'm really an infielder
Coach: When we break out, go over and work with the pitchers.
So, later he walks over with the pitchers and the pitching coach asks him "what pitches do you have?"
BDJ: Well, I'm not a pitcher, so I guess I have a fastball.
All but one other kid with pitching experience were brought up to the upper levels, so it looks like he's going to get some trial by fire as a pitcher.
Coach: Hey, what's your name?
BDJ: I'm Bull Dozier Jr.
Coach: I'm coach (whatever). Are you a pitcher?
BDJ: No.
Coach: Ok, are you an outfielder then? *Note here, my son is about 5'10", 120 lbs. Tall and skinny.
BDJ: No.
Coach: If you're not a pitcher or an outfielder, what are you doing here?
BDJ: I'm an infielder. I play second base. (which he has for the last several years)
Coach: *laughs* No you're not, you're a pitcher.
BDJ: No, I'm really an infielder
Coach: When we break out, go over and work with the pitchers.
So, later he walks over with the pitchers and the pitching coach asks him "what pitches do you have?"
BDJ: Well, I'm not a pitcher, so I guess I have a fastball.
All but one other kid with pitching experience were brought up to the upper levels, so it looks like he's going to get some trial by fire as a pitcher.
rockaction
Footballguy
Those last two posts were funny. Never enough pitching at that level.
Cjw_55106
Footballguy
In fairness to the varsity coach I mentioned, he didnt become a pitcher until college. So if anyone believes you are a pitcher until proven otherwise, it would be him.
Cjw_55106
Footballguy
No, the top end players hit around .500. You can be good and hit .300 I guess, but it might not be good enough to make some teams.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
If you ever saw my son play, I don't think he would fit the typical mold of this type of player. I know there are guys, like Joe Nathan who went through the minors as short stops, and they decided to turn their arm into pitchers. He's no rocket armed infielder. He was put at second years ago because his natural throwing motion is a quick "flip" type movement, perfect quick release for second. He was thrown into pitching one inning last season down at ET. If they had a radar gun, and if it registered, I would guess he was throwing about 45, no exageration. He was just trying to throw it over, and I think it was a small step up from slow pitch softball. We'll see how it goes.
rockaction
Footballguy
This sounds actually about right. I had bum wrists my senior year and hit around .375, which was a really off year. We had kids on our excellent Legion ball state semi-finalists hitting around .450 or so with power. Depends on the league, the competition, everything varied about high school sports and regions therewith.
Dentist
***Official FBG Dentist***
ok, but if .300 is just good, and .500 is top end, that still seems the games would be really high scoring considering you are also probably dealing with worse defense than a higher level baseball club whereas running the bases is a pretty basic skill.
rockaction
Footballguy
I was just laughing thinking about the futility of being a good infielder getting whiplash because your pitching staff is made up of guys throwing 75 with no movement.
Everyone at that level with an arm is a pitcher.
belljr
Footballguy
awful coach imo - but good luck to him
eta: not in trying your son to pitch but the way it was handled
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Time will tell. All the coaches are young (mid late 20s). The varsity head coach (from what I have been able to glean) looks to be a solid young coach with the right mind set. The assistants seems to all be his buddies or guys he knows. I'm not sure how that will work out.
belljr
Footballguy
Yeah - it doesn't relate in text. He could have been buddy buddy about it. I retract my statement for now but telling the kid he can't play infield without seeing him just seems weird to me
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Yeah, probably didn't relay in text very well. I wasn't there myself, but the way my son was telling it to me, I wasn't 100% certain it was joking/casual, or if they were really trying to pigeon hole kids on day 1. Based on the way the teams broke out, it could very well have been the idea as other have said; you're a pitcher until you prove you aren't. The other aspect I didn't convey that I meant to was they identified him as a pitcher based on his build (long and lanky in their words). They told him he'd be throwing 90 by the time he was a senior (even my 15 year old didn't buy that), but whatever. If they think they can teach him mechanics and learn to pitch, fine by me.Yeah - it doesn't relate in text. He could have been buddy buddy about it. I retract my statement for now but telling the kid he can't play infield without seeing him just seems weird to me
Later in the tryous, he did get to play some infield. Though, based on the talent remaining on the freshman team, he'd probably be needed at shortstop and hide someone else at second base. It doesn't seem there are too many kids left on the freshman team that have much competitive baseball experience.
belljr
Footballguy
Gotcha makes sense. When I coached freshman we never had enough pitching
The problem we have now with my daughters softball team is pitching in softball is a unique skill; it may be the hardest thing a kid has to learn in this type of sport. Not an exaggeration. With boys pitching - everyone throws overhand so the adjustment is smaller. Yes it's specialization but you are starting from the same mechanics. Fastpitch pitching is a whole different animal. Way harder than anticipated
