Anyone who has kids playing baseball

[Blimpie]

You guys who have the young kids playing select ball -- what am I missing here?

I can only speak from my son's own personal experience.

He will be 9 years old in October and has been playing organized baseball since he was 5. Currently, his age group places him in the Rookie Ball level (coach pitch); however, this fall, he will be transitioning to the Majors (kids pitch to kids).

If my son had not played "All-Star/Select" baseball during each of the last three summers, I don't know if he would even still want to play baseball anymore.

Unfortunately, until you reach the Major level (9-12 years old), the league where he plays does not do a good job of sifting through the talent based upon their pre-season "assessments." Therefore, my son has played on some REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, bad teams both of the last two years.

As a result of being surrounded by sub-par teammates during the spring--my son has very much anticipated playing with a higher caliber teammate (and opponent) during those 20-30 All-Star games every July.

In short, he develops more as a player each July than he does from March-June while playing with his non-AllStar/Select peers.

[IslandRed]

Thanks for the comments, guys. It sounds to me like:

* Your kids are playing select in addition to, not instead of, Little League
* Your kids WANT TO PLAY and aren't being pushed into it

I don't have a problem with that. I guess my opinions were flavored by a few anecdotes I'd heard from around here. If I understood it correctly, some select teams are essentially going year-round. They travel in the summer and play other area select teams (bypassing Little League entirely) during the school year. And figuring that if Little League parents were bad, these parents must be even worse. Glad to see that it's not necessarily the case.

[Red Leader]

Thanks for the comments, guys. It sounds to me like:

* Your kids are playing select in addition to, not instead of, Little League
* Your kids WANT TO PLAY and aren't being pushed into it

I don't have a problem with that. I guess my opinions were flavored by a few anecdotes I'd heard from around here. If I understood it correctly, some select teams are essentially going year-round. They travel in the summer and play other area select teams (bypassing Little League entirely) during the school year. And figuring that if Little League parents were bad, these parents must be even worse. Glad to see that it's not necessarily the case.

In my son's case, it may not be exactly as you described. Yes, my son will play on the select team, in addition to, the rec league. However, select team practices start in January. They'll have one day of baseball practice (hitting, fielding, throwing) and another day of conditioning. So, it's 2 days a week starting in January. Rec league doesn't start practicing until early April. The select team will also play in tournaments Memorial Day weekend, July 4th and most weekends in July and early August. The rec league does not have games any of those holiday weekends, so he won't be playing for one team, have to leave the game to go to a select tournament. The rec league season ends the weekend after the 4th of July, so all of those select tournaments in July/August don't interfere with rec league.

And I know I can speak for Randy on this. Both of our sons love the game of baseball and would play with anybody, anywhere at anytime. If they didn't, we wouldn't push them into playing, like I said above, that's a good way for your kid to get frustrated, angry, whatever, and quit the sport forever.

And don't kid yourself into thinking there aren't fanatical parents involved with select programs. Fanatical parents are everywhere, rec leagues, select leagues, and high schools. Everyone has to deal with them, and it's not fun.

[Yachtzee]

Thanks for the comments, guys. It sounds to me like:

* Your kids are playing select in addition to, not instead of, Little League
* Your kids WANT TO PLAY and aren't being pushed into it

I don't have a problem with that. I guess my opinions were flavored by a few anecdotes I'd heard from around here. If I understood it correctly, some select teams are essentially going year-round. They travel in the summer and play other area select teams (bypassing Little League entirely) during the school year. And figuring that if Little League parents were bad, these parents must be even worse. Glad to see that it's not necessarily the case.

That is good to hear. Of course I still worry about the pressure and competition at that age. A few years back we had a father from a tournament team charged with murder because he took a bat and clubbed a coach to death in the parking lot at the tournament. Why? Because he and the other parents of the team thought the other team was getting preferential treatment, like free parking. I think the coach was just someone who stepped in to mediate the fight and the angry dad took a bat to him.

[Red Leader]

That is good to hear. Of course I still worry about the pressure and competition at that age .

I have a very open line of communication with my son. I practice with him everyday. I talk to him while we're playing catch, hitting, or whatever. I also talk to him on the way to the game and after each game. If he struggled in the game I tell him what he did and what he can do to prevent it from happening again. They played a game in a 9U tournament (as an 8U team) where they were tied going into the home half of the last inning. He was leading off. He had parents yelling to him "You have to get on base!" while he was in the on-deck circle. He stepped up to the plate and ripped a single into LF. He eventually stole both 2nd and 3rd base and scored on a bloop single to CF. He scored the winning run and they beat a 9U select team from another local city. After the game I asked him if he was nervous about hitting that last inning with parents yelling at him. He said "What did they say? I was watching the pitcher warm up and didn't hear anything. I just went up there like I always do and tried to make solid contact." Granted, a lot of young players would shrivel under that kind of pressure, but I know my son, and I know he loves those situations. It's a chance for him to show everyone how hard he works off the field.

A few years back we had a father from a tournament team charged with murder because he took a bat and clubbed a coach to death in the parking lot at the tournament. Why? Because he and the other parents of the team thought the other team was getting preferential treatment, like free parking. I think the coach was just someone who stepped in to mediate the fight and the angry dad took a bat to him.

That's crazy. I've never had any experiences with anything near that. If I did, I'd be looking for my son to play elsewhere. This is my oldest son (of soon to be 3) who is playing select ball, so this is my first experience with this stuff, but I've never seen or heard anything like that. The worst I've seen so far is parents putting pressure on the kids while they are playing (like I described above). A kid's own parents can be his worst enemy at these games. If I knew my son couldn't handle pressure situations and I continually badgered him at the highest pressure situations in the game, I'd fully expect him to hate me and never talk to me again. That's just stupid. Do you want your kid to succeed or do you just want him to make you look good? Because you're pretty much accomplishing neither, IMO. Seems pretty logical, but you'd be amazed at the number of parents that just don't get it.

[RollyInRaleigh]

And don't kid yourself into thinking there aren't fanatical parents involved with select programs. Fanatical parents are everywhere, rec leagues, select leagues, and high schools. Everyone has to deal with them, and it's not fun.

Amen to that!